US Politics

First Thing: Biden plans to get booster shots to 100m AmericansPresident lays out plan for winter months amid Omicron arrival in US; plus George Clooney on turning down $35m for a day’s work

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Good morning.Joe Biden is planning to pull no punches when it comes to the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid in the US.The president has announced new actions to combat the coronavirus, including a nationwide campaign encouraging vaccine boosters, an expansion of at-home tests and tighter restrictions on international travel.Buffeted by political backlash from Republicans, the US president visited the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, yesterday and laid out a pandemic battle plan for the winter months which includes steps to ensure that the nearly 100 million eligible Americans who have not yet received their booster shot do so as soon as possible.“My plan pulls no punches,” Biden said. “It is a plan that should unite us.”
There is fresh urgency to the effort after the first US case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was identified in California on Wednesday and a second in Minnesota yesterday.
The emergence of Omicron has demonstrated the tenacity of the virus, which continues to drag down Biden’s political fortunes. Voters are divided on his handling of the pandemic, with 47% approving and 49% disapproving.
Alec Baldwin questions how bullet got on Rust set in emotional ABC interviewAlec Baldwin has questioned how the bullet that accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins ended up in a gun on the set of the film Rust, speaking out about the fatal shooting in a lengthy and emotional interview.The actor said he did not pull the trigger on the gun that killed Hutchins, 42, and injured director Joel Souza, 48. The gun he was holding, which Baldwin believed to be safe, went off during rehearsals for the western, in an incident that shocked Hollywood and prompted a reckoning over production safety and the use of weapons on set.“There’s only one question to be resolved, and that’s where did the live round come from?” Baldwin said in an ABC interview with George Stephanopoulos that aired Thursday night. The interview was first time the actor has spoken in-depth on camera about the 21 October shooting.
What else did he say? He said he didn’t pull the trigger. He “let go of the hammer” on the weapon, he said, and the gun went off. “I never pulled the trigger,” he repeated.
Will there be any criminal charges brought in the case? The district attorney in Santa Fe, New Mexico, said in October that criminal charges in the shooting have not been ruled out.
Sidney Powell filed false incorporation papers for non-profit, grand jury findsA federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s former attorney Sidney Powell has uncovered evidence that Powell filed false incorporation papers with the state of Texas for a nonprofit she heads, Defending the Republic, according to sources close to the investigation.In the incorporation papers, Powell – who filed lawsuits across the US questioning the 2020 election result Trump lost to Joe Biden – listed two men who she said served with her on the organization’s board of directors, even though neither gave Powell permission to do so.As a private attorney, Powell, in the service of Trump, has gained notoriety as she has increasingly embraced implausible conspiracy theories such as that the FBI had attempted to frame Trump to drive him from office, and that Biden’s election as president of the US was illegitimate. Her lawsuits to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election have all failed.
During one of the cases, a judge sanctioned Powell for alleged ethical misconduct and referred her to the Texas state bar for investigation.
There is also a broader federal criminal inquiry into Powell, which has since last fall been examining allegations of fundraising and financial fraud.
In other news …
A request on Thursday to proceed on gun control legislation in the Senate following the Michigan school shooting has been blocked by the Iowa senator Chuck Grassley, the leading Republican on the Senate judiciary committee.
The Biden administration’s move to revive Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy will subject thousands of people to “enormous suffering” and leave them vulnerable to kidnap and rape as they languish in dangerous Mexican border cities, migration advocates have warned.
Abu Zubaydah, the Guantánamo detainee, has petitioned a federal court for his release on grounds that America’s wars in Afghanistan and with al-Qaida are over. Zubaydah was tortured close to death by the CIA and has been held without charge by the US for nearly 20 years.
The former house manager of Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach home said Ghislaine Maxwell warned him that he should “never look” his boss in the eyes, describing a work environment where he faced the grim task of cleaning up their sex toys amid stifling micromanagement.
Don’t miss this: George Clooney on paydays, politics and parentingIt seems safe to assume that George Clooney could, if he were a bit less cool, start every morning by diving into a pile of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck. When asked if he ever thinks he has enough money now, he leans forward, unruffled, and tells Guardian writer Hadley Freeman: “Well, yeah. I was offered $35m for one day’s work for an airline commercial, but I talked to Amal [Clooney, the human rights lawyer he married in 2014] about it and we decided it’s not worth it.” If Clooney has a brand, it is carefully cultivated classiness.… or this: Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger says the ‘music will outlast the crazy Jim stuff’This year marks half a century since the storied singer of the Doors, Jim Morrison, met his untimely death. Or at least that’s what most reasonable people believe happened. Due to a combination of wishful thinking and conspiracy theories, however, some people believe that Morrison still lives. According to the Doors’ guitarist, Robbie Krieger, that’s just one of many outrageous misconceptions or outright lies surrounding the band. In his new memoir, he aims to tell the true, uncensored story of one of the greatest bands of all time while dispelling some long-running myths.Climate check: British Airways looks to recycled cooking oil fuel to cut jet emissionsBritish Airways has signed a deal for aircraft fuel made from recycled cooking oils and other household waste to be produced at scale in the UK and to be in use as early as 2022 to help power its flights. The airline revealed yesterday evening it had reached the agreement with a refinery in north Lincolnshire, England to purchase thousands of tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which it said would add up to the equivalent of 700 transatlantic flights on a Boeing 787 with net zero carbon emissions.Last Thing: snowstorm in Denmark forces dozens to bed down in IkeaAn Ikea showroom in northern Denmark turned into a vast bedroom after six customers and about two dozen employees were stranded by a snowstorm and forced to spend the night in the store. Up to 30cm (12 inches) of snow fell, trapping the customers and employees when the department store in Aalborg closed on Wednesday evening. “We slept in the furniture exhibitions and our showroom on the first floor, where we have beds, mattresses and sofa beds,” store manager Peter Elmose said.TopicsUS newsFirst ThingUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

