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.

Continue reading...

Supreme court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson tells Senate ‘I decide cases from a neutral posture’ – as it happened

With the clack of a gavel, Senate Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin opened the hearing. He began by noting Thomas’s hospitalization and wishing him a speedy recovery. He then laid out the rules, asking the audience to remain respectful and vowing to remove any loud or unruly protesters.

He then moved into the meat of his argument, touching on the significance of her nomination.

Continue reading...

Mitch McConnell: Republicans who support Putin ‘lonely voices’ in party

Senate minority leader dodges invitation to say such Republicans should be ejected from party or face disciplinary measures

Republicans who support Vladimir Putin over the Russian invasion of Ukraine are “lonely voices” in the party, Mitch McConnell said.

But the Senate minority leader dodged an invitation to say such Republicans should be ejected from the party or at least face disciplinary measures.

Continue reading...

US not optimistic about Ukraine talks as Zelenskiy ups pressure on Biden

  • Ukraine president raises specter of ‘third world war’
  • Biden to travel to Poland on Friday
  • US president pressed to increase military aid ahead of Nato visit
  • Ukraine – live coverage

Joe Biden’s ambassador to the United Nations warned on Sunday there was little immediate hope of a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine, as pressure continued to build on the US president ahead of a crucial Nato summit in Europe this week.

Biden, who faces growing dissatisfaction over his approach to the war, will travel to Brussels on Thursday and then on to Poland, it was announced on Sunday night. He will hear a proposal from Poland for Nato to send a peacekeeping force into Ukraine, something Linda Thomas-Greenfield said was unlikely.

Continue reading...

Liz Cheney does not regret vote against Trump Ukraine impeachment

January 6 committee member splits from fellow Republican Adam Kinzinger but says first impeachment informs panel’s work

Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the January 6 committee, does not regret her vote against Donald Trump’s first impeachment, for withholding military aid to Ukraine in an attempt to extract dirt on rivals including Joe Biden.

But Cheney also said on Sunday she was focused on lessons learned from that impeachment as she pursues the investigation of the deadly Capitol attack, the event which led to Trump’s second Senate trial.

Continue reading...

Marina Ovsyannikova, Russian TV protester, decries Putin propaganda

‘I could see security dragging people away,’ says editor fined for walking into shot with sign saying ‘No War’

The Russian TV editor who interrupted a news broadcast to protest the Ukraine war said on Sunday she acted out of dissatisfaction at propaganda disseminated by Vladimir Putin’s government, and said she had turned down an offer of asylum in France despite fearing further retaliation.

Marina Ovsyannikova, who describes herself as “a patriot”, was fined 30,000 roubles ($280) by a court in Moscow last week for the “spontaneous” act of rebellion in which she appeared during the live newscast with a sign saying “No War”.

Continue reading...

US likely to see Covid cases rise from Omicron subvariant, Fauci says

Biden’s chief medical adviser also says the US is ‘clearly going in the right direction’ on the pandemic

The US is likely to see an increase in Covid cases like that in Europe and the UK thanks to the BA.2 virus subvariant but not a dangerous surge, Anthony Fauci said on Sunday.

Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser also said the US was “clearly going in the right direction” on the coronavirus pandemic.

Continue reading...

Republican Hawley’s attack on supreme court nominee Jackson is wrong, says senator

Senate judiciary committee chair Dick Durbin says Hawley’s attacks should be ignored in confirmation hearings this week

The Missouri Republican Josh Hawley is wrong to attack Ketanji Brown Jackson, Joe Biden’s supreme court nominee, and should be ignored in confirmation hearings this week, the Senate judiciary chair said.

Hawley, the Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin said, is “part of the fringe within the Republican party … a man who was fist-bumping the murderous mob that descended on the Capitol on 6 January of the last year.

Continue reading...

‘Mosquito in a nudist colony’: Republican Ron Johnson targets Fauci and Hunter Biden

Wisconsin senator says if GOP retakes control it will use committees to move against Democrats and Biden

Hunter Biden and Anthony Fauci will be prime targets of Senate Republicans should the party win control in November, a senior senator said.

Asked by the Hill what he would want to investigate should he control a committee with subpoena power, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said: “Like everything? It’s like a mosquito in a nudist colony, it’s a target-rich environment.”

Continue reading...

Stacey Abrams made president of Earth in Star Trek cameo

Candidate for governor in Georgia and self-confessed superfan makes appearance in season four finale of Star Trek: Discovery

The Georgia gubernatorial candidate and voting rights campaigner Stacey Abrams has been made president – of United Earth.

The honour was bestowed by the Paramount+ TV series Star Trek: Discovery, in its season four finale.

Continue reading...

Pressure mounts on Koch Industries to halt business in Russia

While hundreds of companies have paused operations, three Koch subsidiaries are still operating in the country

Pressure is mounting on Koch Industries, the conglomerate run by the rightwing billionaire Charles Koch, to pull out of Russia after it was revealed it was continuing to do business in Russia through three wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Hundreds of companies including Coca-Cola, KPMG, McDonald’s, Netflix and Starbucks have paused operations in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. But, as news site Popular Information revealed last week, three Koch subsidiaries are still operating in the country.

