Many were surprised by the strong stance that Fox News host Sean Hannity took on Covid-19 Monday night when he told viewers, “I believe in science, I believe in the science of vaccination.”
Related: Fox News host Sean Hannity urges viewers to ‘take Covid seriously’
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That’s all from me today. Here’s a rundown of the day’s biggest politics stories:
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer will file cloture on a placeholder bill for the bipartisan infrastructure plan tonight, setting up a vote on Wednesday.
Schumer NOW on Senate floor updates the timing of infrastructure legislation: "Tonight in a few minutes, I will file cloture on a shell bill which will act as the legislative vehicle for the bipartisan infrastructure framework. That vote on cloture will take place on Wednesday." pic.twitter.com/FRGPFkeh8d
Continue reading...Biden may be president but Republican-controlled states are busy introducing reams of legislation that is anything but progressive
In his inaugural address in January, Joe Biden promised to use his presidency to “restore the soul of America”. He would unite the nation, defuse “anger, resentment and hatred”, and lead Americans back to a world where they treated “each other with dignity and respect”.
Six months later, Biden is still preaching the unity gospel, and regularly assures his fellow Americans that “there’s not a single thing we aren’t able to do when we do it together”.
Continue reading...The president’s speech in Philadelphia decried Republicans’ assault on voting rights but critics say it offered few answers, especially on Senate rules that let the minority to block reform
Few in the audience applauding Joe Biden could have questioned the sincerity of his warning about a momentous threat to American democracy.
But they may have walked away with lingering doubts about his ability to meet the moment or answer fears that even the office of the presidency will be found politically impotent in the face of the challenge.
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Joe Biden is meeting with a bipartisan group of mayors and governors to discuss the bipartisan infrastructure framework.
Among the attendees are New Jersey governor Phil Murphy and Illinois governor JB Pritzker, both Democrats, as well as Vermont governor Phil Scott, a Republican.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her appointees to the January 6 select committee earlier this month, after the chamber voted in favor of forming the panel.
In addition to Republican Liz Cheney, Pelosi named Democrats Bennie Thompson, Elaine Luria, Jamie Raskin, Stephanie Murphy, Pete Aguilar, Adam Schiff and Zoe Lofgren to the committee. Thompson, who chairs the House homeland security committee, will serve as chairman.
Continue reading...It is one of the most delicate balancing acts in American politics: how to keep together a Democratic party whose lawmakers range from the democratic socialism of the New York congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez to the staunch conservatism of the West Virginia senator Joe Manchin.
But as Joe Biden’s administration has pushed both parts of his ambitious infrastructure plan through Congress, top Democratic officials and aides have made a point of working hard to keep the fractious sects of the party on Capitol Hill in check.
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Joe Biden will soon deliver remarks on his administration’s ongoing efforts to vaccinate more Americans against coronavirus.
The Biden administration has already said it will launch more targeted outreach efforts in communities with lower vaccination rates, amid concerns about the spread of the delta variant of the virus.
The Hillbilly Elegy author turned Republican Ohio Senate candidate JD Vance has apologised for a former political position: critic of Donald Trump.
“Like a lot of people, I criticised Trump back in 2016,” Vance told Fox News. “And I ask folks not to judge me based on what I said in 2016, because I’ve been very open that I did say those critical things and I regret them, and I regret being wrong about the guy.”
Related: Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance sorry for since-deleted anti-Trump tweets
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Two-thirds of Americans believe democracy is under threat, polls finds
This is Lois Beckett, picking up our live US politics coverage from Los Angeles.
NEW: Two-thirds of U.S. adults believe that American democracy is under threat according to the latest @NewsHour/@NPR/@maristpoll. https://t.co/TnYS66pXqA
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Lois Beckett, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
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Attorneys for Allen Weisselberg said the Trump Organization executive planned to plead “not guilty” to the charges he faces, per CNN.
Weisselberg’s lawyers also said he “will fight these charges in court.” The charges are likely linked to allegations that he failed to properly report company perks.
Weisselberg’s attorneys, Mary Mulligan and Bryan Skarlatos, said he plans to plead not guilty and “will fight these charges in court.”
The Guardian’s Dominic Rushe and agency report:
The Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney’s office early on Thursday as he and the Trump family business prepare to face criminal charges in a tax-related investigation.
Related: Trump Organization executive surrenders to face charges in tax investigation
Continue reading...Two Republicans – Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger – join Democrats in voting for panel to investigate attack – follow live
– Joan E Greve and Maanvi Singh
Sarah Betancourt reports:
South Dakota’s Republican governor, Kristi Noem, is deploying up to 50 national guard troops to the southern US border, responding to a call from the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, for help dealing with a rise in border crossing, although the majority of migrants have been sent back to Mexico.
Related: South Dakota governor uses private funds to send troops to Mexico border
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Here’s where the day stands so far:
The mayor of Miami-Dade county said there were no new fatalities confirmed today, as search-and-rescue efforts continue at the site of the Surfside condo collapse.
The mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, added that each of the families of the 11 confirmed victims have been notified.
Miami-Dade County mayor updates on building collapse:
- No new fatalities confirmed since last briefing
- Families of all 11 deceased victims have been notified
- 210 people working on mound
- Pres. Biden to meet with families, first respondershttps://t.co/lHgwAdKz7Z pic.twitter.com/qC3naJmNti
Activist say the president and Democrats have failed to stop Republican efforts to curtail the vote
For months, Biden and other Democrats have raised alarm about efforts to restrict the vote. Republicans have succeeded nonetheless.