Rep Lauren Boebert was recently filmed saying she experienced a ‘Jihad squad’ moment with the Muslim Rep Ilhan Omar. The party leadership hasn’t rebuked her, and some colleagues are defending her words. This week Jonathan Freedland speaks to Dr Abdul El-Sayed about Islamophobia in American politics

How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know

Archive: CNN, MSNBC, AP Listen to this week’s episode of UK Politics Weekly. Listen to Today in Focus to hear about the latest fight over abortion rights in the US. Listen to Grace Dent’s conversation with Tom Watson about his eating disorder. Listen to this week’s Football Weekly special. Send your questions and feedback to [email protected]. Help support the Guardian by going to gu.com/supportpodcasts. More

Funding bill to avoid US shutdown wins enough Senate votes House of Representatives earlier passed resolution, then Republicans launched failed Senate bid to defund vaccine mandates
House votes to fund government amid shutdown threats by Senate Republicans – live A bill to fund the US government through mid-February has gained the support of enough members of the Senate to win passage and prevent a partial shutdown of federal agencies at the end of this week.The vote late on Thursday came after some Republican senators threatened to block the process in order to voice their opposition to the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates. Senators voted on an amendment to defund the federal vaccine mandate, which ultimately failed, clearing the way for the passage of the short-term funding bill.The measure, which was approved by lawmakers in the House earlier in the day, will keep the federal government funded for the next two and a half months.Biden announces plan to get booster shots to 100m Americans amid Omicron arrival in USRead moreThe need for vaccine mandates, which have been introduced by Joe Biden, has taken on additional importance as the US braces for the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant.The plot by Republican senators to undermine the vaccine mandate came after some Republican states have already sought to diminish mandates, by expanding unemployment benefits for employees who have been fired or quit over the requirement to get the vaccine.On Wednesday, the House Freedom Caucus, a group of rightwing Republicans in the House of Representatives, urged their Senate colleagues to block the funding bill, also known as a continuing resolution, “unless it prohibits funding – in all respects – for the vaccine mandates and enforcement thereof”.In a letter to Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, the House Freedom Caucus said that the Friday deadline gave their Senate colleagues “important leverage” to prevent funding for mandates.Biden introduced vaccine mandates, which require employees to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing, for federal workers and contractors in July. In September, Biden ordered healthcare workers to be vaccinated and companies with 100 workers or more to require Covid-19 vaccines or testing, which the government said would cover more than 100 million employees. Those measures have been put on hold by court rulings, after Republican state attorneys general, conservative groups and trade organizations sued to stop the regulations.TopicsUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS SenateRepublicansUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

