Two more Republicans back Ketanji Brown Jackson for supreme court

Nomination advances in Senate after judiciary committee vote splits along party lines

Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney on Monday brought to three the number of Republican senators to say they would vote in favor of supporting Ketanji Brown Jackson as Joe Biden’s nominee to the US supreme court.

Murkowski of Alaska put out a statement on Monday evening saying: “After multiple in-depth conversations with Judge Jackson and deliberative review of her record and recent hearings, I will support her historic nomination to be an Associate Justice on the US supreme court.”

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Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation vote is ‘making history’, says senator – as it happened

The Senate judiciary committee meets today, beginning a week expected to conclude with the confirmation of the first black female supreme court justice

Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, is an unsurprising no on Ketanji Brown Jackson. The conservative senator has been vocally against Jackson - he flounced out of her confirmation hearing after wrongly accusing her of having called George W Bush and the former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld “war criminals”.

Following the devastating reports coming out of the Kyiv region, which was retaken by Ukrainian forces last week, Joe Biden is calling for a war crimes trial against Vladimir Putin, the Associated Press is reporting.

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Republican governor blasts Trump as ‘crazy’ during Washington roast

Chris Sununu of New Hampshire makes remarks at event noted for tradition of roasting politicians with cutting comedy speeches

A Republican governor has blasted Donald Trump as “fucking crazy” and said if he was ever committed to a mental institution “he ain’t getting out”.

Chris Sununu of New Hampshire delivered the remarks at Saturday’s Gridiron Club dinner in Washington DC, an event noted for its tradition of roasting politicians with satirical and often cutting comedy speeches.

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Republican Senate hopeful overstated academic achievements for years

Herschel Walker, frontrunner for party nomination in Georgia, claimed to have graduated in top 1% – but never actually graduated

A Republican Senate candidate in Georgia said for years that he graduated in the top 1% of his university’s class – but actually never graduated college at all.

Herschel Walker, a former pro football player who is running as a Republican in Georgia’s US Senateprimary, has publicly stated multiple times that he graduated in the top 1% of his class at University of Georgia despite never completing his degree.

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Sarah Palin announces run for US Congress in Alaska

The former governor says she will ‘combat the left’s socialist, big-government, America-last agenda’

Sarah Palin has announced her run for Alaska’s only seat in the US House of Representatives, marking her first run for public office in over a decade.

“America is at a tipping point,” Palin said in a statement released on her Twitter account announcing her candidacy. “As I’ve watched the far left destroy the country, I knew I had to step up and join the fight.

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US ends Trump-era policy of blocking asylum seekers on Covid grounds – live

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention terminates Title 42 from 23 May, ending policy widely criticized as pretext to keep migrants out

• Senate deal on drastically pared-down Covid aid package may be imminent

US adds 431,000 jobs as hiring spree cuts unemployment rate to 3.6%

• Disney staff stage walkouts over ‘don’t say gay’ bill

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The late supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is to be honoured by having a US navy ship named after her.

The yet-to-be-built fuel tanker will join a fleet of John Lewis-class “replenishment oilers” named for historical figures in human and civil rights. The navy took delivery of the first of the fleet, a tribute to the former Democratic congressman, last summer.

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Congressman Madison Cawthorn under fire over claims of DC drugs and orgies

Republican faces condemnation from House minority leader over podcast remarks but will not face immediate discipline

The North Carolina congressman Madison Cawthorn will not face immediate disciplinary action over his claim to have been invited to orgies and to have seen Washington figures using cocaine.

After meeting Cawthorn on Wednesday, the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, told reporters the comments were “unacceptable”.

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Republican Susan Collins to back Ketanji Brown Jackson for supreme court – live

The US is imposing new financial sanctions against Iran following the country’s missile attack on a target in Iraq earlier this month, the treasury department has announced.

Iran sent at least 12 ballistic missiles into Erbil, Iraq’s northern Kurdish regional capital, on 13 March. They landed close to a US consulate under construction, but did not cause any damage or injuries, the state department said.

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Facebook owner reportedly paid Republican firm to push message TikTok is ‘the real threat’

Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, solicited campaign accusing TikTok of being a danger to American children

Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms, is reportedly paying a notable GOP consulting firm to create public distrust around TikTok.

The campaign, launched by Republican strategy firm Targeted Victory, placed op-eds and letters to the editor in various publications, accusing TikTok of being a danger to American children, along with other disparaging accusations.

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Biden and allies vow to keep up Russia punishment for ‘brutal attacks in Ukraine’ – US politics live

A North Carolina court has blocked a law prohibiting people with felony convictions from voting while they are not incarcerated, a move that could enfranchise an estimated 56,000 people in the state.

A panel of three superior court judges ruled 2-1 to block the law, which plaintiffs said was rooted in an effort to discriminate against Black people at the turn of the 20th century in the state. The panel said the statute violated the state constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under law and free elections.

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Republican retracts false claim schools placing litter boxes for ‘furry’ students

Nebraska’s Bruce Bostelman apologises for repeating rumor that schools accommodating children who self-identify as cats

A Nebraska state lawmaker apologized on Monday after he publicly cited a persistent but debunked rumor alleging that schools are placing litter boxes in school bathrooms to accommodate children who self-identify as cats.

