Senator John Fetterman vows to block ‘outrageous’ $14.9bn US Steel sale

Former mayor of Pennsylvania town of Braddock has long advocated for rights of US steel workers

The US senator John Fetterman has vowed to block the multibillion-dollar sale of US Steel to the Japanese company Nippon Steel, calling the potential deal “outrageous”.

The former mayor of the south-west Pennsylvania town of Braddock, which is home to a major US Steel plant, Fetterman has long advocated for the rights of American steel workers and positioned himself as a pro-union Democrat.

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Senator ‘disappointed’ in staffer allegedly filmed having sex in hearing room

Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland – due to retire in 2025 – said Aidan Maese-Czeropski is ‘no longer a Senate employee’

The US senator Ben Cardin said he is “angry” and “disappointed” in a now-former staffer who allegedly recorded himself having sex in a Capitol Hill hearing room.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, the Maryland Democrat declined to elaborate on either the ex-staffer or the episode, video of which was leaked. But Cardin said he considered the entire sequence “a breach of trust”.

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Senate staffer loses job after allegedly having sex in hearing room

Video surfaced in which Aidan Maese-Czeropski was allegedly having sex in the judiciary hearing room

A Senate staffer accused of filming himself having sex in a congressional hearing room is threatening legal action after getting fired.

The explicit footage, published by the Daily Caller on Friday, shows two men having sex in what appears to be Hart 216, the judiciary room. Aidan Maese-Czeropski, a legislative aide for Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, was widely named on social media as one of the men in the footage.

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Bernie Sanders demands answers on Israel’s ‘indiscriminate’ Gaza bombing

Senator introduces resolution to investigate ‘humanitarian cataclysm … being done with American bombs and money’

The US’s support for Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza is facing new scrutiny in Washington following a resolution by the independent senator Bernie Sanders that could ultimately be used to curtail military assistance.

It is far from clear whether Sanders has the support to pass the resolution, but its introduction in the Senate this week – by an important progressive ally of the US president Joe Biden – highlights mounting human rights and political concerns by Democrats on Capitol Hill.

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Giuliani’s defamatory claims have ‘significant, negative and long-lasting impact’ on election workers, expert witness says – live

Ashlee Humphreys, a Northwestern professor, testifies that Giuliani’s claims against plaintiffs have significant effects on their reputations

Ashlee Humphreys said in court that prior to 3 December, 2020, there was almost no search traffic for “Ruby Freeman”, the Guardian’s Sam Levine reports.

Afterwards, there was an increase, she said.

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Clarence Thomas pressured to recuse himself from Trump immunity case

Senate Democrats argue justice poses potential conflict of interest because his wife has previously supported Trump’s election lies

Senate Democrats are pressuring the supreme court justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from deciding whether Donald Trump has immunity from prosecution for alleged crimes he committed while president.

Democrats have argued that Thomas poses a potential conflict of interest because his wife, Ginni Thomas, has previously supported Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen, the Hill reported.

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Kevin McCarthy, ousted House speaker, says he will leave Congress at end of the year – US politics live

McCarthy, who was ousted from the House weeks ago, said in his announcement, ‘I’m leaving the House but not the fight’

Former speaker Kevin McCarthy has announced that he will resign from the House at the end of the year.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published on Wednesday and titled “I’m leaving the House but not the fight,” McCarthy said that he had decided to depart the House at the end of this year and “serve America in new ways”.

I know my work is only getting started. I will continue to recruit our country’s best and brightest to run for elected office. The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders.”

“I never could have imagined the journey when I first threw my hat into the ring. I go knowing I left it all on the field—as always, with a smile on my face. And looking back, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Only in America.”

“Common sense should dictate that we need to secure our own border in addition to helping Ukraine and Israel secure theirs. In the greatest country on Earth, we do not have to choose between protecting our homeland and defending our allies.

My support for Israel and Ukraine is unwavering but it does not supersede my commitment to my own country. We need major, structural reforms to limit the number of illegal crossings at our southern border and regain operational control.

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US ‘out of money’ for Ukraine: six things to know about the aid standoff

White House urges Congress to approve extra funding for war against Russia – but hard-right Republicans are holding out

The White House issued an urgent warning to Congress on Monday, predicting that Ukraine will soon lose ground in its war against Russia without another infusion of financial aid from the US.

“I want to be clear: without congressional action, by the end of the year we will run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from US military stocks,” Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in her letter to congressional leaders.

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Offering to fight union leader was just ‘Oklahoma values’, senator claims

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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House speaker Mike Johnson faces race against the clock as shutdown is just days away – US politics live

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.