Continue reading...

Progressive Democrats set out list of executive orders to push Biden agenda

Congressional Progressive Caucus urges president to bypass legislative logjam and give Democrats record to campaign on

The leftwing Congressional Progressive Caucus unveiled its highly anticipated list of suggested executive orders on Thursday, outlining a strategy for Joe Biden to advance Democrats’ policy priorities in the US while much of his legislative agenda has stalled on Capitol Hill.

The move reflects pressure from the left of the Democratic party to try to keep Biden pushing an ambitious program of action, despite setbacks and as November’s midterm elections are widely expected to favor a resurgent Republican party.

Continue reading...

Biden calls Putin a war criminal after Zelenskiy speaks to Congress

Ukrainian president receives standing ovation as he urges US to send more military aid and impose further sanctions

Joe Biden has denounced Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, delivering his sharpest rebuke yet of the Russian leader just hours after the Ukrainian president pleaded with Congress to provide more aid to his country.

“I think he is a war criminal,” Biden said of Putin on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden calls Vladimir Putin a ‘war criminal’ – as it happened

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed the US Congress seated in a high-backed office chair with a plain white wall behind him and a prominently-displayed Ukrainian flag to his right.

He was neatly turned out with a trimmed beard and wearing what has become his characteristic combat-green tee shirt, since Russia invaded Ukraine last month and he was forced to shelter in a hidden bunker somewhere in Kyiv with his top team.

Continue reading...

Biden to visit Nato and EU in Brussels as pressure over Ukraine increases – as it happened

If spending legislation remains stalled in Congress, the US will soon run out of funding for Covid booster shots, new treatments and testing efforts, a Biden administration official told NBC News.

To recap: the White House requested $22.5bn in Covid relief funding. Democrats negotiated the funding down to $15bn, but still had to take it out of the $1.5tn omnibus package in order for it to pass.

Continue reading...

Proud Boys leader had plans to ‘storm’ government buildings on 6 January

Enrique Tarrio possessed document titled ‘1776 Returns’, with details to invade and occupy seven buildings, New York Times says

The former leader of the Proud Boys, a violent far-right nationalist group whose members were prominent in the January 6 riot, was found in possession of comprehensive plans to “surveil and storm” government buildings, prosecutors said.

Enrique Tarrio, the group’s former chairman who was arrested last week and charged with conspiracy over the deadly attack, had a nine-page document entitled “1776 Returns”, named for the year of American independence, the New York Times reported.

Continue reading...

Rising US isolationism means Australia must become more resilient and autonomous, thinktank warns

United States Studies Centre finds Americans are not convinced the Indo-Pacific should be a priority region for the Biden administration

Voters in the US are not convinced the Indo-Pacific should be a priority region for the Biden administration, and isolationist sentiment in the country continues to rise, according to a new analysis by the United States Studies Centre.

The new USSC State of the United States report, to be launched in Canberra at an event on Wednesday with the defence minister, Peter Dutton, Labor frontbenchers Penny Wong and Brendan O’Connor, and US congressman Joe Courtney, finds support for the US alliance with Canberra remains strong.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Manchin ‘very reluctant’ on electric cars in ominous sign for Biden’s climate fight

Centrist Democrat, who holds key swing vote in US Senate, has poured scorn on the idea of phasing out gasoline and diesel cars

Faced with rising gasoline prices, many Americans are now looking to switch to an electric car. But the shift away from fossil fuel vehicles has been criticized by Senator Joe Manchin, who has said he is “very reluctant” to see the proliferation of battery-powered cars.

There has been a surge in interest in buying electric vehicles (EVs) in the wake of the war in Ukraine, analysts say, with drivers in the US unnerved by gasoline prices that have surpassed $4.30 a gallon as a result of the conflict and the supply chain issues from the pandemic.

Continue reading...

Trump accused of campaign finance violations in FEC complaint

Democratic Pac alleges former president is raising campaign money without announcing candidacy

A Democratic fundraising organization has announced that it is filing a complaint to the Federal Election Commission in which it accuses former president Donald Trump of violating campaign finance laws by spending political funds for a 2024 presidential bid without officially declaring his 2024 candidacy.

The American Bridge Super Pac, which filed the complaint on Monday, said in the complaint that “Trump has been illegally using his multi-candidate leadership PAC to raise and spend funds in excess of Commission limits for the purpose of advancing a 2024 presidential campaign.

Continue reading...

White House warns of ‘significant consequences’ if China aids Russia – as it happened

The process to approve Joe Biden’s nominees for Federal Reserve board - including the Federal Reserve chair - have all been stalled over one particular nominee: Sarah Bloom Raskin, wife of Jamie Raskin, a Democratic member of Congress.

Last month, Republicans refused to attend the meeting to move the nomination process forward. They wanted senator Sherrod Brown, chair of the banking committee reviewing the nominations, to separate Raskin from the other four nominees, but Brown refused - a move the White House supported. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said if Republicans disagreed with the nomination, they should vote that way, but that it was irresponsible to not show up and do their jobs.

Continue reading...