US Politics

US fails to give money promised for developing countries to ease climate impactsSpending bill passed by Senate includes less than $1bn in climate assistance for poorer nations even though Biden promised $11.4bn The US has risked alienating developing countries hit hardest by the climate crisis, after Congress delivered just a fraction of the money promised by Joe Biden to help poorer nations adapt to worsening storms, floods and droughts.Biden has promised $11.4bn each year for developing countries to ease climate impacts and help them shift to renewable energy but the vast $1.7tn spending bill to keep the US government running, passed by the Senate on Thursday, includes less than $1bn in climate assistance for these countries.The bill, which is expected to pass the House and be signed by the president, includes $270m for adaptation programs, largely for countries in Asia and the Pacific islands, along with $260m in clean energy investment, aimed at Africa. Another $185m will go on “sustainable landscapes programs”.The failure to so far meet Biden’s pledge risks undermining the White House’s insistence that the US is committed to helping deal with the fallout of a climate crisis that it is a leading instigator of, through its huge historical and ongoing greenhouse gas emissions. Developing countries will need anything from $340bn to $2tn a year by 2030, according to various studies, to cope with the cascading impacts of global heating.Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, based in Bangladesh, said that the US’ fair share of climate aid is far beyond even what Biden promised. “So one billion is really an insult to the developing countries,” he said. “The paltry allocation of only $1bn to support the developing countries is extremely disappointing.”US environmental groups have welcomed elements of the spending bill, including a large increase in the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency and department of interior, as well as $600m for water infrastructure in Jackson, Mississippi, but criticized the glaring lack of climate aid.“Funding levels for international climate aid are woefully inadequate to meet our global commitments or do our fair share to support under-resourced countries bearing the brunt of climate impacts,” said Sara Chieffo, vice-president of government affairs at the League of Conservation Voters.Biden’s administration had made the climate spending a priority, with John Kerry, the US’s climate envoy, dispatched to lobby lawmakers. Both Biden and Kerry attended the UN Cop27 climate talks in Egypt last month and vowed the US would step up its assistance. “The climate crisis is hitting hardest those countries and communities that have the fewest resources to respond and to recover,” Biden noted in his speech to delegates at the summit, repeating his promise to extract the required money from Congress.Administration officials say the goal is to deliver the assistance by 2024 and that money could come from other sources than direct appropriations from Congress. But the likelihood of doing this becomes far more remote once Republicans, who have largely rejected the idea of providing further aid for climate damages, gain control of the House of Representatives in January.A White House spokeswoman said that the $11bn target is “a top priority for us and critical to the success of president Biden’s climate agenda. And the president has made clear that he is going to fight to see this fully funded.“Over the past several weeks and throughout the past weekend, members of the administration worked to secure funding in (financial year) 2023 that puts us on a path to achieving this goal. We will continue to work with Congress to make achieving this goal in (financial year) 2024 a reality.”TopicsClimate crisisUS politicsJoe BidennewsReuse this content More

‘Deeply personal’ Zelenskiy-Biden meeting cemented their bond, says top adviserExclusive: Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s top adviser, describes the significance of this week’s White House visit

Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates
Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to the White House confirmed that Ukraine and the US are “strategic partners” for the first time in history, the Ukrainian leader’s most senior adviser has said in an interview on his return home.Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainan president’s office, told the Guardian that the trip on Wednesday had cemented Zelenskiy’s bond with the US president, Joe Biden – and with senior US Republicans, despite “dirty” comments made by the Fox News host Tucker Carlson.The summit and press conference between the two leaders this week demonstrated “how deeply in personal attitude President Biden feels everything which is connected to Ukraine”, Yermak said, and that the US was “a real leader of the free world and democracy”.Secret train and a government plane: how Zelenskiy made his high-security trip to the US Read moreYermak’s emphasis on the personal links forged by the surprise visit, the first time Zelenskiy had been outside Ukraine since the start of the war, comes despite a failure to immediately obtain the US Abrams tanks, F-16 fighter jets and long-range army tactical missile system ATACMS that Ukraine has said it needs to defeat Russia.But it demonstrates a belief in Kyiv that Ukraine must emphasise the moral dimension of its fight against the invading Russian army and its faith in its relationship with the US to unlock more and more of the military aid it badly needs as the war heads towards its first anniversary in February.“It’s [the] first time in history that Ukraine and [the] United States are close as strategic partners. There is a very warm, very friendly relationship, [a] personal relationship between [the] two presidents,” said Yermak, who was by Zelenskiy’s side during the trip.As well as the meeting with Biden, Yermak highlighted meetings Zelenskiy had with US congressional leaders, including those with senior Republicans Mitch McConnell, the senate minority leader, and Kevin McCarthy, the leading candidate to become House speaker next month.The Ukrainian contrasted that with the attitude of Carlson, who said Zelenskiy looked like “a manager of a strip club” who should have been thrown out of Congress for wearing his trademark khaki fatigues when he addressed the country’s lawmakers.Carlson was “saying dirty things”, Yermak said, but “he’s not the voice of the Republican party, he’s not the voice of [the] GOP and I can make that conclusion after we met with representatives of [the] GOP in the Congress”.01:22During the visit, Biden did announce $1.85bn (£1.54bn) in new military assistance to Ukraine, including the delivery of a single Patriot missile defence system, a longstanding request from Kyiv to help it better defend its cities and electricity grid, now prone to repeated blackouts after sustained Russian bombing.Now back in Kyiv, speaking via a video call, Yermak said he believed this would help unlock other military support. “I hope that we will receive everything which we need and this visit will send a very strong signal for all allies that our United States believes in our victory,” the presidential aide said.Kyiv has been calling for a mixture of US and European weapons, such as the German-made Leopard tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles, as it tries to find a way to break through Russia’s frontlines in the new year.The leaders of the free world. A historic meeting of the Presidents of 🇺🇦 and the 🇺🇸 – @ZelenskyyUa and @POTUS.A great victory is ahead. 💪 pic.twitter.com/k6IIN5l9rP— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) December 21, 2022
Yermak declined to say when or where Ukraine might launch its next counterattack, but he predicted 2023 would be a decisive moment in the war. “We will do everything we can to retake our territory. I understand it will be difficult and hard work. Our great, brave nation will continue to fight. I’m sure next year really will be victory year.”Asked if victory included taking back Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, he replied: “Absolutely.” The US administration has not explicitly backed Zelenskiy’s vow to reclaim the peninsula – a mission that most analysts believe would be difficult for Ukraine’s army. The chief of staff said he did not want to speculate on Vladimir Putin’s trip this week to meet Belarus’s dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, in the capital, Minsk. A recent buildup of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine has fuelled fears Putin may be planning to again attack from the north, in another attempt to seize Kyiv, similar to Russia’s doomed advance in February.“We have danger along the whole border,” Yermak said, adding: “I’m not keen to know what’s going on inside Putin’s head.” He said Kyiv had received intelligence from its partners and from its frontline soldiers, and was ready for “any kind of provocation”. On Friday, the US also accused North Korea of supplying “an inital arms delivery” of missiles and rockets to the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which is fighting on behalf of the Kremlin in eastern Donbas. North Korea and Wagner have denied the report.Asked how Zelenskiy was bearing up as the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion loomed, Yermak said: “He’s OK.” He added: “Of course he’s working a lot. For him this is normal. He has worked his whole life. He’s a responsible person and deeply involved in everything: weapons, military strategy, energy and economic issues. He’s the best choice of the Ukrainian people.”A former film producer and lawyer, Yermak joined the presidential administration in 2019 after Zelenskiy’s landslide election victory. Early the following year he became chief of staff. He described his boss as the “best president” in the “current history of Ukraine”.Russia’s unprovoked invasion, he said, had propelled Zelenskiy to a level of extraordinary global acclaim: “Now Ukraine is the leader of the free world and the leader of our region. We have a strong military. We are liberating our territory and we are fighting the so-called second biggest army on the planet.”Yermak concluded: “There are terrible tragedies: we are losing the best people. But we will definitely win.”TopicsUkraineVolodymyr ZelenskiyJoe BidenVladimir PutinRussiaBelarusUS CongressnewsReuse this content More

