Trump freewheels towards debate as Biden rehearses at Camp David

Political surrogates hit Sunday talkshows as candidates take different approaches before next week’s face-off

Presidential political surrogates fanned out across the Sunday talkshows to prepare the ground for next week’s televised debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, which could help the Democratic incumbent and his Republican predecessor focus the minds of undecided or unengaged voters on November’s election.

But the candidates themselves are taking strikingly different approaches. Biden is hunkered down at Camp David in debate preparation, reportedly with his personal attorney Bob Bauer standing in for Trump in mock exchanges.

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Accusations fly as pro-Israel groups spend big to oust progressive House Democrat

Jamaal Bowman faces challenge from George Latimer in New York primary that has become testy – and expensive

It was one of the hottest days of the year in New York City on Saturday – but as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to the stage in the Bronx, you wouldn’t know it.

At a rally to support Jamaal Bowman, the progressive Democrat facing a primary campaign that has seen pro-Israel lobbying groups pump more than $15m into the race, Ocasio-Cortez was amped up.

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Trump announces Teamsters union chief to speak at Republican convention

Sean O’Brien accepts invitation as union says its message ‘needs to be heard by as wide an audience as possible’

Sean O’Brien, the president of the Teamsters union, will speak at the Republican national convention in Milwaukee next month, a move that could spell trouble for Joe Biden’s support among blue-collar workers ahead of the November election.

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, announced on Friday on his Truth Social platform that O’Brien had accepted his invitation to speak at the convention and that he was looking forward to seeing him represent the Teamsters.

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Biden says supreme court preserved ‘critical protections’ for domestic violence survivors – live

President vows to continue work to stop ‘epidemic of gun violence’ after praising supreme court ruling that disarms domestic abusers

The supreme court’s chief justice John Roberts wrote the opinion in United States v Rahimi, which upheld a law that bans domestic abusers from carrying guns.

“An individual found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment,” Roberts wrote.

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Biden pledges citizenship pathway for spouses and children of US citizens

President touts ‘commonsense fix’ that would provide relief for more than half a million ‘mixed-status’ families

Joe Biden on Tuesday announced an expansive new plan to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented spouses of US citizens, calling it a “commonsense fix” that would provide relief to more than half a million “mixed-status” families in the country.

The move comes as the Democratic president tries to strike a balance before the 5 November election: confronting rising public concern over the unprecedented levels of migration at the southern border, while appeasing progressive Democrats and Hispanic leaders furious over Biden’s aggressive asylum crackdown, which they likened to Trump-era policies.

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Democrat Khanna: Biden is ‘running out of time’ with young voters over Gaza war

Representative Ro Khanna says he will skip Netanyahu’s address to Congress and that young people want war to end

Progressive California Democrat Ro Khanna warned Sunday that Joe Biden is running out of time to win over young voters opposed to his administration’s handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict and that he will not attend Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress next month.

In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Representative Khanna said the erosion of support that the US president is seeing among young voters is a “challenge for our party” and the Democrats could be “running out of time” to restore support with “more people dying” in the conflict.

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Muted mics, no props: CNN details rules for Biden and Trump debate

Network says no studio audience in Atlanta and moderators ‘will use all tools at disposal to ensure a civilized discussion’

The first US presidential debate between incumbent Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump on 27 June will include two commercial breaks, no props and muted microphones except when recognized to speak, CNN said Saturday.

The rules, agreed outside the Commission on Presidential Debates, are designed to reduce fractious interruptions and cross-talk that have often marred TV encounters in recent presidential election cycles.

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Justice department won’t pursue criminal contempt charge against Merrick Garland – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. For more on this story, you can read our full report:

Joe Biden released a statement in light of the supreme court’s latest decision on bump stocks, saying:

“Today’s decision strikes down an important gun safety regulation. Americans should not have to live in fear of this mass devastation.”

“I have used every tool in my administration to stamp out gun violence. I nominated the first Senate-confirmed director of the ATF since 2015. My administration ensured that the ATF has the funding it needs to address emerging firearm technologies like machine-gun conversion devices and ghost guns that pose a unique and acute threat to public safety.

Notwithstanding this decision, my administration will continue to take action. I took on the NRA and signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – the most significant gun violence reduction legislation to pass Congress in nearly 30 years. My administration established the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, made historic investments in mental health to support people in times of crisis, and expanded background checks to keep firearms out of the wrong hands.”

“Weapons of war have no place on the streets of a civil society. That is why Democrats and Republicans alike supported the federal government banning bump stocks after they were used to fire over 1,000 rounds into a crowded music festival in Las Vegas, killing 60 people in the deadliest mass shooting in American history.

Unfortunately, today’s supreme court ruling strikes down this important, commonsense regulation on devices that convert semiautomatic rifles into weapons that can fire hundreds of bullets per minute.

While the supreme court has once again rolled back progress, we will not allow the victims and survivors of 1 October to be forgotten. President Biden and I fought to pass the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years, but our work is not done. We are calling on Congress to immediately ban bump stocks. We do not have a moment to spare nor a life to spare.”

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US House votes to hold Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress

Resolution concerned attorney general’s refusal to turn over audio of Biden interview in his classified-documents case

The House voted on Wednesday to hold the attorney general, Merrick Garland, in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview in his classified-documents case, Republicans’ latest and strongest rebuke of the justice department as partisan conflict over the rule of law animates the 2024 presidential campaign.

The 216-207 vote fell along party lines, with Republicans coalescing behind the contempt effort despite reservations among some of the party’s more centrist members.

