US Politics

Arkansas lawmakers have approved a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender children, sending the governor a bill that has been widely criticized by medical and child welfare groups.The Senate voted 28-7 on Monday in favor of the legislation. If the bill is enacted it would be the first prohibition of its kind in the country, opponents say. The bill would prohibit doctors from providing gender confirming hormone treatment or surgery to minors, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment. It also allows private insurers to refuse to cover gender-affirming care for trans people of any age.The legislation restricts treatments that have been endorsed by major medical associations and human rights groups. They say the care is well established and part of a gradual process that has been shown to dramatically improve the mental health of the most vulnerable kids.The state’s governor Asa Hutchinson a Republican, has not said whether he supports the measure, but has previously supported anti-trans bills. He has five days, not counting Sunday, after the bill reaches his desk to sign or veto the legislation before it becomes law without his signature.The measure is among dozens of bills targeting trans people that have advanced in Arkansas and other states this year. Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee have enacted measures prohibiting trans girls and women from competing in school sports teams consistent with their gender identity. On Monday, South Dakota’s governor also issued an executive order to prohibit trans girls from playing on girls’ sports teams.Conservative legislators have introduced more than 80 bills restricting trans rights in the US so far this year – most that would either block trans kids’ use of gender-affirming care or limit their access to certain sports teams. It is the highest number of anti-trans legislative proposals ever filed in a single year.Hutchinson on Friday signed a law that would allow doctors to refuse to treat someone because of religious or moral objections, a move that opponents say could be used to turn away LGBTQ+ patients.Opponents of the measure include the American Academy of Pediatrics. The American Civil Liberties Union said it plans legal action to block the treatments ban if it’s signed into law.If signed, the ban would take effect later this summer. More

Sherry Vill remembers feeling embarrassed and stuck as the New York governor Andrew Cuomo “manhandled” her and came on to her in her own home, in front of her husband and son.“He towered over me,” she said during a press conference on Monday. “There was nothing I could do.”Vill, 55, met Cuomo in May 2017, when he visited her suburban house near Rochester, New York, while surveying flooding damage in the area. Hers is the latest in a series of allegations detailing a pattern of sexual misconduct by the now infamous chief of state.Vill recalled Cuomo holding her hand, forcibly grabbing her face, aggressively kissing her cheeks and calling her beautiful. The unwanted advances made her uncomfortable, especially around her family and neighbors.She later received a letter and pictures from the governor, addressed only to her, and a personal invitation to attend one of his local events.“The whole thing was so strange and inappropriate, and still makes me nervous and afraid because of his power and position,” Vill said.Cuomo’s office did not immediately return a request for comment, but his administration has so far generally denied any inappropriate touching by the governor despite a swathe of accusations from multiple women about his behavior.Letitia James, New York attorney general, has now tapped a former acting US attorney and an employment discrimination lawyer to probe the sexual harassment allegations, while many of the state’s high-profile Democrats have already said that Cuomo should resign.“Due to the multiple, credible sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it is clear that Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and the people of New York,” said Chuck Schumer, Senate majority leader, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in a joint statement earlier this month.Cuomo is also facing widespread criticism for how he handled the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, despite once being heralded as a hero and Democratic darling.His administration is currently being investigated for how it reported nursing home deaths from Covid-19 and is under fire for prioritizing Cuomo’s family members for then hard-to-access coronavirus tests.Another woman, Anna Ruch, previously described a similar experience to Vill’s in 2019, when she said Cuomo put his hand on her bare lower back, touched her face and asked to kiss her.Multiple current and former aides have now outlined inappropriate interactions with the governor, even as he publicly admonished the “pervasive poison of workplace sexual harassment” and ardently defended workplace protections amid the #MeToo movement.Lindsey Boylan, a former economic development official, published an essay in February about how she felt Cuomo “would go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs”. She recalled a number of his vulgar comments – including a suggestion that they play strip poker – and described her shock when, during a visit to his office, he kissed her on the lips.“Governor Andrew Cuomo has created a culture within his administration where sexual harassment and bullying is so pervasive that it is not only condoned but expected,” Boylan wrote. “His inappropriate behavior toward women was an affirmation that he liked you, that you must be doing something right.”Charlotte Bennett, a former executive assistant and health policy advisor in her 20s, told the New York Times that she felt Cuomo – who asked her invasive and pointed questions about her sex life, including whether she had ever slept with older men – was grooming her for a sexual relationship.“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett said. “And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job.”Alyssa McGrath, who works for the governor’s office, says Cuomo mixes “flirtatious banter with more personal comments”, and recounted one time when she caught him peeping down her shirt, the New York Times reported.Another current aide, who has remained anonymous, accused Cuomo of fondling her under her blouse at his executive mansion – conduct that could result in a misdemeanor sexual assault charge, according to the Albany Times Union. More