‘A storm is coming’: migrants stuck on US-Mexico border as temperatures plummet Trump’s pandemic-era immigration restrictions lock migrants on both sides of the border in perilous situationsChristmas was not uppermost in their minds. Bitter cold, uncertainty and urgency were.Just after 1am at an intersection in downtown El Paso on Thursday, Arturo folded a backpack to make a pillow on the street. The 22-year-old Venezuelan wore a sweater underneath an oversized hoodie wrapped around his face as the temperature plummeted.‘No money, nowhere to stay’: asylum seekers wait as Trump’s border restrictions drag onRead moreA fellow countryman huddling on the concrete nearby broke the news: “Se viene una tormenta” – a storm is coming. Hundreds stuck on both sides of the US-Mexico border are being blown every which way by a legal tempest, but this was a literal, Arctic-level storm.‘Once in a generation’ freeze for Christmas as bomb cyclone hits USRead moreArturo, who asked for his last name to be withheld out of fear of being expelled back across the border, looked up at the lights of one of the tallest buildings in this Texas city, a hotel that he couldn’t afford, and spoke of wishing for a warm bed.What little he had left after a long and dangerous overland journey, which included being robbed, he was planning to spend to get to Chicago, where compatriots have promised him a construction job, he said. The work will allow him to send money back to his home town of Yaracuy in western Venezuela, a nation barely functioning for many of its citizens. The money would go to his nine-month-old daughter who was born with respiratory issues.“Each medical exam was $30 and the medicine was around $25. I was making between $15 and $25 a week,” Arturo said, while showing a photograph of his daughter on his phone. “That’s why five days after my wedding, I decided to leave.”City authorities in El Paso have been unable to shelter many sleeping rough on the streets or at the bus station in recent days after crossing the border unlawfully amid US restrictions and crises in their home countries.Eight miles away from where Arturo was shivering, Samuel Zelaya stretched a thin blanket on the floor inside El Paso’s airport.The 32-year-old from Nicaragua said he would also have been sleeping outside if it wasn’t for another migrant who told him he could spend the night at the airport. This was the fourth night in a row and the American Red Cross was giving out some food and clothing.“It’s hard when a son tells you ‘Dad, I’m starving’ and you don’t have money, that’s why I am here,” Zelaya said softly, trying not to awaken an Ecuadorian migrant sleeping on the floor nearby.After quitting his job as a cook in the Nicaraguan capital Managua, Zelaya dared a brutal 16-day trek across Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. In Juarez, the Mexican sister city to El Paso, he and other migrants had to burn their own clothes and old car tires found in the streets to stay warm, before crossing into the US.More than 800 miles away, at the eastern end of the border, where the Mexican city of Matamoros sits across the international line from Brownsville, Texas, there was a different scene.Around 3,000 people fleeing chaos, hardship and danger, mainly in Venezuela or tumultuous Haiti, have formed the kind of makeshift camp near the international bridge that some border cities have become all too accustomed to.Many face a catch-22. Try to get your name on a list asking to bypass the border restriction known as Title 42 and claim asylum in the US – but probably be unsuccessful – or avoid barriers and closed border posts, cross unlawfully and turn yourself in to federal border agents, claim asylum and probably be expelled anyway. Either way, you end up stuck and at risk in Matamoros.Arizona governor builds border wall of shipping crates in final days of officeRead moreHundreds on Wednesday formed a line to put their details onto a list arranged by Felicia Rangel-Samponaro, a co-director of the Sidewalk School, a small organization that helps people in what she refers to as refugee camps there and in Reynosa a little to the west.She submits lists to border agents, who decide which few will be granted exemption from Title 42, can apply for asylum in the US and join the unprecedented 2 million-strong backlog of people waiting for a date in immigration court.Joe Biden pledged to end the use of Title 42, Republicans have sued to keep it in place and federal courts have gone back and forth. The rule was imposed in 2020 by Donald Trump to curb Covid-19, but critics say it soon became, and remains, just another anti-immigration tool.“You have to keep in mind the exemption process may end, but all this still serves a purpose,” Rangel-Samponaro said, indicating her list, as people thronged to add their names, while volunteers locked arms and formed a human perimeter to the process, to try to keep it orderly.“We are tired of waiting,” Marielysa Rodriguez, a 25-year-old mother of twofrom Venezuela, said on Wednesday. “Everything is a list.”Rodriguez, her husband and two young children had gotten themselves on the list to be considered for exemption, but had yet to receive further news. On Wednesday she considered the other option in Matamoros a Hobson’s choice.She approached the river, the Rio Grande that flows sometimes shallow and safe, sometimes deeper, fast and deadly between Texas and Mexico.“My husband is around. That’s why I haven’t crossed yet,” Rodriguez said, looking about her for him. On the riverbank, dozens of families and individuals were jumping into the water, struggling across and turning themselves in to US border agents.Nearly a hundred people from the camp were watching, some even climbed trees for a better view of the crossings, to see how things went for people.A man broke through the crowd on crutches. He took off a red sweatshirt and walked into the river wearing his prosthetic leg. He floundered, grabbed onto an inflatable mattress and made it to the other side.Aryelis, a 39-year-old, who allowed just her first name to be used, said disapprovingly of those plunging into the river: “I think they’re violating the rules of the United States.”She read about the US abruptly applying Title 42 restrictions to Venezuelans in October.But some parents grow desperate.“In the end, they don’t tell us if we’re crossing the border or not. If they [advocates or officials] talk to us clearly and tell us: ‘You’re going to cross,’ we’d wait,” Rodriguez said.She added: “We’re wasting time. The new year is coming and my children have a cold. They’ve gotten fever, diarrhea. They’ve picked up all kinds of illnesses during the journey.”Jose Baldayo, 24, also from Venezuela, and his wife, Iris Diaz Herrera, 25, their four-year-old twins and another daughter arrived in Matamoros about a month ago. As they joined the long line to sign the list, things got rowdy.“The disorder is the result of the desperation of families who think they won’t be able to get on the list,” Diaz said.The family lives day by day and Christmas was not on their minds, she said.“Taking a shower, eating, everything becomes a challenge. It becomes a goal for the day to be able to cook something,” Diaz said.Both El Paso and Matamoros authorities were talking this week of opening temporary shelters for warmth in the cold snap.Back at El Paso airport, Zelaya said that unlike so many other nationalities, he’d been released and allowed to head to his final American destination and check in with immigration officials there. And thanks to a donation from a Nicaraguan friend in the US, Zelaya planned to fly to New York on Saturday. He did think about Christmas, then, a bittersweet one.“My first Christmas without my family,” he said, burying his face in his hands. “I won’t have my daughter and my wife to give me a hug.”TopicsUS-Mexico borderTexasUS immigrationUS politicsMexicofeaturesReuse this content More