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DNC targets Trump campaign rally with ‘convicted white-collar crook’ billboard

Democrats call Trump ‘unfit to serve’ on the advertisement in Las Vegas, where he’s due to speak on Sunday

Democrats will target Donald Trump’s first full-scale campaign rally since his criminal trial with a billboard that brands him “a convicted white-collar crook”.

The ad, paid for by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), is the latest indication that the party is ready to become more aggressive in capitalising on last month’s guilty verdict in New York.

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Deceased New Jersey congressman wins primary

Donald Payne suffered a heart attack on 6 April and died in hospital over two weeks later, after filing deadline for primary

A popular New Jersey progressive Democrat who served six terms as a congressman has won his party’s primary for the state’s 10th congressional district – despite dying in office more than a month ago.

Representative Donald Payne, 65, suffered a heart attack on 6 April and died in hospital more than two weeks later – after the filing deadline for the primary, and too late for a vacancy committee to meet to replace him on the primary ballot.

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Andy Kim wins Democratic primary in race for Bob Menendez’s Senate seat

Congressman bids to replace Menendez, who plans to run as independent despite being charged with accepting bribes

Democratic congressman Andy Kim has won New Jersey’s Senate primary, putting him in strong position for the general election in the blue-leaning state, though the win comes a day after Democratic senator Bob Menendez filed to run as an independent amid his federal corruption trial.

Menendez, who has denied allegations that he accepted bribes to promote the interests of the Egyptian government, has chosen not to seek the Democratic Senate nomination. Kim’s win comes after a bruising battle that led New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy to withdraw from the race in March.

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Democrats decry Biden executive order turning away some asylum seekers

US representatives Nanette Barragán, Judy Chu and Raúl Grijalva say order guts legal rights, while ACLU threatens to sue

Progressive Democrats and immigration advocates have shared their outrage after Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday that would turn away some asylum seekers.

Biden’s order will temporarily shut down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers attempting to enter the country legally when authorities have determined that the border is “overwhelmed”.

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Benjamin Netanyahu set to address joint session of US Congress for fourth time

The Israeli PM’s invitation comes amid deep differences with the Biden administration

Benjamin Netanyahu is set to become the first foreign leader to address a joint session of the US Congress four times, despite deep differences with the Biden administration.

The Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement that a date for his address to Congress had yet to be set, but that it would not take place on 13 June as had been reported, due to a Jewish holiday.

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Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

Texas representative says treatment may require her to be ‘occasionally absent’ from Capitol Hill

Democratic US congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee revealed that she has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and said her treatment may require her to be “occasionally absent” from Capitol Hill.

In a prepared statement published on X on Sunday that alluded to her Christian religious beliefs, the 74-year-old Texas representative acknowledged that “the road ahead will not be easy” yet added: “I stand in faith that God will strengthen me.”

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Minnesota representative Dean Phillips calls on New York governor to pardon Trump

Failed contender for the Democratic presidential nomination says Kathy Hochul should grant pardon ‘for the good of the country’

The outgoing Democratic US congressman who failed in his presidential primary challenge against Joe Biden called on the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, to pardon Donald Trump over his criminal conviction for hush-money payments to influence the 2016 election “for the good of the country”.

Minnesota representative Dean Phillips, who was the first Democrat to call on fellow party member Henry Cuellar to resign following bribery charges against the Texas congressman, urged for the pardon on Friday in a post on X.

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Bob Menendez: Democratic senator charged with bribery set to run as independent

Embattled senator reportedly procures 800 signatures needed before 4 June deadline to appear on November ballot

Senator Bob Menendez has reportedly procured enough signatures to run for re-election as an independent, even while the incumbent Democrat faces bribery charges over his alleged work promoting the interests of the Egyptian government.

NBC News reported on Thursday that Menendez secured the 800 signatures needed by 4 June to appear on the November ballot, although the senator’s team hopes to collect as many as 10,000 signatures before the Tuesday deadline.

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‘I need you’: Biden-Harris campaign launches initiative to court Black voters

President and vice-president gear up for 2024 election with ‘Black Voters for Biden-Harris’ rally at majority Black Philadelphia school

Gearing up for the 2024 election, the Biden-Harris campaign launched its Black voters initiative on Wednesday at Philadelphia’s Girard College, a majority Black boarding school.

Around 2pm in an auditorium filled with hundreds of Black Philly residents, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris approached the podium to applause and an audience shouting “four more years”.

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Senate Republicans block bipartisan border security bill for a second time

Democrats had forced vote to try to prove argument that Republicans are not serious about situation at US-Mexico border

Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan border security bill for a second time, part of an attempt by Chuck Schumer to flip the script on immigration – a major political liability for Joe Biden and Democrats in this year’s election.

The 43-50 vote was far short of the necessary 60 votes needed to advance the legislation. Republicans, who have repeatedly demanded Democrats act on the border, abandoned the compromise proposal at the behest of Donald Trump who saw it was a political “gift” for Biden’s re-election chances.

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‘She’s in the pantheon now’: Kristi Noem and the politicians who hit self-destruct

The dog-killing South Dakota governor’s VP hopes are in tatters. But she’s not the first politician to flame out with an own goal

She could have been a contender. But then she wrote a book. And suddenly Kristi Noem was caught like a rabbit – or a rambunctious puppy – in the headlights.

The governor of South Dakota found herself insisting that a false claim she met the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un had been put in her book by accident. Wait, said Elizabeth Vargas of NewsNation, you recorded the whole audiobook version and read this passage out loud. Why didn’t you take it out then?

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