Key events

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5.45pm EDT
17:45

“Faded away like a fish in a bag” – witness in Chauvin trial

4.30pm EDT
16:30

Today so far

3.40pm EDT
15:40

CDC study shows Pfizer and Moderna vaccines highly effective in preventing Covid infections

2.41pm EDT
14:41

Biden calls on states to reinstate mask mandates as coronavirus cases rise

2.24pm EDT
14:24

Biden to announce 90% of US adults will be vaccine eligible by April 19, White House confirms

2.05pm EDT
14:05

Georgia sued again over elections law

1.48pm EDT
13:48

Biden to announce big vaccines boost – reports

Live feed

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5.45pm EDT
17:45

“Faded away like a fish in a bag” – witness in Chauvin trial

Joanna Walters

Blistering eye-witness testimony happening now in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin over the death of George Floyd.
Prosecution witness Donald Williams, 33, a mixed martial arts fighter, was close to the back of the police vehicle next to which, on May 25, 2020, now-former police officer Derek Chauvin had Floyd pinned to the concrete by his neck.
Williams told the court that he could hear and see Floyd in distress and his martial arts experience indicated to him that Chauvin was choking out Floyd as he kneeled on his neck.
The jury, and the public watching in court or around the world by live stream, was shown some devastating clips of Chauvin allegedly “shimmying” in what Williams said was a martial arts move, altering his position very slightly so that it put more pressure on – as a fighter does when they have someone in a hold.
Williams heard Floyd talking about how much pain he was in, his distress as he said he couldn’t breathe, apologized to the officers and begged for his life.
“The more that the knee was on his neck, and the shimmying going on, the more you see him [Floyd] slowly fade away. His eyes rolled to the back of his head,” Williams said.’
He described Floyd dying “like a fish in a bag” and said he saw “blood coming ouot of his nose”, adding “he had no life in him any more.”
Williams described the knee-position as a dangerous “blood choke” intended to cut Floyd’s airway. Williams has previously been heard but unseen shouting angrily at the police from the sidewalk, calling Chauvin a “bum” and accusing him of enjoying what he was doing, as Floyd suffers and begs.

whudat
(@whudat)
On convenience, God works in his ways. For Donald Williams to go to the store and witness George Floyd being murdered with a move he’s well informed of from his MMA fighting. That’s supposed to happen. Testimony: Derek Chauvin looked at him when he said that’s a Blood Choke move. pic.twitter.com/zFqdD43CDK

March 29, 2021

5.08pm EDT
17:08

By the end of this work-week, all adults – and some teens – will be eligible to get a Covid vaccine in Colorado, Associated Press reports.
Governor Jared Polis announced the expansion of the vaccine program onMonday, adding that everyone in the state will be able to get a dose by mid to late May. Over 1 million Coloradans have already been fully vaccinated.