US military ‘downplayed’ the number of soldiers exposed to ‘forever chemicals’ Analysis of Pentagon report reveals that soldiers exposed to PFAS pollution at much higher rate than military claims The number of US service members who have been exposed to toxic “forever chemicals” is much higher than the military has claimed, a new independent analysis of Department of Defense data has found.A Pentagon report that aims to assess the scope of PFAS chemical exposure on its bases, as well as health threats posed to service members, estimated about 175,000 troops across 24 facilities had drunk contaminated water.But an analysis of the military’s report by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit that tracks PFAS pollution, found the numbers are probably much higher and could top more than 640,000 people across 116 bases, and potentially even millions of people when past service members are factored in.Moreover, the report seemed to omit health issues linked to PFAS exposure, such as kidney disease, testicular cancer and fetal effects. The overall report is “frustrating”, said Scott Faber, senior vice-president of government affairs with EWG.“The Department of Defense is trying to downplay these risks rather than aggressively seeking to notify service members and clean up its legacy pollution,” he said. “It has long history of looking the other way when it comes to PFAS pollution.”The DoD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.PFAS are a class of about 12,000 chemicals often used to make products resist water, stain and heat. They are called forever chemicals because they do not naturally break down and persist in the environment. The chemicals are linked to cancer, liver disease, high cholesterol, thyroid disorders, birth defects and autoimmune dysfunction.PFAS are thought to be contaminating drinking water for more than 200 million people nationally, and contamination has been found in and around hundreds of DoD bases at high levels because the chemicals are the main ingredient in firefighting foam the military uses.Congress mandated the DoD report in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, but the military has not published it on the department’s PFAS website, so it is unavailable to the public or service members except upon request.“That’s the part that ought to bother every American,” Faber said. “It’s not just that they purposefully underestimated how many service members were exposed … it’s that they didn’t tell anyone.”The DoD’s analysis, dated April 2022, seemed designed to reduce the exposure estimates in several key ways, EWG noted.It only included bases where levels for two types of PFAS – PFOS and PFOA – exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s previous health advisory limit of 70 parts per trillion (ppt). But the EPA lowered that level in June to less than 1 ppt for each compound.Though the report came out about two months before the change, the military often lobbies the EPA on environmental rules, the pending change was publicly known, and the military likely rushed to get its report out ahead of the EPA’s formal announcement, Faber said.“This is clearly what it appears to be,” he said.The numbers also did not include four large bases – Fort Bragg, Yakima Training Center, Fort Leavenworth and Picatinny Arsenal – where levels ranged from 98 ppt to 647 ppt.The levels peaked at over 21,000 ppt at Horsham air national guard base in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.The report also only considered military members who were on bases at the time of the analysis, meaning it is a “snapshot in time”. The military began using firefighting foam with PFAS over 50 years ago.“The real question is how many millions of service members drank the contaminated water over the last half century?” Faber asked.The numbers would probably be higher if the military also included other kinds of PFAS. PFOA and PFOS are two of the most common, but thousands more are in commercial use, and the EPA also has health advisory limits for two other compounds.Though Congress required the DoD to include an assessment of health risks to troops, the military excluded risks for fetal and maternal health because it “focused on military members and veterans”, the department wrote. EWG noted that about 13,000 service members give birth every year, and many live on DoD facilities. The military also made no mention of increased testicular and kidney cancer risks.“It’s shocking and there was no explanation,” Faber said.It is unclear what’s next for the report. Congress has ordered the DoD to phase out firefighting foam that uses PFAS by October 2023, and develop a cleanup plan. The military already missed a deadline to submit a cleanup plan to Congress, but Faber noted it has new political leadership in place, and the Biden administration has been more serious about addressing PFAS contamination than Trump.“The next few years will be critical to resetting when it comes to the DoD addressing toxic chemicals, like PFAS,” Faber said.TopicsUS militaryPFASUS politicsPollutionnewsReuse this content More