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US Democratic senator Joe Manchin will not seek re-election in 2024

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.

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Leftist Democrats invoke human rights law in scrutiny of Israel military aid

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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Democrats grow nervous over Israel’s conduct in Gaza as Senate leader vows not to consider House security bill – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. For the latest reporting on US politics’ involvement with the Israel-Hamas war, read our latest report:

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.

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View on Israel-Gaza emerges as rare divide for California’s Senate hopefuls

Democratic rivals Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee and Katie Porter have near identical platforms and Israel-Gaza could be a deciding factor

As three leading California Democrats vie for a rare opening in the Senate, the Israeli offensive in Gaza has exposed rare fault lines in the candidates’ otherwise aligned platforms.

Following Hamas’s attack on Israel last month, all three leading candidates in the race to fill Dianne Feinstein’s seat – representatives Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff and Katie Porter – condemned the group’s actions. But as Israel ramped up its attacks on Gaza in retaliation, their divergent approaches to foreign policy became clear.

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Bob Menendez pleads not guilty to charges of acting as an agent of Egypt

The Democratic senator stepped down from the foreign relations committee chair after accusations of being a foreign agent

Bob Menendez returned to court in New York on Monday and entered a not guilty plea to a charge alleging that the US senator conspired to act as an agent of the Egyptian government when he chaired the Senate foreign relations committee.

Menendez, 69, spoke up to say “not guilty” when offered the chance to make his plea during his first appearance before Judge Sidney Stein at federal court in lower Manhattan. Stein is expected to preside over a trial tentatively scheduled for May.

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Mitch McConnell backs Biden’s $106bn aid request for Israel and Ukraine

Republican Senate minority leader says he and president are ‘in the same place’ on support linked to both conflicts

Mitch McConnell offered a strong endorsement on Sunday of the Joe Biden White House’s $106bn aid proposal to Israel and Ukraine, saying he and the president were essentially “in the same place” on the issue.

McConnell, the powerful Republican leader in the Senate, also rebuffed some of his GOP colleagues in the Senate who have called for a package separating assistance for the two countries, saying it would be “a mistake” during an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation.

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US senators to reportedly visit Middle East to show support for Israel

Lindsey Graham, who said he wants to see Gaza ‘levelled’, among bipartisan group expected to visit Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt

A bipartisan congressional delegation will visit the Middle East on Friday in a high-profile gesture of support for Israel following the Hamas attacks, it was reported on Thursday.

Among the group’s most prominent members is the Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who has prompted outrage in some quarters with his aggressive criticism of Hamas combined with a seeming lack of regard for Palestinian civilian lives, saying he wants to see Gaza flattened.

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Kari Lake, Trump ally and election denier, announces Senate bid in Arizona

Republican who lost state governor’s race but never conceded has challenged her defeat in court, so far unsuccessfully

Kari Lake, the Republican candidate who lost the race for Arizona governor but never conceded her loss, announced a run for US Senate in the western state Tuesday.

A former TV news anchor, Lake made her move into politics by making repeated false claims about elections. She aligned closely with former president Donald Trump and has been floated as a potential running mate for Trump, who once praised Lake for her ability to constantly bring up election fraud.

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Menendez’s alleged sharing of information with Egypt risked lives of US embassy staff, ex-US official says

Former diplomat said senator’s allegedly corrupt actions could have put embassy staff in the sights of Egyptian intelligence

The lives of staff at the US embassy in Cairo may have been put in jeopardy by the indicted Democratic senator Bob Menendez’s alleged sharing of sensitive personnel information with the Egyptian government, according to former senior US officials who said the charges represented a grave betrayal of trust.

The New Jersey senator temporarily stepped down from his powerful position as chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee in September after he was indicted by federal prosecutors in New York on corruption charges, including allegations that he accepted cash bribes and gold bars in exchange for breaching his duties “in ways that benefited the government of Egypt”.

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Laphonza Butler sworn in to US Senate to fill Dianne Feinstein’s seat

Butler becomes only the third Black female senator in history, following the death of Feinstein last week at age 90

In a unique and historic moment on Capitol Hill, former union leader and Democratic strategist Laphonza Butler was sworn in by Kamala Harris on Tuesday as the newest member of the Senate, replacing California Senator Dianne Feinstein after her death last week and becoming only the third Black female senator in history.

Butler, 44, was appointed by California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, on Sunday, just two days after Feinstein died at her home in Washington DC. Butler is a longtime fundraiser and strategist in California’s Democratic circles and was the head of Emily’s List, a national organization that raises money for female candidates who support abortion rights.

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