Governor Jared Polis
(@GovofCO)
COVID-19 VACCINE UPDATE!Starting Friday, April 2, all Coloradans 16 and up will be eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine and those 18 and up will be eligible for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine. This is a huge step towards Building Back Stronger here in Colorado. pic.twitter.com/w9uicase56

March 29, 2021

“Every day we’re getting closer to ending the pandemic, but it’s not over yet,” Polis said during a news conference.
Across the US, roughly 95 million people have gotten at least one shot, and close to 53 million have been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But even as new daily records for numbers of vaccines administered continue to be set, and states continue to ramp up their rates, public health officials have called for continued vigilance. Covid cases are again creeping up in some areas of the country.
Biden called on states to reinstate mask mandates on Monday, saying that “reckless behavior” was threatening progress made in containing the pandemic.

Updated
at 5.38pm EDT

4.46pm EDT
16:46

Hello everyone! I am Gabrielle Canon, signing on to take you through the news for the next few hours.
First up — Donald Trump jumped on an unusual opportunity to share his feelings about the state of affairs since he’s left office, taking over the microphone during a wedding being held at his Mar-a-Lago resort over the weekend,.
Celebrity tabloid site TMZ first released the video of the former-president’s rambling toast, where he aired complaints about Biden’s policies and rehashed fabricated accusations of election fraud, before congratulating the happy couple.

The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly has the story:

“Y’know,” the tuxedoed former president began, standing in front of a waiting band, “I just got, I turned off the news, I get all these flash reports, and they’re telling me about the border, they’re telling me about China, they’re telling me about Iran – how’re we doing with Iran, how do you like that?”

Read the rest of the story here:

4.30pm EDT
16:30

Today so far

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague Gabrielle Canon will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:

The trial of Derek Chauvin in connection to the killing of George Floyd started in Minneapolis. Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, is facing charges of murder in the second and third degree and manslaughter.
Prosecutors played the video showing the final moments of Floyd’s life. In the video, Chauvin kneels on Floyd’s neck as Floyd repeatedly says, “I can’t breathe.” Bystanders are also heard urging Chauvin to stop kneeling on Floyd’s neck for several minutes.
Joe Biden announced that 90% of American adults will be eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by April 19. By that date, 90% of Americans will live within five miles of a vaccination site, the president said. Biden also announced his administration is expanding its pharmacy vaccine program and spending nearly $100 million to vaccinate vulnerable communities.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressed a feeling of “impending doom” as coronavirus cases rise in the US. During the White House coronavirus response team’s briefing today, Dr Rochelle Walensky said, “We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope, but right now I’m scared.” The CDC director urged Americans to continue wearing masks and socially distancing to limit the spread of coronavirus as vaccinations ramp up. Biden echoed Walensky’s concerns and asked states to reinstate mask mandates if they have rescinded them.
A CDC study showed the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were highly effective at preventing coronavirus infections in real-world conditions. According to the study, the risk of infection was reduced by 90% two weeks after study participants received the second dose of a vaccine.

Gabrielle will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Updated
at 4.35pm EDT

4.15pm EDT
16:15

Amudalat Ajasa

Protesters outside the Minneapolis court house where former police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for the murder of George Floyd today were acutely aware of the significance of the case and well as the precariousness of the outcome.
Jason Brown, 40, a vice president of a tech company and the president of Minnesota’s Arc of Justice advocacy group, who is Black, told the Guardian: “I wish for once America would stand up for us. … If [Chauvin] meant to do this or if he didn’t mean to, it happened.”
Brown is concerned that the jury, which is majority white, may not convict.
“The jury? I don’t think a Black man could get fair justice in America anywhere,” he said.
People are braced for the defense to try to tear down Floyd’s character and conduct on the day.
“[Floyd is] a Black man who’s not really on trial – but he is on trial. He died, but he’s on trial,” Brown said.
The city has emphasized that peaceful protest is encouraged, despite the heavily-protected court building and the deployment of National Guard troops.
But there is no doubt that if Chauvin is acquitted or even if convicted on the least serious charge, manslaughter, resulting protests could escalate and spin out of control.
“If they don’t get it right, we will get it right. The younger generations don’t have patience for nonsense,” Brown said.
Another protester, who identified only by her artistic moniker of Aesthetic Ash, said she left her home in California last May and has been participating in protests across the country since.
“I’m here to make sure the community knows that people genuinely care about George Floyd, they care about Breonna Taylor and they care about all the whose lives have been stolen too early,” she said.
Minnesota has only one previous recorded murder conviction of a police officer in the course of his duty – an officer of color.