More ways to listen

Apple Podcasts

Google Podcasts

Spotify

RSS Feed

Download

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share via Email

Politics Weekly America is taking a break. So this week, Jonathan Freedland revisits the conversation he had in April with the journalist and film-maker Jon Ronson about the far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones

How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know

The Guardian and Observer charity appeal for 2022 is about the cost of living crisis, and you can donate here. Send your questions and feedback to [email protected]. Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/supportpodcasts. More

The full report from the January 6 House panel investigating Donald Trump’s insurrection has not yet materialized, but the committee has just published transcripts of the testimony of a key witness.Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, gave some of the most dramatic, and damning testimony during a live public hearing in the summer. She said Trump attempted to strangle his secret service agent and lunged for the steering wheel when he was told that he would not be driven to join the rioters he incited during the January 6 Capitol riot.She gave further, closed doors testimony to the panel in September, released by the committee in two documents this morning. One from 14 September is here; and the other from the following day is here.The first session lasted five and a half hours, and the second was two and half. There’s more than 200 pages of transcript here, but one episode sticks out, aboard Air Force One early on 5 January 2021, as Trump was flying back to Washington after “stop the steal” rallies in Georgia.It would appear to allude to the plot to try to persuade vice-president Mike Pence to deny certification of Trump’s election defeat by Biden in Congress the following day, the infamous Capitol riot incited by Trump.In a conference room meeting attended by, among others, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene, allies were talking up the scheme, and assuring Trump it would succeed, Hutchinson says.But she says she then saw Meadows take Trump aside after the meeting and caution him thus: “In case we didn’t win this [the election] sir, and in case, like, tomorrow doesn’t go as planned, we’re gonna have to have a plan in place.”According to Hutchinson, Trump replied: “There’s always that chance we didn’t win, but tomorrow’s gonna go well,” a potentially crucial admission that Trump already knew his defeat was not fraudulent.We’re closing the live politics blog now, but look out for our news report later on the January 6 committee’s final report, assuming the panel sticks to its word and publishes it today.Even without the report, it’s been a busy day. The select committee did release transcripts of the two-day deposition of Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and a key witness during public hearings this summer.Hutchinson spoke of a campaign of pressure on her by White House attorneys, including one paid by Trump, to give misleading testimony.Here’s what else we followed:
The Senate voted 68-29 to pass the $1.7tn omnibus spending bill that will keep the government funded for another year. The House is expected to take up the bill later on Thursday, and Joe Biden must sign it before a Friday deadline to avert a government shutdown.
Arizona governor Doug Ducey said he’d take down a makeshift wall made of shipping containers at the Mexico border, settling a lawsuit and political tussle with the US government over trespassing on federal lands.
Newly elected New York congressman George Santos, whose life story has come under question since the Republican’s midterms victory last month, said he’ll address those concerns next week.
Former president George W Bush issued a statement condemning the Taliban for pulling the plug on university education for women in Afghanistan, accusing the country’s ruling party of treating women as “second-class citizens”.
Joe Biden will speak from the White House at 4pm ET Thursday with a Christmas message.The president’s address, the White House said in a memo, will be “focused on what unites us as Americans, his optimism for the year ahead, and wishing Americans joy in the coming year”.You can watch the Biden Christmas address here.The governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, will take down a makeshift wall made of shipping containers at the Mexico border, settling a lawsuit and political tussle with the US government over trespassing on federal lands.The Associated Press reports that the Biden administration and the Republican governor entered into an agreement under which Arizona will cease installing the containers in any national forest, according to court documents filed in US district court in Phoenix.The agreement also calls for Arizona to remove containers already installed in the remote San Rafael Valley, in south-eastern Cochise county, by 4 January and without damaging any natural resources. State agencies will have to consult with US Forest Service representatives.Read the full story:Arizona governor agrees to remove wall of shipping containers on Mexico borderRead moreGeorge W Bush, the president who ordered US forces into Afghanistan as part of the global war on terror, has issued a statement condemning the Taliban for pulling the rug on university education for Afghan women.In a statement from his office in Crawford, Texas, the 76-year-old former commander in chief and former first lady Laura Bush said their “hearts are heavy for the people of Afghanistan”:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}We are especially sad for Afghan women and girls, who are enduring terrible hardship under the brutal Taliban regime. Just this week, all Afghan women were banned from studying at university. Many were turned away from their jobs in schools; others were prevented from worshiping in mosques and seminaries.
And in the latest assault on human rights in the country, we fear for young girls being barred from school entirely. Treating women as second-class citizens, depriving them of their universal human rights, and denying them the opportunity to better themselves and their communities should generate outrage among all of us.
For Afghans who were forced to flee their homes, these attacks remind us of our responsibility to help those who’ve helped us over the last two decades, including the evacuees here in the United States. Afghans, like people around the world, simply want to live in freedom and provide a better future for their children.
Laura and I, along with the team at the Bush Center, pray that 2023 will bring a better time for the people of Afghanistan and those fighting for freedom everywhere.Other former world leaders have also been vocal. In an opinion piece for the Guardian, Gordon Brown, the United Nations special envoy for global education, and most recent Labour prime minister, said the Taliban’s ruling had done “more in a single day to entrench discrimination against women and girls and set back their empowerment than any other single policy decision I can remember”.Read more:The Taliban are taking away women’s right to learn. The world can’t afford to stay silent | Gordon BrownRead moreSenators have just voted 68-29 to pass the $1.7tn omnibus spending bill that will keep the government funded for another year.The House is expected to take up the bill later on Thursday, with the outgoing Democratic majority likely to pass it in one of its last acts before ceding control of the chamber to Republicans next month.Politicians are facing a midnight Friday deadline to get the measure to Joe Biden’s desk before parts of the government would have to shut down through lack of funding.“There are so many good things in the bill it’s hard to get them all out,” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said.“We’ve concluded this Congress, one of the most disruptive in decades, with one of the best omnibus packages in decades.”George Santos says he’ll address questions “next week” about an allegedly fantastical biography the newly-elected New York congressman presented to voters in last month’s midterms.Speculation has grown in recent days that the Republican may not have been entirely truthful in statements about his background, education and achievements. His beaten Democratic opponent, Robert Zimmerman, said Santos “was running a scam against the voters”.“To the people of #NY03 I have my story to tell and it will be told next week. I want to assure everyone that I will address your questions and that I remain committed to deliver the results I campaigned on; Public safety, Inflation, Education & more,” Santos said in a Thursday afternoon tweet.To the people of #NY03 I have my story to tell and it will be told next week. I want to assure everyone that I will address your questions and that I remain committed to deliver the results I campaigned on; Public safety, Inflation, Education & more.Happy Holidays to all!— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) December 22, 2022