State senator Bruce Bostelman, a conservative Republican, repeated the false claim during a public, televised debate on a bill intended to help school children who have behavioral problems. His comments quickly went viral, with one Twitter video garnering more than 300,000 views as of Monday afternoon, and drew an onslaught of online criticism and ridicule.

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Republican senator says tax rises in own plan are ‘Democratic talking points’

Rick Scott of Florida grilled on Fox News Sunday about suggested income tax rise and letting social security and Medicare fall

A Republican senator and reputed presidential hopeful found himself in a tough spot when he claimed tax rises contained in his own “11 point plan to rescue America” were “Democratic talking points” instead.

“No, no, it’s in the plan!” his interviewer exclaimed, on Fox News Sunday. “It’s in the plan!”

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‘Smartest one gets to the top’: Trump again praises Putin at Georgia rally

Ex-president also had warm words for Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un at event as primary races heat up before midterms elections

Donald Trump chose a rally in Georgia on Saturday night once again to praise Vladimir Putin, calling the Russian president “smart” even as he said the invasion of Ukraine amounted to a “big mistake”.

The Republican former president also had warm words for China’s president Xi Jinping and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and referred to such leaders collectively by saying: “The smartest one gets to the top.”

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US congressman convicted of lying to FBI in campaign funds case

Nebraska Republican Jeff Fortenberry found guilty in case involving illegal campaign contributions from foreign billionaire

A Nebraska congressman has been found guilty of three felonies for lying to the FBI about illegal campaign contributions from a foreign billionaire.

A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Jeff Fortenberry, a nine-term Republican, on Thursday of concealing information and two counts of providing false statements to authorities.

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Mitch McConnell says he will not support Ketanji Brown Jackson nomination – as it happened

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the new sanctions on members of the Russian Duma would punish lawmakers who have “supported the Kremlin’s violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

“President Putin’s war continues to inflict horror and widespread suffering on the people of Ukraine,” Blinken said in a statement.

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White House tells Dr Oz and Herschel Walker to resign from fitness council

TV doctor and former football star, appointed to sports and health body by Trump, are both Republican Senate candidates

The White House has asked two Trump-appointed members of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition to resign from their posts or be fired.

On Wednesday, the White House sent letters to Dr Mehmet Oz and former football star Herschel Walker – two Republican Senate candidates in Georgia and Pennsylvania, respectively – asking them to submit their resignations or face termination.

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Ketanji Brown Jackson faces renewed Republican attacks in Senate grilling

Hearings on Biden’s supreme court nominee resume with chair chiding Republicans for ‘showcasing election talking points’

The second round of senators’ questioning of Ketanji Brown Jackson unfolded on Wednesday after a marathon 13-hour judiciary committee hearing with the supreme court nominee the day before.

The latest hearing began with a review of the previous day’s proceedings, as the Democratic chairman, Dick Durbin, criticized some of his Republican colleagues over their questioning of Jackson.

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Republican says Trump asked him to ‘rescind’ 2020 election and remove Biden from office

Mo Brooks of Alabama appeared at the rally before the Capitol assault and is under scrutiny by January 6 committee

The Alabama Republican congressman Mo Brooks said on Tuesday Donald Trump asked him to “rescind” the 2020 election, remove Joe Biden from the White House and reinstate Trump.

The extraordinary statement came in an angry response to a withdrawn endorsement in a US Senate race. Trump was angered that Brooks was insufficiently toeing his line on calling the 2020 election a fraud.

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Ketanji Brown Jackson says Roe v Wade ‘the settled law of the supreme court’ – as it happened

Asked about her views of the second amendment’s right to bear arms, Jackson said that the supreme court had already established it as a “fundamental right.”

“There is precedent in the supreme court related to various rights that the court has recognized as fundamental,” she told Grassley. She added: The court has said that the 14th amendment substantive due process clause does support some fundamental rights, but only things that are implicit in the ordered concept of liberty or deeply rooted in the history and traditions of this country, the kinds of rights that relate to personal individual autonomy.”

In that speech, I talked about my my parents growing up in Florida, attended and had to attend racially-segregated schools because by law when they were young, white children and black children were not allowed to go to school together.

And my reality, when I was born in 1970 and went to school in Miami, Florida was completely different. I went to a diverse public junior high school, high school elementary school. And the fact that we had come that far was to me a testament to the hope and the promise of this country, the greatness of America that in one generation – one generation – we could go from racially-segregated schools in Florida to have me sitting here as the first Floridian ever to be nominated to the supreme court of the United States. So yes, senator, that is my belief.

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Ted Cruz laments angry supreme court hearings a day after angry airport fracas

Texas senator filmed becoming confrontational with airport staff after missing check-in window for flight from Bozeman, Montana

In Washington on Monday, the Texas senator Ted Cruz complained that supreme court confirmation hearings have become increasingly angry and confrontational.

In Bozeman, Montana the previous day, however, the Republican was filmed becoming angry and confrontational with airport staff and an armed police officer.

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