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Asked about the effort to impeach Joe Biden, the Democratic caucus chair, Pete Aguilar, accused the GOP of doing Donald Trump’s bidding.
From the House Democrats’ press conference earlier today:
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While Super Pac AFP Action’s endorsement of Nikki Haley may represent a boost to her presidential campaign, all signs point to the former United Nations ambassador facing a steep hill to climb to catch up to Donald Trump’s lead among Republican voters.
Polls consistently show him as the far-and-away favorite for the GOP’s nomination, with Haley and Florida governor Ron DeSantis vying for a distant second place. Nonetheless, Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for Trump-supporting Super Pac Make America Great Again Inc, released a statement slamming AFP Action’s endorsement:
The Ron DeSantis campaign finally got it right when they bitterly attacked Americans for Prosperity for being a vessel of globalist shills. That’s exactly why AFP backed Ron Desantis in his 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial races.
Everything old is new again. The Republican primary is split between career politicians who are tools of the billionaire class and the one man who delivers for the American people. Americans for Prosperity has already lit millions of dollars on fire this primary only to watch President Donald Trump’s lead grow. No amount of money can break the bond President Trump has with voters. He kept his promises.
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Police in Vermont on Sunday announced the arrest of a suspect in the shooting of three Palestinian students, the Guardian’s Chris Michael reports. Here’s the latest on the story:
A suspect was arrested on Sunday in the shooting of three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont the night before, police said, adding that contrary to media reports the shooter did not speak before firing.
Continue reading...Abortion rights groups in Missouri and Nebraska are proposing measures to expand rights; 2022 clip surfaces of Mike Johnson saying allowing people to receive abortions is ‘causing an American Holocaust’
Democrats in Virginia this week proposed amending the state constitution to enshrine abortion rights.
The proposal follow Democrats’ win in the state earlier this month in which they gained control of the state legislature, signifying a blow to Republicans’ plans that included curtailing abortion access.
“Throughout the campaign cycle we told Virginians that a Democratic majority meant that abortion access would be protected in the Commonwealth.
Today, that reigns true. Our resolution will begin the process of amending our constitution to protect reproductive rights in Virginia, building on the work that I and congresswoman Jennifer McClellan started many years ago.
Continue reading...Trump’s attorneys say the gag order impede on ‘core political speech’ while Justice department prosecutors say its’s crucial for a fair trial
Politicians are posting tributes to Carter, with many remembering the former first lady for her public service.
From US representative Cori Bush:
Continue reading...Extremist Republican says in book ‘not one Democrat was willing to stay to defend the chamber’ but claim rejected as ‘patently false’
In a new book, the extremist Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene claims no Democrats stayed in the House chamber on January 6 to help defend it against rioters sent by Donald Trump to block the certification of Joe Biden’s election win – a claim one Democrat who did stay labeled “patently false”.
Greene’s book, MTG, will be published next week. The Guardian obtained a copy.
Continue reading...Republican Markwayne Mullin accused of ‘acting like a 12-year-old’ by Teamsters leader Sean O’Brien during Senate confrontation
The Republican senator Markwayne Mullin claimed that by offering to fight a union leader at a congressional hearing, he was merely representing “Oklahoma values”.
Told by the Fox News host Sean Hannity “any other response” to Sean O’Brien of the Teamsters “would have been a little gutless”, Mullin said: “I would agree. I mean, wouldn’t people want me to do that?
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Donald Trump’s disdain for Letitia James, the New York attorney general who brought a $250m fraud case against the former president, and Arthur Engoron, the judge adjudicating it, is pretty well known. Trump was fined twice last month for breaching a gag order.
On Tuesday, Trump ramped up the rhetoric further, promoting a post on his Truth Social network calling for a citizen’s arrest of the pair “for blatant election interference and harassment”.
Continue reading...David DePape, accused of attacking Nancy Pelosi’s husband in a home invasion last year, testified for an hour on Tuesday
David DePape, the man accused of attacking the husband of Nancy Pelosi with a hammer last year, told a federal jury how his fringe political beliefs brought him to the Pelosis’ home to interrogate the former house speaker.
In emotional testimony that lasted for more than an hour, DePape offered detailed insight into his motivations that evening in October, which he described as part of a bigger plan to end corruption in the United States.
Continue reading...Johnson’s proposal unveiled at weekend would stretch funding until 19 January but doesn’t include cuts Republican colleagues are asking for
“Tim Scott is a good man of faith and an inspiration to so many. The Republican primary was made better by his participation in it,” Haley said on X. “South Carolina is blessed to continue to have him as our senator. Scott announced conceded on Sunday, just six months after launching his campaign.”
