US president makes last State of the Union address of this presidential term, with much at stake as he heads into re-election fight against Trump
For some reason, expelled former Republican congressman George Santos has returned to watch the State of the Union from the House floor:
Axios reports he wanted to hang out with the lawmakers who voted to remove him from office last year for being a big-time liar:
Continue reading...Eighteen-count indictment adds to corruption charges New Jersey Democrat already faced
Senator Bob Menendez and his wife were charged with obstruction of justice in a new, 18-count indictment unsealed on Tuesday, adding to corruption charges the New Jersey Democrat already faces.
Menendez has pleaded not guilty to earlier charges of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from businessmen to impede law enforcement investigations they faced, and illegally acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.
Continue reading...Sinema won in 2018 as a Democrat and was first non-Republican to win a Senate seat for Arizona since 1994
Kyrsten Sinema, the former Democrat from Arizona who is an independent in the US Senate, said on Tuesday she would not run for re-election this year.
“I love Arizona and I am so proud of what we’ve delivered,” Sinema said in a video posted to social media. “Because I choose civility, understanding, listening, working together to get stuff done, I will leave the Senate at the end of this year.”
Continue reading...The bill sets a discretionary spending level of $1.66tn for fiscal 2024 and still faces opposition from hardline House Republicans
US congressional negotiators on Sunday revealed a bill to fund key parts of the government through the rest of the fiscal year that began in October, as lawmakers faced yet another threat of a partial shutdown if they fail to act by Friday.
The legislation sets a discretionary spending level of $1.66tn for fiscal 2024, a spokesperson for Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said. It fills in the details of an agreement that Schumer and Republican House of Representatives speaker Mike Johnson set in early January.
Continue reading...Majority leader Chuck Schumer had hailed bipartisan legislation to stop partial shutdown due to occur this weekend
The Senate has passed a short-term funding bill following a House vote on Thursday afternoon, narrowly averting a partial government shutdown that was due to occur this weekend.
Ahead of the Senate vote, the majority leader, Chuck Schumer, addressed the chamber floor, saying that he saw “no reason this should take a very long time”.
Continue reading...Dueling border visits of 2024 contenders 300 miles apart shows that immigration has become a central issue in the White House campaign
It might be seen as the first US presidential debate of 2024. Two candidates and two lecterns but 300 miles – and a political universe – apart.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump spent Thursday at the US-Mexico border, a vivid display of how central the immigration issue has become to the election campaign. Since it is far from certain whether official presidential debates will happen this year, the duelling visits might be as close as it gets.
Continue reading...Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith rejects Access to Family Building Act, saying bill is ‘vast overreach full of poison pills’
Senate Democrats’ attempts to move forward a bill that would have granted Americans federal protections for in vitro fertilization access have failed.
The bill, sponsored by the Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth, came after a recent Alabama supreme court ruling that declared frozen embryos are children and led to the closure of multiple infertility clinics across the state.
Continue reading...Senator John Thune previously denounced Trump for role in Capitol attack in 2021 but now vows to back him in 2024 election
The No2 Republican in the US Senate, John Thune of South Dakota, endorsed for president Donald Trump – the man he previously called “inexcusable” for seeking to overturn the 2020 election and inciting the deadly January 6 attack on Congress.
Multiple media outlets reported Thune’s endorsement. They also swiftly pointed out statements made by Thune after the 2021 US Capitol attack, now linked to nine deaths, more than 1,200 arrests and hundreds of convictions, some for seditious conspiracy.
Continue reading...Actions of Kyle Parker might have crossed legal bounds that could make him an unregistered foreign agent, New York Times reports
A senior staffer who advises the US Senate on Russia policy is under investigation for making trips to Ukraine in military uniform and supplying the country’s armed forces with privately donated sniper equipment, it was reported on Monday.
The actions of Kyle Parker, chief of staff to the Helsinki commission that informs senators on issues of European security, might have crossed legal and ethical grounds that could make him an unregistered foreign agent, according to the New York Times, which reviewed a confidential report by the commission’s director and general counsel.
Continue reading...Republicans struggle to find a unified response to the state’s ruling that threw into question the legal status of human embryos
Donald Trump has voiced “strong support” for IVF treatments, days after a ruling by the Alabama supreme court threw into question the legal status of human embryos and several providers in the state cut off access to the procedure.
The former US president said that under his leadership, the Republican party “will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families”.
Continue reading...Arguments that led to Alabama supreme court ruling that embryos are ‘extrauterine children’ similar to Missouri senator’s in 2013 case
Anti-abortion arguments made in the recent controversial Alabama supreme court decision, which led to the shut down of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in nearly half of the state’s clinics, echo those made by the Republican US senator Josh Hawley.
The Missouri lawmaker made similar arguments in 2013 and when he worked on the legal team arguing the “Hobby Lobby” case on contraception before the US supreme court.