4.01pm EDT
16:01

Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver a speech on his proposed infrastructure package on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the president will speak in the same union hall where he campaigned for Democratic congressional candidate Conor Lamb in a 2018 special election.
Lamb won that special election and has since won two re-election races to remain in the House of Representatives.

Jonathan Tamari
(@JonathanTamari)
Joe Biden is planning to launch his infrastructure pitch in the same Western PA union hall where he campaigned for Conor Lamb in the 2018 special election

March 29, 2021

Updated
at 4.20pm EDT

3.40pm EDT
15:40

CDC study shows Pfizer and Moderna vaccines highly effective in preventing Covid infections

Richard Luscombe

In case you missed it: a new CDC study provided “strong evidence” that the two mRNA vaccines approved for use in the US, produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, are highly effective in preventing infections in what the agency called “real-world conditions” among healthcare personnel, first-responders and essential workers.
“This study shows that our national vaccination efforts are working,” said Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“These findings should offer hope to the millions of Americans receiving Covid-19 vaccines each day and to those who will have the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated in the weeks ahead.”
Nonetheless, many experts fear a fourth wave of Covid-19 in the US as variants of the deadly virus continue to circulate in numerous states, many of which have almost fully reopened, and Americans prepare for the summer travel season.
Despite more than 2.5m vaccinations being administered per day and a shrinking death toll, Walensky believes a fourth wave is imminent.
“I’m going to lose the script, and I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom,” she said. “We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope. But right now I’m scared.”
Walensky’s concern appears to be backed up by statistics. The US recently passed 30m cases of Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University, and the seven-day average of hospital admissions has risen to 4,800, up 200.
The daily average of new cases has also risen, by 10% in a week, to about 70,000, far higher than the 40,000 to 50,000 daily cases of a few weeks ago.

3.18pm EDT
15:18

Martin Pengelly

In Michigan, the Associated Press reports, a judge has ordered three men to stand trial regarding a foiled plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer over her coronavirus restrictions.

Jackson county district court Judge Michael Klaeren ruled there was enough evidence and bound over Paul Bellar, Joe Morrison and Pete Musico to circuit court to stand trial.
Arguments were heard by Klaeren about whether the men should face trial following three days of testimony. They are accused of aiding six other men charged in federal court with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer. Five more people are also charged in state courts.
The FBI in October said it broke up a plot to kidnap Whitmer by anti-government extremists upset over her coronavirus restrictions.
Klareen said there was enough evidence for trial on charges of providing material support for terrorist acts, gang membership and using a firearm during a felony. The judge dismissed a charge of threat of terrorism against Musico and Morrison. Bellar did not face that charge.

Here’s some further reading…

2.55pm EDT
14:55

As he walked away from the podium, a reporter asked Joe Biden if he believed some states should pause their reopening efforts because of the rise in coronavirus cases across the US.
“Yes,” the president replied.

Aaron Rupar
(@atrupar)
REPORTER: Do you believe some states should pause their reopening efforts?BIDEN: Yes pic.twitter.com/64ggT1WuYG

March 29, 2021

A number of states have relaxed some of their coronavirus-related restrictions in recent weeks, as vaccinations have increased.
But the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Rochelle Walensky, warned of “impending doom” in connection to the recent rise in cases.
“We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope,” Walensky said during this morning’s briefing from the White House coronavirus response team. “But right now I’m scared.”