Santos had claimed his grandfather escaped the Holocaust; that he had worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs; that he had graduated from Baruch College; and that he ran a non-profit, tax-exempt pet rescue group.Every one of the claims has been disproved, according to research by, among others, the New York Times and CNN.Santos, who beat Zimmerman by eight points in November, became the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat as a non-incumbent, the Times reported.More, from Maya Yang, on how Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump’s only current rival for the next Republican presidential nomination, has appointed a judge previously ousted over a controversial ruling in which he denied a teenager an abortion, citing her school grades.DeSantis appointed Jared Smith to the newly established sixth district court of appeal, an appointment which will begin on 1 January 2023. Smith was previously a judge on the Hillsborough county court, until he was ousted in August after his decision on the abortion-related case.In January, Smith ruled that a 17-year-old was unfit to obtain an abortion as he questioned her “overall intelligence”. According to Florida law, both parental notification and consent is required in order for a minor to receive an abortion. In the teenager’s case, she asked the court to waive the requirement.The requirement can be waived if the court finds “by clear and convincing evidence, that the minor is sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy”.In his ruling, Smith cited the teenager’s grades as a factor in his decision to deny her the abortion.“Addressing her ‘overall intelligence’ … the court found her intelligence to be less than average because ‘[w]hile she claimed that her grades were ‘Bs’ during her testimony, her GPA is currently 2.0. Clearly, a ‘B’ average would not equate to a 2.0 GPA,’” Smith wrote.Smith also questioned the teenager’s “emotional development and stability, and ability to accept responsibility”.“This court has long recognized that the trial court’s findings … may support a determination that the minor did not prove that she was sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy,” he wrote.An appeals court overturned the ruling. In August, Smith lost his re-election bid against Nancy Jacobs, a Tampa criminal defense and family law attorney.DeSantis appoints judge who denied abortion to girl over school gradesRead moreSpeaking of impending investigations of Hunter Biden, the president’s son has hired a well-known Washington lawyer, who represented Jared Kushner in Congress as well as during the investigation of Russian election interference and links between Donald Trump and Moscow, to advise him during his looming congressional combat.The younger Biden “has retained Abbe Lowell to help advise him and be part of his legal team to address the challenges he is facing,” another attorney, Kevin Morris, told news outlets on Wednesday.“Lowell is a well-known Washington based attorney who has represented numerous public officials and high-profile people in Department of Justice investigations and trials as well as congressional investigations. [For Hunter Biden] Mr Lowell will handle congressional investigations and general strategic advice.”Lowell has worked across the political divide, representing Democrats including Bob Menendez, a New Jersey senator, and the former senator and vice-presidential nominee John Edwards, both in corruption cases that ended in mistrials, and acting as chief minority counsel to House Democrats in the impeachment of Bill Clinton.Recently, Lowell represented Tom Barrack, a Trump ally acquitted in a foreign lobbying case.Lowell, 70, has said that to be a trial lawyer, “you have to have a desire to be a performer at some level. If I hadn’t done this, it would have been Broadway”.But his work for Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and chief adviser, brought an uncomfortable sort of spotlight. Writing in the American Lawyer in late 2020, Lowell suggested criticism of his work for another client was generated “primarily because I later represented … the president’s son-in-law.“The resulting news coverage, and especially the more sensational headlines, triggered the all-too-common flurry of hate mail, threatening voice mails and anonymous criticisms for doing the very job that attorneys are supposed to do.”Full story:Hunter Biden hires Jared Kushner lawyer to face Republican investigatorsRead moreJamie Raskin of Maryland, a member of the January 6 committee and before that a House manager in the second impeachment of Donald Trump, will be the top Democrat on the House oversight committee in the next Congress.Raskin beat Gerry Connolly of Virginia in a closed ballot on Capitol Hill.So far, so inside Beltway baseball. But it’s an important vote to note nonetheless. Raskin, who was a professor of constitutional law before entering Congress, has achieved a high profile and he will need to wield it to good effect in the oversight role from January, given Republicans’ declared intent to use the committee to launch investigations into Hunter Biden and other subjects designed to damage Joe Biden.The current oversight chair, Carolyn Maloney of New York, will leave Congress shortly, having lost her primary this year.James Comer of Kentucky, the incoming Republican chair, told reporters last month he intended to go on the offensive, by investigating whether family business activities have “compromise[d] US national security and President Biden’s ability to lead with impartiality”.“We want the bank records and that’s our focus,” Comer said. “We’re trying to stay focused on: ‘Was Joe Biden directly involved with Hunter Biden’s business deals and is he compromised?’ That’s our investigation.”Raskin’s work on the January 6 investigation is all but done. Now comes the next hefty task.Here’s some further reading about Raskin, from our Washington bureau chief, David Smith:Congressman Jamie Raskin: ‘I’ll never forget the terrible sound of them trying to barrel into the chamber’Read moreWhite House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said she felt she had “Trump himself looking over my shoulder” as she discussed with her attorney her upcoming testimony to the January 6 committee earlier this year.Hutchinson, an assistant to then-president Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, makes the revelation in a transcript of a deposition to the panel that was released on Thursday morning.In it, Hutchinson, a star witness against Trump in public hearings of the committee this summer, outlines what she saw as sustained campaign of pressure by lawyers paid by Trump to get her to mislead the panel.CNN reported on Wednesday that Stefan Passantino, the top ethics attorney in the White House at the time, allegedly advised Hutchinson to tell the committee that she did not recall details that she did over Trump’s efforts to reverse his defeat to Joe Biden.According to the transcript, Hutchinson told the panel:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}It wasn’t just that I had Stefan sitting next to me; it was almost like I felt like I had Trump looking over my shoulder. Because I knew in some fashion it would get back to him if I said anything that he would find disloyal.
And the prospect of that genuinely scared me. You know, I’d seen this world ruin people’s lives or try to ruin people’s careers. I’d seen how vicious they can be.Hutchinson, then 26, said she originally thought she was “fucked” because she couldn’t afford a lawyer after receiving a subpoena from the House committee, but was hooked up with Passantino through her White House contacts. It turned out that Passantino was being paid by a Trump political action committee.NEW: Cassidy Hutchinson told Jan. 6 committee that Ben Williamson — aide to former Trump chief Meadows — told her: “Well, Mark wants me to let you know that he knows you’re loyal and he knows you’ll do the right thing tomorrow and that you’re going to protect him and the boss.”— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) December 22, 2022
Hutchinson also said that Passantino had never explicitly asked her to lie to the panel:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}I want to make this clear to you: Stefan never told me to lie. He specifically told me, ‘I don’t want you to perjure yourself, but ‘I don’t recall’ isn’t perjury. They don’t know want you can and can’t recall’.But she said she felt increasingly pressured into misleading the panel. The relationship with Passantino soured, and ended, she said.Read more:Cassidy Hutchinson: who is the ex-aide testifying in the January 6 hearings?Read moreThe $1.7tn government spending bill could pass Congress as early as Thursday night after Democratic and Republican negotiators in the Senate appeared to strike a deal over certain amendments that were holding it up.Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announced the agreement to clear about 15 amendments, the Associated Press reported. Such amendments are subject to a 60-vote requirement and would ordinarily fail in the evenly divided chamber.“It’s taken a while, but it is worth it,” Schumer said in announcing the series of votes, needed to lock in an expedited vote on final passage and get the bill to Joe Biden’s desk before a partial government shutdown would begin at midnight Friday. The House will take up the bill after the Senate completes its work, the AP reports.The massive bill includes about $772.5bn for non-defense, discretionary programs and $858bn for defense, and would finance the government through September. Lawmakers were racing to get the bill approved before a shutdown could occur, and many were anxious to complete the task before a deep freeze and wintry conditions leave them stranded in Washington for the holidays. Many also want to lock in government funding before a new GOP-controlled House next year could make it harder to find compromise on spending.Read more:Schumer seeks Senate path for funding bill as government shutdown loomsRead moreThe full report from the January 6 House panel investigating Donald Trump’s insurrection has not yet materialized, but the committee has just published transcripts of the testimony of a key witness.Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, gave some of the most dramatic, and damning testimony during a live public hearing in the summer. She said Trump attempted to strangle his secret service agent and lunged for the steering wheel when he was told that he would not be driven to join the rioters he incited during the January 6 Capitol riot.She gave further, closed doors testimony to the panel in September, released by the committee in two documents this morning. One from 14 September is here; and the other from the following day is here.The first session lasted five and a half hours, and the second was two and half. There’s more than 200 pages of transcript here, but one episode sticks out, aboard Air Force One early on 5 January 2021, as Trump was flying back to Washington after “stop the steal” rallies in Georgia.It would appear to allude to the plot to try to persuade vice-president Mike Pence to deny certification of Trump’s election defeat by Biden in Congress the following day, the infamous Capitol riot incited by Trump.In a conference room meeting attended by, among others, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene, allies were talking up the scheme, and assuring Trump it would succeed, Hutchinson says.But she says she then saw Meadows take Trump aside after the meeting and caution him thus: “In case we didn’t win this [the election] sir, and in case, like, tomorrow doesn’t go as planned, we’re gonna have to have a plan in place.”According to Hutchinson, Trump replied: “There’s always that chance we didn’t win, but tomorrow’s gonna go well,” a potentially crucial admission that Trump already knew his defeat was not fraudulent.Nancy Pelosi is delivering the final press conference of her long-time tenure as House speaker, and is reminiscing over all the memorable presidents she has served:Pelosi: “I was speaker and minority leader under President Bush, under President Obama and under whatshisname?”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) December 22, 2022