Jill Biden axes Melania Trump’s blood trees for restrained Christmas decorAfter her predecessor’s terrifying vision, the first lady’s minimal display strikes a polite and safe tone You’ve heard the faint murmur of All I Want for Christmas Is You, you’ve seen people swapping their pumpkin spice lattes for Starbucks Eggnogs and Jill Biden has unveiled the White House’s Christmas decor. Yes, Christmas is officially here.She’s following seasonal protocol: since 1889 the White House has been marking the beginning of the season with an interiors makeover. JFK and Jackie’s version gave Lana Del Rey and other fans of classic Americana inspiration for life, Lady Bird Johnson went “peace and love” in 1967 putting a wreath of flowers on hers, the Reagans gave it full 80s glam by allowing Mr T to co-star in the photo-op as Santa (JR from Dallas did the honours the following year) and Hillary Clinton memorably threw everything at her tree in classic overachiever style.But never has the phrase “DECK THE HALLS!” sounded so threatening as when Melania Trump become chief of staff of interior Christmas decorating. Blood trees (Twitter never forgets), ivory white sticks that resembled witches fingers and enough Christmas lights that suggested a special cut-price deal with the power grid. The overall mise en scène Trump was emoting seemed to be The Handmaid’s Tale meets the launch of my premium brand of Glaceau smartwater in Elsa from Frozen’s ice castle.Jill Biden has gone minimal by comparison. The theme is “Gifts from the Heart”. And if that sounds like the name of a Celine Dion Sings the Seasonal Classics-type affair, well, you’d be right. Dr Biden was inspired by the people she’d met while her husband was campaigning, according to Associated Press. There’s a gingerbread White House diorama, candy cane-like stockings sized apparently to fit a baby elephant’s foot and The Tree. Well, The Tree is bursting with life, with white tinsel wrapped around to look like white doves of peace. It’s polite. It’s safe. And after four years of hell, it’s just a relief.Still, there’s certainly a wave of nausea when one looks at the gold-plated leaves adoring the tree in the light of the unemployment numbers and The Great Resignation.The big takeaway question we have, though, is: with all the supply chain issues, what’s exactly in those big red boxes?With Omicron likely to become the Grinch that stole Christmas (again), maybe these pictures should be seen as normal-time placeholders. With your normally scheduled Christmas set to recommence some time in 2025. Now, let’s all suspend our collective beliefs and stare at those huge stockings again.For a full look at Jill Biden’s Christmas decorations, click here.TopicsChristmasJill BidenUS politicsfeaturesReuse this content More

