BooksMelania Trump like Marie Antoinette, says former aide in hotly awaited bookStephanie Grisham says former first lady refused to condemn Capitol attackers and believed husband’s lie about election fraud Martin Pengelly in New York@ More
US Capitol attackSix US Capitol police officers could face discipline for 6 January actionsInternal investigation recommends disciplinary measures against officers but none will face criminal charges Richard Luscombe@ More
The White House has confirmed that Trump appointees to military service academy advisory boards, among them former press secretary Sean Spicer and adviser Kellyanne Conway, have been asked to step down or be fired. During a White House press briefing Jen Psaki responded to questions about whether this risked politicising these appointments: ‘I will let others evaluate whether they think Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer and others were qualified, or not political, to serve on these boards, but the president’s qualification requirements are not your party registration, they are whether you’re qualified to serve and whether you’re aligned with the values of this administration.’
Biden asks Sean Spicer and Kellyanne Conway to quit military academy boards More
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked for her response to Texas governor Greg Abbott’s latest defense of the six-week abortion ban in his state. Abbott pledged to ‘eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas’ when he was asked why rape and incest victims should be forced to carry a pregnancy to term. Psaki said in response: ‘If governor Abbott has a means of eliminating all rapists or all rape from the US then there’d be bipartisan support for that’. She went on to say that no leader in the history of the world has been able to eliminate rape and that is one of the many reasons that women in Texas should have access to safe abortions through their healthcare.
White House derides Abbott’s vow to ‘eliminate’ rape amid criticism of Texas abortion ban – live
AOC on Texas governor’s ‘disgusting’ abortion remarks: ‘He is not familiar with a female body’ More
US president Joe Biden has emphasised the danger of the climate crisis after touring Hurricane Ida-impacted neighbourhoods. ‘People are beginning to realise this is much, much bigger than anyone was willing to believe,’ Biden said during a tour of Queens, New York. ‘Even the climate skeptics are seeing that this really does matter.’
Biden surveys Hurricane Ida damage and warns ‘climate change was here’ – live More
House of RepresentativesLiz Cheney named vice-chair of House panel investigating Capitol attackAnnouncement is likely to increase criticism of three-term House member from lawmakers closely aligned with Trump R More
The US state of Texas has enacted the strictest anti-abortion law in the country, banning all abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy – before most women know they are pregnant. The law gives private citizens the power to sue abortion providers and anyone who ‘aids or abets’ an abortion after six weeks. Citizens who win such lawsuits would be entitled to at least $10,000. There is concern this will spur abortion ‘bounty hunters’
Biden condemns Texas abortion law that ‘blatantly violates’ constitution – live
Democrats condemn supreme court for failing to block Texas abortion law
Most extreme abortion law in US takes effect in Texas More
‘This is not the first threat to Roe we’ve seen in a state across the country. It’s an extreme threat,’ the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said after one of the most restrictive state abortion laws went into effect in Texas. Psaki said the Biden administration would fight to protect the constitutional right to abortion as laid out in the landmark Roe v Wade case
Biden condemns Texas abortion law that ‘blatantly violates’ constitution – live
Democrats condemn supreme court for failing to block Texas abortion law
Most extreme abortion law in US takes effect in Texas More