It’s safe to say that Madam Speaker has not suddenly become that forgetful as she prepares to stand down.Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona’s Democratic-turned-independent senator, has always had a reputation as one of Washington’s more unconventional politicians. Now, it seems, she’s also one of the most demanding.The Daily Beast has published details of what it says is a 37-page memo “intended as a guide for aides who set the schedule for and personally staff Sinema during her workdays in Washington and Arizona”.It makes for quite a read, reminiscent of some of the more outlandish demands contained in the “riders” of various rock stars.Sinema must always have a room temperature bottle of water at hand, the Beast says, citing the memo.At the beginning of each week, her executive assistant must contact Sinema in Washington to “ask if she needs groceries,” and copy both the scheduler and chief of staff on the message to “make sure this is accomplished”.Anyone booking her travel must avoid Southwest Airlines, never book her a seat near a bathroom, and never a middle seat, the Beast says.And if the internet in Sinema’s private apartment fails, the executive assistant “should call Verizon to schedule a repair” and ensure a staffer is present to let a technician inside the property.The allegations come just a week after Slate published a piece claiming Sinema was a prolific seller on Facebook’s online marketplace, listing mostly shoes and clothing.The Beast said Sinema’s office said it couldn’t verify the document’s authenticity, which is not an outright denial, and said the information as published “is not in line with official guidance from [her] office and does not represent official policies of [the] office”.You can read the Beast’s report here.Never one to hide his opinions, however extreme, Fox News host Tucker Carlson did not share in the almost universal acclaim for Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s historic address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.“The president of Ukraine arrived at the White House, dressed like the manager of a strip club and started to demand money,” Carlson announced at the opening of his show on Wednesday, citing both Zelenskiy’s request for more western armaments and his trademark olive green military-style clothing.“Amazingly, no one threw him out. Instead, they did whatever he wanted,” Carlson continued, fuming at the further $1.85bn in US aid for Ukraine, including, for the first time, advanced Patriot air defense missiles, announced by the Biden administration on Wednesday.Tucker Carlson, Lauren Boebert, and Matt Gaetz stand with Putin; most of America stands with Zelensky and the people of Ukraine.The contrast between the far right and most of America has never been more glaring.— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) December 22, 2022
Right-wingers bashing US support for Ukraine as it fights to repel the 10-month-old invasion by Russia is nothing new. A number of politicians and celebrity figures such as Carlson have long questioned the tens of billions of dollars of taxpayers money committed so far.But the howls of protest have become louder in recent weeks as Republicans prepare to take control of the House, and a further $44bn in emergency aid for Ukraine is included in the $1.7tn government spending package that looks on track for congressional passage today.Ahead of November’s midterms, Republicans even hinted that if they won control, the stream of funding for Ukraine could be cut off, as reported by Axios, and others, in October.On Wednesday night in the House, two notorious Republican extremists, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Matt Gaetz of Florida, remained sitting and unmoved as Zelenskiy spoke, while many party colleagues sprang to their feet in applause.It caught the attention of Democratic New York congressman Ritchie Torres, who was not impressed with the pair’s antics, or Carlson’s comments for that matter.“Tucker Carlson, Lauren Boebert, and Matt Gaetz stand with [Russian president Vladimir] Putin; most of America stands with Zelenskiy and the people of Ukraine. The contrast between the far right and most of America has never been more glaring,” he said in a tweet.CNN is reporting that Senate negotiators for the Democrats and Republicans have struck a deal to secure passage of the $1.7tn government spending package.A number of amendments are incorporated into the bill, reflecting a “furious push by Senate leaders to get this done,” the network reports.We’ll have more details soon.Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chaired the January 6 House panel, says its investigation into Donald Trump’s insurrection uncovered witnesses that not even the justice department could find.In a revealing interview with MSNBC on Wednesday night, Thompson also said the bipartisan, nine-member committee took its time before referring the former president for criminal charges on Monday because it “wanted to get things right”.Thompson, and Liz Cheney, the Republican vice-chair from Wyoming, will present their 800-page full report to Congress sometime today. The panel has already sent evidence to the justice department to assist its own parallel criminal investigation into Trump’s efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden.Thompson told MSNBC:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}I am more comfortable with the fact that the special counsel has been actively engaged in pursuing any and all the information available. They have been in contact with our committee, asking us to provide various transcripts.
There were people that we deposed that justice had not deposed. There were electors in various states that justice couldn’t find. We found them. We deposed them.
So we had a lot of information, but now we make all that information available to them. And if they come back and want to interview staff or any members, ask any additional information, you know, we’ll be more than happy to do it. Thompson also spoke emotionally about the demands of conducting an intensive, 18-month inquiry, and the reason it was necessary:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}It’s been difficult. I have spent many nights away from home. I’ve spent a lot of time just trying to figure out why, in the greatest democracy in the world, would people want to all of a sudden stow on the Capitol because they lost an election?
You know, normally in a democracy, you settle your differences at the ballot box. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but under no circumstances do you tear the city hall up, or the courthouse up, and, God forbid, the United States Capitol.
It was just something that for most Americans, it was beyond imagination. And so, it played out in real time. People could see it. And there are still a lot of people who can’t fathom why our people would do that. You can view Thompson’s MSNBC interview here.It’s a third day of reckoning this week for Donald Trump as the January 6 House committee releases the final report from its 18-month investigation into the former president’s insurrection.Delayed from Wednesday, today’s publication of a dossier expected to run to 800 pages will expose in depth the extraordinary, and illegal efforts Trump employed to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
On Monday, the panel held its final hearing and referred Trump to the justice department for four criminal charges, including engaging in or assisting an insurrection.
And on Tuesday, a separate House panel voted to release tax returns that Trump had fought for three years to keep secret.
We already know from previous hearings much of the plotting and scheming that took place. Trump incited a mob that overran the US Capitol on January 6 2021, seeking to halt the certification of Biden’s victory; tried to manipulate states’ election results in his favor; and attempted to install slates of “fake electors” to reverse his defeat in Congress.On Wednesday night, the House panel released transcripts of 34 witness interviews.Today, the Select Committee made public 34 transcripts of witness testimony that was gathered over the course of the Select Committee’s investigation.These records can be found on the Select Committee’s website: https://t.co/JZaSH4GmdK— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) December 21, 2022
Subjects of the interview transcripts included Jeffrey Clark, a senior official in the Trump justice department; John Eastman, a conservative lawyer and an architect of Trump’s last-ditch efforts to stay in office; and former national security adviser Mike Flynn, who was convicted of lying to the FBI but pardoned by Trump.Each invoked his fifth-amendment right against self-incrimination.More transcripts are expected to be released today.Panel member Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, told CBS: “I guarantee there’ll be some very interesting new information in the report, and even more so in the transcripts.”Read more:January 6 panel releases transcripts of testimony ahead of 800-page reportRead moreGood morning US politics blog readers. If you figured things were winding down for the Christmas holiday, think again.Sometime today we will see the release of the full January 6 House committee report into Donald Trump’s insurrection, delayed from Wednesday for reasons unknown. But the panel did release transcripts of 34 witness interviews last night, many of which make interesting reading.Also in Trump news, we’re learning the former president paid no federal tax at all in the final year of his administration.Elsewhere, here’s what we’re following:
There’s uncertainty over the passage of the bipartisan $1.7tn government spending package after early-hours drama in the Senate when Republicans threatened to blow up the deal over an immigration provision.
Nancy Pelosi will give her last press conference, scheduled for 10.45am, before she stands down as speaker when Republicans take control of the chamber early next month.
There’s reaction to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s powerful and historic address to to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.
Joe Biden has no public engagements scheduled, and no White House press briefing is listed, although that could change.
A reminder you can follow ongoing developments in the war in Ukraine in our live blog here.Strap in and stick with us. It’s going to be a lively day. More

