Category Archives: US Congress

Trump announces emergency authorization for coronavirus plasma treatment – as it happened

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Here’s a rundown of Sunday’s events. We’ll be back tomorrow for all Monday’s news.

More a campaign-style press announcement than traditional news conference, Trump abruptly ends the proceedings after taking only three questions, including one from One America News Network.

The US president insisted today’s announcement, which comes one day after he accused “the deep state, or whoever, over at” the FDA of deliberately slowing coronavirus vaccine and therapy development, “has nothing to do with politics” despite its conspicuous timing on the eve of the Republican national convention.

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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris call for nationwide mask mandate – live

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Just hours after Joe Biden announced Kamala Harris as his running mate, in her home state of California fierce speculation had already begun as to who might replace her in the Senate if she wins a spot in the White House.

Related: If Kamala Harris wins, who might fill her California Senate seat?

From Oliver Holmes in Jerusalem and Julian Borger in Washington:

Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties in a historic Washington-brokered deal under which Israel will “suspend” its plans to annex parts of the Palestinian territories.

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Trump pledges executive orders to extend Covid relief, but offers few details

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President says he will suspend payroll tax and extend unemployment through end of year amid gridlock in Congress

Donald Trump has promised unilateral action to provide economic relief for millions of Americans hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but he offered few specific details and admitted the move is likely to face legal challenges.

The president’s pledge to rescue people from poverty and homelessness took place against the unlikely backdrop of his luxury golf club, where annual fees run to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, with members in T-shirts not physically distancing as they watched and applauded him.

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Trump bans US transactions with Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat

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Executive order comes as TikTok faces scrutiny from US lawmakers and Trump administration over national security concerns

Donald Trump has issued a pair of executive orders that would ban any US transactions with the Chinese companies that own TikTok and WeChat, saying the US must take “aggressive action” in the interest of national security.

Executive orders issued late on Thursday would prohibit “any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States,” with the companies, beginning in 45 days.

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Trump refuses to praise late civil rights leader John Lewis

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  • President unhappy that Lewis did not attend his inauguration
  • Trump questions value of Civil Rights Act: ‘How’s it worked out?’

Donald Trump refused to praise the late John Lewis, the Georgia congressman and original Freedom Rider, during his latest one-on-one interview, and also questioned the value of the pivotal Civil Rights Act of the 1960s, which Lewis fought and almost died for.

Related: Coronavirus US: Biden tells Trump 'step up and do your job' over Covid-19 death toll – live

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Democratic congressman issues blistering attack on Republicans after Covid-19 diagnosis

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Raúl Grijalva condemns colleagues for failing to take crisis seriously as they ‘strut around the Capitol with no mask’

A Democratic congressman diagnosed as positive for the coronavirus has condemned Republican politicians for their carelessness around Congress and blamed them for spreading the virus.

The Arizona Democrat Raúl Grijalva tested positive for the coronavirus, it was revealed on Saturday, and has immediately quarantined, though he is asymptomatic and feeling well, his office said. But Grijalva issued a fiery condemnation of Republicans and their behavior around the halls of Congress.

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Obama, Bush and Clinton speak at funeral for congressman John Lewis – video

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Former US presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush, Bill Clinton and House speaker Nancy Pelosi have delivered eulogies for congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis. Hailing him as founding father for 'a fuller, fairer, better' America, Obama praised Lewis's influence on his own path to the presidency. Clinton said Lewis believed 'none of us will be free until all of us are equal', while Bush said he lived in a better and nobler country because of the congressman


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Obama attacks police brutality and voter suppression in powerful eulogy for John Lewis – video

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During the funeral of congressman John Lewis, former US president Barack Obama delivered a powerful eulogy in which he praised the late civil rights icon, saying Lewis 'will be a founding father of a fuller, fairer, better America'. 

In his speech, Obama also received standing ovations for his indirect criticism of the Trump administration's decision to send federal agents to peaceful demonstrations in Portland, and his condemnation of voter suppression tactics in the US

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‘John Lewis worked on the side of the angels’, says Nancy Pelosi – video

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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi held back tears as she delivered an emotional remembrance of civil rights icon John Lewis at his funeral in Atlanta. Pelosi, who worked with Lewis for more than 30 years, said: ‘We always knew he worked on the side of the angels, and now he is with them’

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‘Too much power’: Congress grills top tech CEOs in combative antitrust hearing

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The US’s top tech bosses were told they have “too much power”, are censoring political speech, spreading fake news and “killing” the engines of the American economy, at a combative congressional hearing on Wednesday.

The historic hearing in Washington saw Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sundar Pichai of Google’s parent Alphabet appear before members of the House judiciary’s antitrust subcommittee and face intense questioning from lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.

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Trump says ‘nobody likes me’ when asked about Fauci’s absence – live

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From me and Joan E Greve:

Mayor Jenny Durkan said that federal law enforcement sent to Seattle have left, less than a week after being deployed. In an interview with MSNBC, Durkan said that Trump was “doing a dress rehearsal for martial law” in her city.