Continue reading...British foreign secretary argues blockage of $61bn aid package in Congress strengthens China and undermines confidence in US
David Cameron has said that the continued US failure to supply arms to Ukraine would undermine its own security, strengthen China and cast doubt on America’s reliability as an ally around the world.
The UK foreign secretary, who attended the G20 meeting in Brazil earlier in the week, admitted that the effort to rally global support for the Ukrainian cause had been “damaged” by the fact that neither the US nor the UK had voted for a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. But he argued the damage had been mitigated by the UK’s clarification of its position.
Continue reading...House speaker also attacks Biden as unfit for office and plays down New York Democrat win; Democrats decry impeachment as ‘sham’
After the special counsel Robert Hur’s report, Mike Johnson says Biden is not fit to hold office.
“The DOJ is indicting one president with politically motivated charges and they are now carrying the water for another amid very similar allegations,” he said. “A man too incapable of being held accountable for handling classified information is certainly unfit for the Oval Office.”
Continue reading...Pre-dawn vote comes amid growing doubts about fate of legislation in Republican-controlled House of Representatives
After weeks of setbacks and delays, the US Senate gave final approval to a $95bn wartime aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other American allies early on Tuesday morning, sending the bill to the Republican-controlled House where its fate is uncertain.
In a pre-dawn vote, the Senate passed the measure 70 to 29, easily clearing the 60-vote threshold needed to pass most legislation in the chamber. Nearly all Democrats and 22 Republicans approved the bill, which exposed deep divisions within the GOP over America’s responsibility to its allies and its role on the world stage.
Continue reading...Kentucky senator who opposes the aid package has indicated he will use every tool at his disposal to delay the final vote
The House majority leader, Republican Steve Scalise of Louisiana, will return to Capitol Hill tomorrow after undergoing cancer treatment in recent weeks.
The House speaker, Republican Mike Johnson of Louisiana, welcomed Scalise back with a tweet noting that the majority leader was now in remission.
Continue reading...Ex-Maryland governor who Republicans hope can win in blue state told podcast last year sitting in Senate would be ‘really frustrating’
Larry Hogan, the former Republican governor of Maryland who on Friday announced a surprise US Senate run, told an interviewer last year he did not “have a burning desire to be a senator”, would find sitting in the Senate “really frustrating”, thought being a senator was “not where my skill set lies”, and said that though he could win a seat, “the problem was I would win and I would have to go be a senator”.
Hogan made the stark remarks, which may now come to haunt him, in an interview last May with Johanna Maska, host of the Press Advance podcast and a former White House aide to Barack Obama.
Continue reading...Zelenskiy aide says ‘foreign policy has become a hostage of internal politics’ after Republicans torpedo aid bill
The repeated failure of the Biden administration to get a funding package for Ukraine approved by the Senate will have real consequences in terms of lives on the battlefield and Kyiv’s ability to hold off Russian forces on the frontline, say Ukrainian officials.
The latest move by Senate Republicans to torpedo a bipartisan bill that would have combined $60bn (£48bn) in aid for Ukraine with aid to Israel and increased border security measures is a bitter blow for Kyiv. It could signal a very grim year ahead as the US political agenda settles into an election year with Donald Trump all but certain to be the Republican candidate.
Continue reading...Bipartisan bill, brokered by the White House and group of senators from both sides, is likely to fail due to Republican opposition
The Senate appeared ready to move forward on Wednesday with a planned procedural vote on the bipartisan border and national security bill, even as the legislation looked increasingly likely to fail due to entrenched opposition among Republicans.
The $118bn bill would grant the president a new power to shut down the border when daily crossings pass a certain limit while also expediting the asylum review process, which could lead to a quicker deportation for many migrants. The bill would provide $60bn in military assistance for Ukraine, $14bn in security assistance for Israel and $10bn in humanitarian assistance for civilians affected by war in Ukraine, Gaza and the West Bank.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. For more on Biden’s address, you can read our full story:
This right here is what Joe Biden, most Democrats and the apparently dwindling number of Republicans who support the immigration bill are up against.
The House speaker, Mike Johnson, is leading the campaign against the compromise legislation, which would enact hardline policies Democrats generally oppose while also sending military assistance to Ukraine and Israel. In remarks today, he expressed approval at reports that the deal is on “life support” in the Senate:
Continue reading...Senate bill includes aid to Ukraine and Israel, as House tries to advance bill with Israel aid only, which Biden says he would veto
Joe Biden urged Congress to pass the bipartisan border bill in a pointed speech on Tuesday, accusing Republicans of “caving” in to Donald Trump’s demands to block the legislation from advancing.
“All indications are this bill won’t even move forward to the Senate floor. Why? A simple reason: Donald Trump. Because Donald Trump thinks it’s bad for him politically,” Biden said at the White House. “He’d rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it.”
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