Arizona to remove wall of shipping containers on Mexico borderState to dismantle wall following lawsuit filed by US government alleging it was illegally built on federal lands Arizona will remove a wall of shipping containers along the state’s 370-mile border with Mexico following a lawsuit filed by the US government against the state that claimed that the makeshift wall is being illegally built on federal lands.Arizona governor builds border wall of shipping crates in final days of officeRead moreAccording to an agreement reached late Wednesday between federal and state authorities, Arizona will dismantle the wall, along with all related equipment by the beginning of next year.“By January 4, 2023, to the extent feasible and so as not to cause damage to United States’ lands, properties, and natural resources, Arizona will remove all previously installed shipping containers and associated equipment, materials, vehicles,” said the agreement.In August, Arizona’s Republican governor, Doug Ducey, signed an executive order that directed a state agency to close the gaps in the border, saying: “Arizona has had enough … The Biden administration’s lack of urgency on border security is a dereliction of duty.”“Our border communities are being used as the entryway to the United States, overwhelming law enforcement, hospitals, nonprofits and residents. It’s our responsibility to protect our citizens and law enforcement from this unprecedented crisis,” he added.Wednesday’s agreement comes two weeks before Arizona’s Democratic governor-elect, Katie Hobbs, is scheduled to take office. Hobbs has criticized the wall’s construction, saying: “I am very concerned about the liability to the state of Arizona for those shipping containers that they’re putting on federal land. There’s pictures of people climbing on top of them. I think that’s a huge liability and risk.”‘No money, nowhere to stay’: asylum seekers wait as Trump’s border restrictions drag onRead moreLast week, the federal government filed a lawsuit against Ducey and the rest of the state, requesting for the removal of the containers in remote San Rafael valley in the state’s easternmost Cochise county.“Officials from Reclamation and the Forest Service have notified Arizona that it is trespassing on federal lands,” said the complaint, adding, “This action also seeks damages for Arizona’s trespasses, to compensate the United States for any actions it needs to take to undo Arizona’s actions and to remediate – to the extent possible – any injuries to the United States’ properties and interests.”The complaint, filed by the justice department on behalf of the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Agriculture and the Forest Services, went on to cite the federal government’s operational and environmental concerns towards the makeshift wall. The $95m project of placing up to 3,000 containers along the border is approximately a third complete.The US agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, criticized the project, saying that it “is not an effective barrier, it poses safety hazards to both the public and those working in the area and has significantly damaged public land”.“We need serious solutions at our border, with input from local leaders and communities. Stacking shipping containers is not a productive solution,” he added.In a statement released on Thursday and reported by CNN, Ducey spokesperson CJ Karamargin said: “Finally, after the situation on our border has turned into a full blown crisis, they’ve decided to act. Better late than never. We’re working with the federal government to ensure they can begin construction of this barrier with the urgency this problem demands.”TopicsArizonaUS-Mexico borderUS immigrationUS domestic policyUS politicsBiden administrationRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