2.47pm EDT
14:47

Joe Biden confirmed that 90% of American adults will be eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by April 19. By that date, 90% of Americans will also live within five miles of a vaccination site.
Biden noted that the final 10% of American adults will be eligible to receive the vaccine by May 1, as he previously announced.

President Biden
(@POTUS)
I’m proud to announce that three weeks from today, 90% of adults will be eligible to get vaccinated — and 90% of Americans will live within 5 miles of a place to get a shot.

March 29, 2021

The president also announced his administration is expanding its pharmacy vaccination program to 20,000 more local pharmacies, and the federal government is investing nearly $100 million to get vulnerable communities vaccinated.
“We still are in a war with this deadly virus, and we’re bolstering our defense, but this war is far from won,” Biden said.
The president concluded his comments by asking Americans to continue to wear masks, socially distance and wash their hands to limit the spread of the virus.

Updated
at 3.04pm EDT

2.41pm EDT
14:41

Biden calls on states to reinstate mask mandates as coronavirus cases rise

Joe Biden is now speaking at the White House to deliver an update on the distribution of coronavirus vaccines in the US.
The president noted the country has administered a record number of shots in recent days, with 10 million doses being delivered over the three days of this past weekend.
“That would have been inconceivable in January,” Biden said. “My fellow Americans, look at what we have done over the past 10 weeks.”
But Biden emphasized that the country’s work to get the virus under control is far from over. Echoing comments from the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Biden asked Americans to continue wearing masks and socially distancing to limit the spread of coronavirus.
At the White House coronavirus response team’s briefing this morning, the CDC director, Dr Rochelle Walensky, noted coronavirus cases have been on the rise in recent days.
“We’re giving up hard-fought, hard-won gains,” Biden said.
The president asked states that have rescinded their mask mandates to reinstate those public health orders.
“Mask up, mask up. It’s your patriotic duty,” Biden said. “It’s the only way we’ll get back to normal.”

2.24pm EDT
14:24

Biden to announce 90% of US adults will be vaccine eligible by April 19, White House confirms

The White House has confirmed that Joe Biden will announce today that 90% of American adults will be eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by April 19.
By that date, 90% of Americans will also have a vaccination site within five miles of where they live, the White House said in a new statement.
According to the statement, Biden will announce his administration is expanding the federal pharmacy vaccination program to 20,000 more local pharmacies across the US.
The president will also announce nearly $100 million in funding to help vaccinate vulnerable and at-risk communities, as well as Americans with disabilities.
Finally, Biden will announce his administration is going to establish a dozen more federally-run mass vaccination sites across the country. The White House said earlier today that two such sites will be set up in Gary, Indiana, and St Louis, Missouri.
Biden is expected to start speaking any moment, so stay tuned.

2.05pm EDT
14:05

Georgia sued again over elections law

Sam Levine

Georgia now faces two federal lawsuits over its sweeping new election law, both alleging state Republicans designed the measure to discriminate against Black and other minority voters.
A suit filed on Sunday by a coalition of civil rights groups, including the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, says the law is intentionally discriminatory and violates the 14th and 15th amendments of the constitution as well as the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The measure, signed into law on Thursday by Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, implements a number of changes to Georgia election law. It requires voters to show identification information both when they request and return a mail-in ballot. It also shortens the period in which voters can vote by mail, prohibits providing food and water to voters in line at the polls, limits the availability of absentee ballot drop boxes, requires county boards of elections to hear voter challenges within 10 days, and creates a pathway for Republicans in the legislature to meddle in local elections,
The law “is the culmination of a concerted effort to suppress the participation of Black voters and other voters of color by the Republican state senate, state house and governor,” lawyers representing the groups wrote.
“Unable to stem the tide of these demographic changes or change the voting patterns of voters of color, these officials have resorted to attempting to suppress the vote of Black voters and other voters of color in order to maintain the tenuous hold that the Republican party has in Georgia.”
The complaint is the second lawsuit filed challenging the provisions. On Thursday, almost immediately after Kemp signed the measure, the New Georgia Project and Black Voters Matter, two civic action groups, filed their own suit challenging the law.
Joe Biden said on Friday that the US justice department, charged with enforcing the Voting Rights Act, was also “taking a look at the Georgia measure”. The department did not file any major voting rights cases under Donald Trump.
Several more lawsuits challenging the Georgia law are expected. The suits will likely face an uphill battle among an increasingly conservative federal judiciary, especially at the appellate level that has looked skeptically on claims of voting discrimination in voting recently.