Biden announces plan to get booster shots to 100m Americans amid Omicron arrival in USPresident lays out pandemic battle plan for the winter months, including expanded pharmacy availability for vaccines Joe Biden announced new actions to combat the coronavirus in the US, including a nationwide campaign encouraging vaccine boosters, an expansion of at-home tests and tighter restrictions on international travel.Buffeted by the emergence of the Omicron variant and a political backlash from Republicans, the US president visited the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, on Thursday and laid out a pandemic battle plan for the winter months.“My plan pulls no punches,” Biden said “It is a plan that should unite us.”US expected to require stricter testing protocols for international travelersRead moreBiden announced steps to ensure that the nearly 100 million eligible Americans who have not yet received their booster shot do so as soon as possible, the White House said. There is new urgency to the effort after the first US case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was identified in California on Wednesday and a second one in Minnesota on Thursday.The president pledged to expand pharmacy availability during December while pharmacy partners send millions of texts, calls and emails to eligible customers with information on how to schedule an appointment or walk in for a booster shot.There will also be a public education campaign to encourage adults to get boosters, with a particular focus on the elderly. It will feature paid advertising across multiple channels, engagement with community organisations and media campaigns.The fight against the coronavirus in the US has politically divided the country with Republicans often seeking to undermine efforts to mandate public health policies around masks and vaccines.Biden directly took on the politicization of health policy, calling it a “sad commentary” on the state of politics in the US. He said his new measures should appeal to all Americans. “This is a moment we can put the divisiveness behind us, I hope,” he said.But, in addressing the threat from the Omicron variant, Biden threw a veiled punch at the often chaotic record of his predecessor, Donald Trump, whose efforts to combat the coronavirus were often marked by inconsistencies, quack cures and conspiracy theories. “We are going to fight this variant with science and speed, not chaos and confusion,” he said.Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to Biden on Covid-19, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that boosting was “very important”, particularly when considering the rise in antibodies following a third dose.He added: “Even though we don’t have a lot of data on it, there’s every reason to believe that kind of increase that you get with the boost would be helpful at least in preventing severe disease of a variant like Omicron.”The emergence of Omicron has demonstrated the tenacity of the virus, which continues to drag down Biden’s political fortunes. Voters are divided on his handling of the pandemic, with 47% approving and 49% disapproving, according to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll.But the White House defended his record, for example by pointing out that when he came into office more than half of schools were closed, where today 99% are fully open and in person. On Thursday, the president will unveil actions to get more children aged five and older vaccinated.These include the launch of hundreds of family vaccination clinics across the country, offering a “one-stop shop” of first shots for parents, teenagers and children, and boosters for those eligible. There will be “family vaccination days” with hundreds of community health centres across the country hosting family vaccination clinics throughout December.Biden also set out a plan to ensure that Americans have access to free at-home testing. More than 150 million people with private insurance will be able to get at-home tests reimbursed; for those not covered, at-home tests will be distributed through health centres and rural clinics.With the threat posed by the Omicron variant still uncertain, early next week the US will tighten pre-departure testing protocols by requiring all inbound international travellers to test within one day of departure, regardless of nationality or vaccination status.In a briefing call with reporters, a senior administration official said: “We have really strengthened our international travel system pretty dramatically over the last month or so.“We believe that tightening that testing requirement for pre-departure will help catch more potential cases of people who may be positive when they fly into the country and so now is the right time to do it, and we can implement it very quickly.”On domestic flights, the official added, “the masking requirement is in place already and in fact we will be extending that requirement from January all the way until mid-March”.The pandemic has killed almost 780,000 people in the US. Nearly 60% of Americans are fully vaccinated. This week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidance recommending that every adult get a booster.TopicsUS newsJoe BidenBiden administrationCoronavirusVaccines and immunisationUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

Biden administration reinstates Trump-era ‘Remain in Mexico’ policyBiden called the policy inhumane after Trump administration used it to return over 60,000 asylum seekers across the border Asylum seekers looking to enter the US from its southern border will again be sent to Mexico while their claims are assessed, with the Biden administration announcing the reinstatement of the controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy on Thursday.Remain in Mexico policy needlessly exposed migrants to harm, report saysRead moreThe US and Mexican governments haver agreed to a resumption of the program, put in place by Donald Trump in 2019, following its previous suspension by Joe Biden after he became president. It will initially begin in San Diego and in the Texas cities of Laredo, Brownsville and El Paso next week.Biden had called the arrangement inhumane after it was used by Trump’s administration to return more than 60,000 asylum seekers across the border to Mexico, where they were often preyed upon by criminal gangs. Many people were left waiting for months in limbo in Mexico as their fate was determined.In October, Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, said that the program “had endemic flaws, imposed unjustifiable human costs, pulled resources and personnel away from other priority efforts, and did not address the root causes of irregular migration”.However, Republican officials in Missouri and Texas sued Biden’s administration in federal court to prevent the scrapping of the return to Mexico policy, claiming that it would place an undue burden on them from incoming migrants.The supreme court ultimately concurred with the states, placing an injunction on the federal government in August which forced it to resume the program. Since then, federal officials have been negotiating with their Mexican counterparts on how the scheme will resume.Under the reinstated deal, single adult asylum seekers will be the primary focus of the removals, with those transferred offered Covid-19 vaccinations. Mexico will accept asylum seekers from Spanish-speaking countries, the Washington Post reported.The US will aim to complete migrants’ claims within 180 days, amid fears they will be left to languish in Mexico. The US Department of Justice is assigning 22 immigration judges to work specifically on these cases.Supporters of the system have claimed it will help reduce the flow of migrants into the US but advocates have argued that there is little evidence that this will happen and point to the often dire humanitarian situation the program has exacerbated on the border.People expelled by the US often end up in sprawling tent camps or sub-standard housing in places such as Tijuana and Reynosa that often lack basic foods and amenities for asylum seekers.According to Human Rights First, a US human rights group, there have been more than 1,500 cases of reported kidnappings and attacks against migrants subjected to the system, known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), and thousands more under another Trump policy known as Title 42 that uses public health concerns to eject asylum seekers.“President Biden and his administration must stop implementing Trump policies that endanger the lives and safety of people seeking refuge in the United States,” said Eleanor Acer, senior director for refugee protection at Human Rights First.Trump’s ‘shameful’ migrant stance condemns thousands to violent limbo in MexicoRead more“Remain in Mexico and other policies that flout asylum laws and treaties are inhumane and unjust. Every day they are in place, they deliver people seeking protection to places where they are targets of brutal attacks and kidnappings perpetrated by deadly cartels and corrupt Mexican officers.”The Biden administration has also been sharply criticized by refugee advocates for the growing number of immigrants being held at private facilities. Biden had promised to end the private, for-profit jails but has exempted the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency from this effort and the number of immigrants in detention has nearly doubled to 29,000 since he took office.“Frankly, it’s infuriating,” Setareh Ghandehari, advocacy director for Detention Watch Network, told the Washington Post. “It’s incredibly disappointing. We really expected more.”TopicsUS immigrationUS-Mexico borderBiden administrationTrump administrationUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