Senate passes $1.7tn funding bill to avert US government shutdownBill includes $45bn in military aid to Ukraine after lawmakers reached agreement on a final series of votes The US Senate on Thursday passed a $1.7tn government spending bill, sending it to the House to approve and send to Joe Biden for his signature, averting a partial government shutdown.‘No money, nowhere to stay’: asylum seekers wait as Trump’s border restrictions drag onRead moreThe legislation provides funding through 30 September 2023, for the US military and an array of non-military programs.The legislation provides Ukraine with $44.9bn in wartime aid and bans the use of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok on federal government devices.Progress on the bill slowed after the conservative Republican Mike Lee introduced an amendment meant to slow immigration. That prompted Democrats to put forward a competing amendment that would boost funding for law enforcement agencies on the border. Both amendments failed, which allowed lawmakers to move forward.The massive bill includes about $772.5bn for non-defense programs and $858bn for defense. Lawmakers raced to get it approved, many anxious to complete the task before a deep freeze could leave them stranded in Washington for the holidays. Many also wanted to lock in funding before a new Republican-controlled House makes it harder to find compromise.On Wednesday night, senators heard from the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, about the importance of US aid for the war with Russia.“Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way,” Zelenskiy said.The funding measure includes emergency assistance to Ukraine and Nato allies above Joe Biden’s request.The Democratic majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said the worst thing Congress could do was give the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, any signal the US was wavering in its commitment to Ukraine. He also said he met Zelenskiy.“He made it clear that without this aid package, the Ukrainians will be in real trouble and could even lose the war,” Schumer said. “So that makes the urgency of getting this legislation done all the more important.”But when lawmakers left the chamber, prospects for a quick vote looked glum. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said the funding bill was “hanging by a thread”.Republicans were looking to ensure a vote on a proposed amendment from Lee, of Utah, seeking to extend coronavirus pandemic-era restrictions on asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border, known as Title 42. Passage of the amendment would have doomed the bill in the Democratic-held House.“Senator Schumer doesn’t want to have a vote on Title 42 because he presumably knows it will pass,” said Mitt Romney, the other Utah Republican. But the House won’t go along in that case, he added, in which case “everything falls apart”.Lee told Fox News: “I insisted that we have at least one amendment, up-or-down vote, on whether to preserve Title 42. Because Title 42 is the one thing standing between us and utter chaos [at the border]. We already have mostly chaos. This would bring us to utter chaos if it expires, which it’s about to.”The spending bill was supported by Schumer and the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, for different reasons.McConnell cited the bill’s 10% boost in defense spending but faced pushback from Republicans resenting being forced to vote on such a massive package with so little time before a shutdown and Christmas. It was expected, however, that enough Republicans agreed with McConnell that the bill would reach 60 votes.Schumer touted the bill as a win on the domestic front, saying: “Kids, parents, veterans, nurses, workers: these are just a few of the beneficiaries of our bipartisan funding package, so there is every reason in the world for the Senate to finish its work as soon as possible.”Lawmakers worked to stuff priorities into the package, which ran to 4,155 pages. It included $27bn in disaster funding and an overhaul of federal election law to prevent presidents or candidates trying to overturn an election. The bipartisan overhaul was a response to Donald Trump’s efforts to convince Republicans to object to Biden’s victory.Hunter Biden hires Jared Kushner lawyer to face Republican investigatorsRead moreThe bill also contained policy changes lawmakers worked to include, to avoid having to start over in the new Congress next year. Examples included the provision from Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, to ban TikTok on government cellphones. A provision supported by Maine would aid the state’s lobster and Jonah crab fisheries, delaying regulations to help save North Atlantic right whales.On the healthcare front, the bill requires states to keep children enrolled in Medicaid on coverage for at least a year. Millions could still start to lose coverage on 1 April because the bill sunsets a requirement of the Covid-19 emergency that prohibited kicking people off Medicaid.The bill also provides roughly $15.3bn for more than 7,200 projects lawmakers sought for their states. Fiscal conservatives criticize such spending as unnecessary.The Senate appropriations committee chairman, Patrick Leahy, a Democrat retiring after nearly five decades in the chamber, praised bipartisan support for the measure following months of negotiations.His Republican counterpart, Richard Shelby, who also is retiring, said of the 4,155-page bill: “It’s got a lot of stuff in it. A lot of good stuff.”House Republicans, including Kevin McCarthy, probably the next speaker, had asked colleagues in the Senate to support only a short-term extension. A notice sent by leadership to House members urged them to vote against the measure.TopicsUS CongressUS SenateUS politicsUS domestic policyUS foreign policyUS militaryUS healthcarenewsReuse this content More