.@DHSgov notified me that federal forces deployed to Seattle have demobilized & left. The President’s actions to target Democratic cities with federal forces is chilling and increased violence in Portland, Seattle & other cities - exactly what the President intended.

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‘He never yielded’: mourners pay respects to John Lewis outside Capitol

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Kept outdoors by coronavirus threat, hundreds view casket of congressman and civil rights icon

Born in Citronelle, Alabama, in the early 1950s, Frankie Blevins grew up with the cruelties imposed by the Jim Crow south: racially segregated drinking fountains, restrooms and restaurants.

On her family’s first road trip, her mother packed food to sustain them for the entire trip, knowing they would not be allowed to stop for provisions along the way.

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Trump’s national security adviser tests positive for coronavirus

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  • White House insists ‘no risk’ of Trump being exposed
  • Photos of Robert O’Brien’s Europe trip show lack of mask usage
  • US politics – live updates

The national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, has tested positive for the coronavirus, but the White House insisted there was “no risk” of Donald Trump being exposed.

Related: Texas hospital forced to set up 'death panel' as Covid-19 cases surge

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Coronavirus US: polls put Biden ahead of Trump as deaths top 1,000 a day – live

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Shortly before he departed on Air Force One from Morristown Municipal Airport en route to Washington, Donald Trump announced that he will not be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before a Red Sox-Yankees game at Yankee Stadium next month due to scheduling conflicts.

“Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I won’t be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15th,” he wrote on Twitter. “We will make it later in the season!”

Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I won’t be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15th. We will make it later in the season!

The news website ProPublica has published a database containing complaint information for thousands of New York City police officers days after a federal judge paused the public release of such records.

The Associated Press reports:

ProPublica posted the database Sunday, explaining in a note to readers that it isn’t obligated to comply with judge Katherine Polk Failla’s temporary restraining order because it is not a party to a union lawsuit challenging the release of such records.

Deputy managing editor Eric Umansky said ProPublica requested the information from the city’s police watchdog agency, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, soon after last month’s repeal of state law that for decades had prevented the disclosure of disciplinary records.

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John Lewis remembers ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Selma – video report

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John Lewis, the civil rights hero and Democratic congressman, has died at the age of 80. In 1965 he headed a march across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama, and was knocked to the ground and beaten by police. The incident, along with other beatings during peaceful protests, brought attention to racial oppression in the US south. 20 years later he recalled the events for the documentary series Eyes on the Prize for Washington University in St Louis


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‘Russian bounties’ intelligence was in Trump written daily briefing – reports

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  • Evidence of alleged plot was in a February briefing, say officials
  • Trump claimed he was not told because advisers ‘did not find this info credible’

Donald Trump was given a written briefing months ago about intelligence suggesting Russia offered bounties for attacks on US forces in Afghanistan, multiple US media have reported on Monday night. The president said on Sunday he was not told of the allegations because the information was not “credible”.

The New York Times quoted two sources as saying details were included in a daily intelligence briefing the president received in late February. CNN said an official with direct knowledge told them it was included in the briefing – a written document – briefing “sometime in the spring”.

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Republicans told to wear masks in House panel or be barred from speaking

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  • Democratic chair warns after all GOP members flout guidelines
  • Jim Clyburn expresses ‘profound disappointment’ at actions

After every single Republican on the coronavirus subcommittee turned up to a Friday meeting without wearing a mask, the Democratic chair has threatened to stop them from speaking at future meetings if they fail to do so again.

Not wearing a mask in a confined space such as a committee hearing room violates rules written by Congress’s attending physician, if attendees intend to be in the space for more than 15 minutes.

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Roger Stone case: Trump ally given special treatment, Congress hears

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Aaron Zelinsky says prosecutors were under pressure to go easy on Stone because of his relationship with the president

A federal prosecutor who was part of Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation told Congress on Wednesday Roger Stone, a close ally of Donald Trump, was given special treatment before sentencing because of his relationship with the US president.

Related: US appeals court orders judge to dismiss case against Michael Flynn

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Coronavirus has brought US ‘to its knees’, says CDC director

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Dr Robert Redfield tells hearing that public health capabilities underfunded as US sees more than 2.3 million cases

A US public health chief told Congress on Tuesday that coronavirus has “brought this nation to its knees” as America struggles with more than 2.3 million confirmed cases and more than 121,000 deaths so far.

Dr Robert Redfield, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told a hearing in Washington that core public health capabilities in the US had been vastly underfunded for a long time and needed urgent investment.

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Trump and Navarro condemn John Bolton’s China claim

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The White House fired back at John Bolton on Sunday, seeking to rubbish a key claim in the former national security adviser’s bombshell new book, that Donald Trump asked Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, for help in winning re-election.

Related: Trump's Berman-SDNY disaster suggests William Barr is not so smart after all | Lloyd Green

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