1.48pm EDT
13:48

Biden to announce big vaccines boost – reports

Martin Pengelly

Shortly after CDC director Rochelle Walensky spoke about her “sense of doom” about rising Covid case numbers, the White House trailed some altogether more optimistic words to come from Joe Biden this afternoon.
As Bloomberg News reports it:

President Joe Biden plans to announce that 90% of US adults will be eligible to get a Covid-19 vaccine in three weeks, and that his administration will more than double the number of pharmacies where shots are available, officials familiar with the matter said.
Biden will make the announcement on Monday afternoon at the White House, marking 19 April as a new milestone in the vaccination effort. He’ll also say that nearly all US adults will be able to get a shot within five miles of their homes, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Of course, the two lines of comment are not remotely mutually exclusive. Great strides are indeed being made in vaccinations across the US, with New York ready to vaccinate everyone over 30 and soon all adults, said Andrew Cuomo also on Monday, but case numbers are also rising, virus variants are dangerous and many states are pursuing reopening policies dangerously fast.
Here’s our current news lead, leading on Walensky’s remarks but “wrapping”, as they in the news business, other developments too:

1.30pm EDT
13:30

Today so far

The White House press briefing has now concluded. Here’s where the day stands so far:

The trial of Derek Chauvin in connection to the killing of George Floyd started in Minneapolis. Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, is facing charges of murder in the second and third degree and manslaughter.
Prosecutors played the video showing the final moments of Floyd’s life. In the video, Chauvin kneels on Floyd’s neck as Floyd can be heard repeatedly saying, “I can’t breathe.” Bystanders are also heard urging Chauvin to stop kneeling on Floyd’s neck for several minutes.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressed a feeling of “impending doom” as coronavirus cases rise in the US. During the White House coronavirus response team’s briefing today, Dr Rochelle Walensky said, “We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope, but right now I’m scared.” The CDC director urged Americans to continue wearing masks and socially distancing to limit the spread of coronavirus as vaccinations ramp up.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned. More

Up to 90% of US adults will be eligible for a Covid-19 shot by 19 April, Joe Biden said on Monday as he announced a major expansion of the nation’s vaccination program.Hours after Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned of “impending doom” in the race against the resurgence of infections, the US president delivered the counter measure.Talking from the White House after a briefing from his coronavirus team, Biden promised that 90% of US residents would be living within five miles of a vaccination site within three weeks.“We’re going to send more aid to states to expand the opening of more community vaccination sites, more vaccines, more sites, more vaccinators, all designed to speed our critical work,” he said.But, chiming with Walensky, he also warned: “We still are in a war with this deadly virus, and we’re bolstering our defense, but this war is far from won.”Biden said the vaccination figures – 75% of Americans over 65 inoculated in his first 10 weeks in office, and the new target of 200m shots in his first 100 days – gave him optimism.But he said the country was in danger of giving back “hard fought gains” if it let up on preventative measures such as mask wearing and social distancing.“I’m reiterating my call for every governor, mayor and local leader to maintain and reinstate the mask mandate,” he said, adding that he thought states should also pause reopening efforts because of the recent rise in cases.“Please, this is not politics. A failure to take this virus seriously is what got us into this mess in the first place,” Biden said.His plea, however, is likely to fall on deaf ears in states such as Texas, where the Republican governor, Greg Abbott, controversially lifted the state’s mask mandate this month, and in Florida, where Ron DeSantis, a staunch ally of the former president Donald Trump, refuse to implement one in the first place, and has clashed with the White House over vaccination policy.The president also had harsh words for those openly defying Covid-19 precautions, such as young spring breakers who caused chaos in Miami Beach this month.“We’re in a life and death race with a virus that is spreading quickly, with cases rising again, new variants are spreading, and sadly some of the reckless behavior we’ve seen on television over the past few weeks means that more new cases are to come in the weeks ahead,” he said.“These people are letting up on precautions, which is a very bad thing. Cases have fallen two thirds since I took office … now cases are going back up. In some states deaths are as well. We’re giving back our hard fought, hard won gains.”With 90% of Americans now eligible to receive the vaccine by 19 April, Biden noted the final 10% would be included by 1 May, as he previously announced. More