Since January, Republican lawmakers in Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Arkansas and Montana have all enacted new legislation that impose new barriers to voting. The successful Republican filibuster this week – which stalled the sweeping voting rights legislation, the For the People Act – only underscored how Democrats have failed to stop GOP efforts to curtail the vote.
Continue reading...The Fox News anchor Chris Wallace made headlines of his own on Sunday, by pointing out to a senior Republican that he and the rest of his party recently voted against $350bn in funding for law enforcement.
Related: Keith Ellison urges Congress to act on stalled police reform after Chauvin sentencing
Continue reading...A lead Republican negotiator has welcomed Joe Biden’s withdrawal of his threat to veto a $1.2tn bipartisan infrastructure bill unless a separate Democratic spending plan also passes Congress.
Related: White House seeks to put infrastructure deal back on track after Biden blunder
Continue reading...Vice-president faced with colossal task as migrants live with brutal reality of arduous journey and border restrictions
The sun beat down on the 30ft border fence that separates El Paso, Texas from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, as temperatures headed towards 100F on the southern border that stands as a symbol for so much in American politics.
Related: Kamala Harris says US-Mexico border situation is ‘tough’ but claims progress
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Vice-president Kamala Harris is visiting the Southern border today amid ongoing criticism from Republicans about Harris’s absence from traveling there yet.
VP Kamala Harris boards AF2 to El Paso for her first visit to the border as VP. She was greeted by Sec. Mayorkas, Sen. Durbin and Rep. Escobar, all of whom are joining her on her trip. pic.twitter.com/GFr44Lw62Y
Vice President Kamala Harris will be in El Paso on Friday, where she will tour a Customs and Border Protection processing facility, meeting with advocates and NGOs. She will also be delivering remarks on her visit.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who has been helping with negotiations on immigration legislation on Capitol Hill, and Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, will be accompanying Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on the trip.
Excerpts from a new book about Donald Trump’s presidency includes details about the 45th president’s increasingly violent language in the oval office.
...the book reveals new details about how Trump’s language became increasingly violent during Oval Office meetings as protests in Seattle and Portland began to receive attention from cable new outlets. The President would highlight videos that showed law enforcement getting physical with protesters and tell his administration he wanted to see more of that behavior, the excerpts show.
“That’s how you’re supposed to handle these people,” Trump told his top law enforcement and military officials, according to Bender. “Crack their skulls!”
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Here’s some more on Rudy Giuliani losing (potentially temporarily) his law licence in New York today, from my colleague Sarah Betancourt:
Giuliani, 77, helped lead Trump’s legal challenge of his election loss as his personal attorney. He argued without evidence that voter fraud was rampant in Georgia, and that voting machines in the state and others were rigged. He urged Georgia’s Republican electors to vote for Trump, despite the state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, and secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, countering there was no evidence of fraud.
Related: Rudy Giuliani barred from practicing law in New York over election lies
Biden has pumped the brakes just a little on the infrastructure bill, saying it must be paired with a larger spending bill, which will likely only be supported by Democrats, if he is to sign it.
“If they don’t [both] come, I’m not signing it. Real simple,” Biden said.
Biden says bipartisan infrastructure deal has to be paired with D-only reconciliation bill.
"If this is the only thing that comes to me I'm not signing. It's in tandem."
Asked about Pelosi plan to hold first bill in House until second bill arrives, says he supports it.
Rising homicide rates and gun violence has become a major issue in local political races, including in the New York mayoral primary elections.
For Joe Biden, rising concern about crime has proved to be a politically convenient opportunity for him to boost gun control reforms he touted as a candidate. But the president’s wide-ranging policy proposals are sure to divide Democrats.
We can't let legitimate concerns about shootings and homicides undermine momentum to overhaul law enforcement. We can't repeat the mistakes of the past and think that we can arrest our way out of rising gun violence. https://t.co/0ifVpEJCFE
Biden is speaking at the White House to explain his administration’s plans to address crime and gun trafficking.
My colleague David Smith is covering the event live:
Joe Biden: “Crime historically rises during the summer.” As we open after the pandemic; the summer spike might be higher than usual. pic.twitter.com/XfWoQ0JGQd
Continue reading...The White House warned democracy was ‘in peril’ but while key Democrats stay committed to the filibuster, progress looks difficult
After nearly six months of watching Republicans relentlessly make it harder to vote in the US, Democrats suffered a major blow on Tuesday after GOP senators used a legislative maneuver to halt a sweeping voting rights and ethics bill.
The vote doesn’t kill the bill, but it marks one of the most significant setbacks for Democrats in Joe Biden’s presidency so far. Democrats heralded the legislation as their No 1 priority, even knowing they were unlikely to get any Republican votes for it. The bill would amount to the most significant expansion of the right to vote in a generation, requiring early voting and automatic and same-day registration, while prohibiting excessive manipulation of electoral district boundaries, a process often called gerrymandering.
Continue reading...Just 1% of the city’s registered voters have turned out so far in a primary filled with allegations and accusations
New York City will effectively choose its next mayor in the coming days, drawing to a close a tumultuous election race marred by allegations of sexual misconduct, by the staff of one campaign launching a protest against their own candidate, and by accusations that at least one of the mayoral hopefuls doesn’t actually live in the city.
The winner in Tuesday’s Democratic primary will, given the leftward political leanings of the city, almost certainly win the election proper in November, and immediately be tasked with leading New York through its darkest period in several decades.
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