Biden announces US will donate another 500m vaccine doses at Covid summit – live

Florida’s surgeon general Joseph Ladapo has issued a new emergency rule that parents can decide whether or not their children should quarantine after being exposed to someone who tested positive for Covid-19.

Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Lapado, who has been skeptical of research-backed public health measures like mask-wearing, lockdowns and vaccines to curb the spread of coronavirus, would be the state’s new surgeon general on Tuesday. The Republican governor has tried to ban schools from enforcing mask mandates.

The new rule states that parents rather than school administrations, must be the ones to decide asymptomatic kids who have been exposed to the virus should quarantine.

It was “important to respect the rights of parents”, Ladapo said.

The new emergency rule will replace a previous rule requiring students to quarantine for four days after being exposed.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi said the chamber is “on schedule” to hold a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill on Monday.

Asked whether the House will also be ready to vote on the reconciliation package by Monday, as progressive lawmakers have demanded, Pelosi did not give a concrete answer.

“We’re calm, and everybody’s good, and our work’s almost done,” Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill.

The Democratic speaker met with Joe Biden at the White House this afternoon, as progressives threaten to block the infrastructure bill over their concerns about the reconciliation package.

The White House shared a photo from Joe Biden’s phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron earlier today.

“Today I spoke with President Emmanuel Macron of France, and reaffirmed the importance of French and European engagement in the Indo-Pacific region,” Biden said in a tweet that included the photo.

“I look forward to a process of in-depth consultations and to meeting with him in October.”

Asked about the two leaders’ conversation during the White House press briefing, Jen Psaki said the call was “friendly” and lasted around 30 minutes.

“It was one where we’re hopeful and the president is hopeful this is a step in returning to normal,” Psaki said of the phone call.

Psaki did not explicitly say whether Biden apologized to Macron for failing to give him advance notice about the Aukus defense deal, instead telling reporters, “He acknowledged that there could have been greater consultation.”

Civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, who have represented the family of George Floyd, expressed “extreme disappointment” over the collapse of police reform talks in Congress.

“In the last year and a half, we have witnessed hundreds of thousands of Americans urging lawmakers to bring desperately needed change to policing in this country so there can be greater accountability, transparency, and ultimately trust in policing,” the lawyers said in a statement.

“We can not let this be a tragic, lost opportunity to regain trust between citizens and police.”

Crump and Romanucci urged Senate Democrats to bring the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House in March, to the floor “so Americans can see who is looking out for their communities’ best interests”.

In his own statement on the collapse of the police reform negotiations, Democratic Senator Cory Booker said the talks failed because there was “too wide a gulf with our negotiating partners”.

“We made it clear from the beginning of our negotiations that a bill must ensure true accountability, transparency, and the policing standards necessary to bring an end to horrific incidents of violence Americans are routinely seeing — like the murder of George Floyd,” Booker said.

“After months of exhausting every possible pathway to a bipartisan deal, it remains out of reach right now, even after working collaboratively with and securing the support of policing groups like the Fraternal Order of Police and International Association of Chiefs of Police for our proposals.”

Echoing fellow Democratic negotiator Karen Bass, Booker said the time had come to “explore all other options to achieve meaningful and common sense policing reform”.

“I will not stop fighting until we achieve change that keeps our communities and police officers safe,” Booker concluded.

Jen Psaki said Joe Biden was “disappointed” that the bipartisan negotiations over the police reform bill collapsed without a deal today.

“Unfortunately, Republicans rejected reforms that even the previous president had supported and refused to engage on key issues that many in law enforcement were willing to address,” Psaki said.

The press secretary noted Biden was “greatly appreciative” for congresswoman Karen Bass and senator Cory Booker’s efforts in the negotiations.

Psaki said Biden would be meeting with members of Congress, law enforcement groups and civil rights advocates in the weeks to come to discuss a path forward, “including potential executive actions” that he can take on police reform.

Jen Psaki said the White House is “certainly” concerned about the possibility of the government shutting down next week if a funding bill is not approved.

“Until a [continuing resolution] has passed that funds the government, we’ll certainly have a concern,” the White House press secretary said. “But our goal and our focus is on preventing that from happening.”

Noting that the House has already passed a bill to fund the government and suspend the debt ceiling until December, the press secretary expressed hope of the situation being resolved soon.

However, the House-passed bill faces dim prospects in the evenly divided Senate, where Republican leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to block any effort to raise the debt ceiling.

Jen Psaki was asked about Joe Biden’s meetings today with members of Congress to discuss the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the $3.5tn reconciliation package.

One reporter pressed Psaki on whether this marks a “make or break” moment for the two bills, which encompass much of the president’s economic agenda.

The press secretary declined to characterize the meetings in that way, instead saying, “This is an important moment. We are in a pivotal period in our negotiations and discussions.”

One reporter asked Jen Psaki whether Joe Biden apologized to Emmanuel Macron for how the Aukus deal was announced.

“He acknowledged that there could have been greater consultation,” the White House press secretary said. “There was agreement that we wanted to move forward in our relationship.”

Asked if Biden held national security adviser Jake Sullivan responsible for the dust-up with France, Psaki replied, “He holds himself responsible.”