Closing summary
Our live coverage is ending now. In the meantime, you can find all of our live US politics coverage here. Here is a summary of the key developments from today:
Democrats and the White House have reached a deal to avoid a government shutdown, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer’s office confirmed to the Guardian. The deal will advance a package of spending bills, while separating a Department of Homeland Security spending bill from the package. The agreement will include funding for DHS for two weeks at current levels, while Democrats continue negotiating further guardrails on immigration agents in light of the recent fatal shootings in Minneapolis. However, a government shutdown could still be coming, with Senate majority leader John Thune saying it “remains to be seen” whether the chamber will approve the deal tonight and House speaker Mike Johnson saying the earliest the House could take floor action may be Monday.
Donald Trump sued the US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service for $10bn over an unauthorized disclosure of his tax returns during his first term, Bloomberg News reports. Trump famously broke precedent by not releasing his tax returns while running for, and then attaining, the presidency.
Trump will announce his choice to replace Jerome Powell as head the Federal Reserve tomorrow, he says. Powell’s term as chair of the reserve ends in May.
Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic US senator and one-time presidential candidate, announced she will run for governor of Minnesota, an expected move after the incumbent governor, Tim Walz, dropped out of the race in early January.
Matt Mahan, the moderate Democrat and mayor of San Jose, California, announced on Thursday that he would run for governor, joining a sprawling but stagnant field to succeed Gavin Newsom.
The Justice Department filed charges against the man who allegedly tried to spray Democrat representative Ilhan Omar with a “mixture of water and apple cider vinegar” from a syringe during a town hall in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan held a news conference in Minneapolis today, where he said ‘no agency is perfect’ but did not mention the fatal shootings of US citizens by immigration agents there this month.
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey addressed the US Conference of Mayors in Washington, where he said “we won’t be intimidated”. He said the leaders of cities across the country are “on the frontlines of a very important battle”.
The top Democrats on Senate and House national intelligence committees questioned why Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, appeared at an FBI search of a Georgia election office this week. In a letter to Gabbard, senator Mark Warner and congressman Jim Hines wrote, “The Intelligence Community should be focused on foreign threats”.
Massachusetts governor Maura Healey announced that she plans to file legislation that would bar federal immigration officers from schools, courthouses, hospitals and churches and make it illegal for another state to deploy its National Guard in the state. Meanwhile, Josh Shapiro said Pennsylvania is preparing to respond if federal agents begin an immigration operation there as they have in Minnesota and other states.
Trump signed an executive order to create a “White House Great American Recovery Initiative” focused on addiction treatment. At an Oval Office sigining ceremony, the president appeared alongside health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and Kathryn Burgum, who is married to interior secretary Doug Burgum. The pair will be co-chairing the initiative.
The United States Treasury will allow US entities to engage in Venzuela’s oil industry under a new license announced today. The news comes as Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez signed a law today to open the country’s oil sector to privatization. Also today, the Department of Transportation rescinded a 2019 order that prohibited all US airlines from flying to Venezuela.
The Department of Transportation has rescinded a 2019 order that prohibited all US airlines from flying to Venezuela.
The 2019 order came during Donald Trump’s first presidency, when the Department of Homeland Security determined that conditions in Venezuela threatened the safety and security of travelers, and suspended air travel to – as well as embassy operations in – the country.
Majority leader John Thune says it “remains to be seen” whether the Senate will approve a deal to fund the government tonight, Fox News reports.
Earlier today, Donald Trump and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats and the White House had reached a deal to keep the government open by separating out a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which would be funded for only two-weeks while negotiations around immigration enforcement continue.
Donald Trump is currently attending the premiere of First Lady Melania Trump’s documentary, alongside other members of his cabinet.
Amazon MGM Studios financed the movie, “Melania”, at $75mn. Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos also contributed substantially to the president’s inaugural fund.
The studio paid $40mn to license the film and a forthcoming docuseries, and $35mn to promote and distribute the movie, Reuters reports.
House speaker Mike Johnson says the government could be headed to a “short shutdown situation” because the earliest the House will take floor action on funding bills could be Monday.
“We want to get the government funded, as does the president, so respect whatever he was able to negotiate there, and we’ll deal with it,” Johnson told reporters at the premiere of First Lady Melania Trump’s documentary at the Kennedy Center.
The Senate is expected to vote on a funding deal, reached earlier today, tonight. The House of Representatives requires that the text of bills be available 72 hours before a vote, Johnson said.
Without a funding package, the government will partially shut down at 12:01 am on Saturday.
At the premiere of his wife Melania’s documentary at the Kennedy Center today, Donald Trump told reporters he hopes to speak to Iranian leadership.
“We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn’t have to use them,” he said.
Donald Trump will announce his choice to replace Jerome Powell as head the Federal Reserve tomorrow, he just told reporters. Powell’s term as chair of the reserve ends in May.
On his way in to watch a screening of a new documentary about his wife, in what the White House now calls the Trump Kennedy Center, the president said: “I’ll be naming the Fed tomorrow morning. I’ve chosen a very good person to head the Fed. I’ll be putting that out tomorrow morning.”
Trump has long feuded with Powell over interest rates. As my colleague Lauren Aratani reported yesterday: “The Trump administration has put unprecedented pressure on the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, to cut rates, with Donald Trump launching personal attacks on Powell and the justice department opening a criminal investigation into his handling of the refurbishment of the central bank’s offices.”
Donald Trump has sued the US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service for $10bn over an unauthorized disclosure of his tax returns during his first term, Bloomberg News reports.
Trump famously broke precedent by not releasing his tax returns while running for, and then attaining, the presidency. Ahead of the 2020 election, the New York Times published a report based on data leaked by a former IRS contractor.
The IRS and Treasury “had a duty to safeguard and protect plaintiffs’ confidential tax returns and related tax return information from such unauthorized inspection and public disclosure,” Trump’s lawsuit reads.
Trump has filed a number of lawsuits since returning to the presidency, seeking damages totaling more than $50bn, Bloomberg reports.
Here’s our past coverage of the details of Trump’s tax returns that were made public in 2022:
As news of a government funding deal emerges, progressive organizations including MoveOn Civic Action are denouncing a “weak” deal with “zero ICE accountability”.
“Leader Schumer should ask the Minnesotans who are watching their neighbors get killed in cold blood if a deal with no plan to stop ICE is enough right now,” said MoveOn Civic Action spokesperson Britt Jacovich.
Donald Trump threatened Canada with 50% tariffs on “any and all Aircraft” it sells in the United States, citing the country’s decision not to certify Gulfstream jets made in the United States.
“We are hereby decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses, and all Aircraft made in Canada, until such time as Gulfstream, a Great American Company, is fully certified,” the president wrote on his social media platform. He added that he would levy the tariff if “this situation is not immediately corrected”.
Trump has repeatedly threatened the United States’s northern neighbor with tariffs, including most recently if Canada made a deal with China:
The United States Treasury will allow US entities to engage in Venzuela’s oil industry under a new license announced today. The license specifically prohibits entities from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea or Cuba from the transactions.
The news comes as Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez signed a law today to open the country’s oil sector to privatization.
Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba, according to the White House.
Democrats and the White House have reached a deal to avoid a government shutdown, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer’s office has confirmed to the Guardian.
The deal will advance a package of spending bills, while separating a Department of Homeland Security spending bill from the package. The agreement will include funding for DHS for two weeks at current levels, while Democrats continue negotiating further guardrails on immigration agents in light of the recent fatal shootings in Minneapolis.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