Symone Sanders, Kamala Harris’s chief spokesperson, to leave office – reportDeparture is second high-profile exit in two weeks after resignation of vice-president’s communications director Symone Sanders, chief spokesperson and a senior adviser to Kamala Harris, is to leave the White House at the end of the year, Politico has reported, renewing speculation of chaos and dysfunction within the vice-president’s office.The departure of Sanders is the second high-profile exit from Harris’s staff within two weeks, following the resignation of communications director Ashley Etienne.It also comes amid reported friction with Joe Biden’s team over the role of his vice-president, and stories that Harris feels “sidelined” in the job as the president prepares to launch his campaign for a second term.Sanders, in a farewell note to staff reported by Politico, gave no reason for her exit, and did not say where she intends to go next.Some political observers, however, noted that the news of her leaving came the same day as Stacey Abrams, another highly visible Democrat on the national stage, launched her campaign for Georgia governor.Sanders, 31, joined Harris’s office after spending the 2020 presidential campaign as a senior adviser to Biden. The former political commentator has been one of the best-known faces in the administration, and a vocal defender of Harris in recent weeks and months as the vice-president faced criticism, particularly after a rocky trip to Guatemala in the summer.Harris, plagued by the same sinking approval ratings that have plagued Biden, has struggled with messaging, and drawn flak from prominent figures on both wings of the Democratic party, including the moderate West Virginia senator Joe Manchin and the progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.This contributed to mounting frustration among Harris’s team, and from the vice-president herself, who has reportedly told aides that she feels badly positioned to take over from Biden, even as the 79-year-old president mulls whether to run again in 2024.Conversely, according to CNN, Biden’s staff is watching closely for any signs of disloyalty within the Harris camp, despite outward messages of support.Such stories of tension between the two prompted the White House press secretary Jen Psaki to issue a rare defense of the vice-president last month, calling Harris, the first woman and person of color to reach the office, “a bold leader”, and suggesting at least some criticism of her was rooted in sexism.In a statement to the Washington Post, a spokesperson for Harris paid tribute to Sanders.“Symone has served honorably for three years. The president and vice-president are grateful for Symone’s service and advocacy for this administration. She is a valued member of the White House and a team player – she will be missed,” it said.Sanders previously served as press secretary to the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders during his 2016 campaign for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination that year, which was ultimately won by Hillary Clinton.She became a regular political commentator and analyst on CNN and elsewhere before joining Biden’s team as an adviser and strategist for his 2020 defeat of Donald Trump. After becoming Harris’s chief spokesperson, she traveled often with the vice-president and was quick to highlight her work despite evidence of escalating dysfunction among her staff.TopicsKamala HarrisBiden administrationUS politicsnewsReuse this content More