Scott conceded on Sunday, just six months after launching his campaign.
Continue reading...Stopgap spending bill, which omits funding for Israel or Ukraine, faces opposition from both parties in Congress
US House speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a Republican stopgap spending measure late Saturday aimed at averting a government shutdown in a week, but the measure quickly ran into opposition from lawmakers from both parties in Congress.
Unlike ordinary continuing resolutions that fund federal agencies for a specific period, the measure announced by Johnson would fund some parts of the government until 19 January and others until 2 February. House Republicans hope to pass the measure Tuesday.
Continue reading...Controversial West Virginia Democrat, 76, has for years held outsized degree of power within party
West Virginia’s controversial Democratic US senator Joe Manchin has announced that he will not seek re-election in 2024 and will instead “fight to unite the middle”.
The 76-year-old senator, who for years has held an outsized degree of power within the Democratic party and often defied its leadership, appeared in July at an event held by a political group exploring a third-party presidential bid.
Continue reading...Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks out in defense of progressive congresswoman censured over criticism of Israel’s attacks in Gaza
Supporters of Rashida Tlaib are donating to and speaking out in defense of the progressive Democratic congresswoman following her censure from Congress, while the White House “strongly disagrees” with her use of the slogan “from the river to the sea”.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in the US Congress, was censured on Tuesday over her criticism of Israel’s attacks in Gaza.
Continue reading...Michigan Democrat is only Palestinian American in Congress and warns Biden voters ‘will remember in 2024’
Michigan Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American member of Congress, has released a video accusing Joe Biden of supporting the “genocide of the Palestinian people”.
Tlaib has been a withering critic of Biden’s staunch backing of the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza and the White House refusal to listen to demands from some progressive Democrats to back calls for a ceasefire.
Continue reading...Congressional progressives say proposed $14.3bn breaches 1997 Leahy act as assault on Gaza has overwhelmingly harmed civilians
Leftwing Democrats in Congress have invoked a landmark law barring assistance to security forces of governments deemed guilty of human rights abuses to challenge the Biden administration’s emergency military aid program for Israel.
Members of the Democratic party’s progressive wing say the $14.3bn package pledged by the White House after the 7 October attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Israelis breaches the Leahy Act because Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has overwhelmingly harmed civilians. An estimated 9,000 people have been killed in Gaza so far, among them 3,700 children, according to the Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas.
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One minute after the House approved an Israel aid package that excluded providing similar assistance to Ukraine, the top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, tweeted this:
This what some would call a “subtweet”: McConnell does not mention the House proposal at all nor its architect, Republican speaker Mike Johnson, but he is clearly referring to the just-passed bill. While some Republicans are ready to cut off aid to Kyiv, McConnell remains a steadfast backer of the country’s defense against Russia.
Continue reading...Jamie Raskin says it was ‘an easy call’ because Santos hasn’t been convicted of a crime, though he faces 23 federal criminal charges
Thirty-one Democrats voted not to expel the Republican lawmaker George Santos from the US House of Representatives because he has not been convicted of any crime and to eject him would set a dangerous precedent for Republicans to expel their ideological opponents, a leading congressman said.
“For me this was an easy call,” said Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a law professor and influential progressive who sat on the January 6 committee and was lead manager in Donald Trump’s impeachment for inciting the attack on Congress.
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Israel’s conflict with Hamas continues as its troops push deeper into the Gaza Strip.
We have a separate live blog covering it, and you can read it here:
Continue reading...Donald Trump’s daughter could appear on witness stand in New York civil fraud trial as early as next week
George Santos has been a target of protesters and hecklers from practically the day he arrived in the Capitol, and there were plenty of those waiting for him as he departed federal court this morning:
Santos was there to enter a “not guilty” plea to a slate of new federal charges, and learn he would stand trial on the allegations on 9 September.
Continue reading...Louisiana congressman told audience at 2013 anti-abortion event Americans should live by 250-year-old religious and moral values
Before entering elected office, Mike Johnson, the new Republican speaker of the US House, praised “18th-century values” and told an audience that Americans should live by them when it came to morality and religion.
In video footage of a forum hosted in 2013 by Louisiana Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, Johnson, a devout Baptist and then an attorney for rightwing groups and causes, is asked about the “condition of conscience” in Europe and Canada regarding abortion policy.
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