Sign up for the Guardian’s First Thing newsletter“Welcome to the family, Lara.”That’s how a Fox News host greeted Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of Donald Trump, upon the announcement Monday that she would be joining the network as a paid contributor.Lara Trump, the wife of former presidential son Eric Trump, is already a bosom member of the family that matters most in Republican politics.But now the 38-year-old former TV producer has left her perch as senior adviser to the Trump campaign to sign on for a regular gig sharing her opinions and analysis in front of the cameras on Fox News.“I’m so excited first of all to be joining the Fox family,” she said in an appearance on the Fox & Friends morning program Monday.“I sort of feel like I’ve been an unofficial member of the team for so long, you guys know, it was kind of a joke, over the past five years I would come there so often that the security guards were like, ‘Maybe we should just give you a key’. So to be part of the team I’m so, so excited.”But Lara Trump’s elevation as a Fox News contributor was worthy of celebration in the kingdom of Rupert Murdoch not only for the truce it could signal between the network and Donald Trump, who turned bitterly against Fox News after the election.Lara Trump’s arrival as a news commentator could pave the way to a political career of her own that has for months circulated as a pleasing rumor in conservative circles.The former first daughter-in-law has been mooted as a potential Republican candidate for the US Senate seat in North Carolina to be vacated next year by retiring Republican Richard Burr.Born Lara Yunaska, Trump, 38, grew up in North Carolina and graduated college from North Carolina State University.Her viability as a potential political candidate is an open question, one sure to have strategists and donors scrutinizing her air time on Fox News.But she will also be watched for signs that relations between the network and the former president have warmed since last November, when Donald Trump grew impatient with Fox News for being slow to trumpet his lies about election fraud.“Very sad to watch this happen, but they forgot what made them successful, what got them there,” Trump tweeted of Fox News on 12 November – after the election but before his account was suspended. “They forgot the Golden Goose. The biggest difference between the 2016 Election, and 2020, was @FoxNews!”The contract between Lara Trump and Fox means that both partners of Trump’s two eldest sons were once or current Murdoch employees. Donald Trump Jr’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle was a Fox News presenter for more than a decade. More

Sign up for the Guardian’s First Thing newsletterThe Biden administration is moving to sharply increase offshore wind energy along the US east coast, saying on Monday it is taking steps toward approving a huge windfarm off New Jersey as part of an effort to generate electricity for more than 10m homes by 2030.Meeting the target could mean jobs for more than 44,000 workers and for 33,000 others in related employment, the White House said. The effort also would help avoid 78m metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, a key step in the fight to slow the climate crisis.Joe Biden “believes we have an enormous opportunity in front of us to not only address the threats of climate change, but use it as a chance to create millions of good-paying, union jobs that will fuel America’s economic recovery,” said the White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy.“Nowhere is the scale of that opportunity clearer than for offshore wind.”The commitment “will create pathways to the middle class for people from all backgrounds and communities”, she added.The administration said it intends to prepare a formal environmental analysis for the Ocean Wind project off New Jersey, moving it toward becoming the third commercial-scale offshore wind project in the US.The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (OEM), part of the interior department, said it was targeting offshore wind projects in shallow waters between Long Island, New York and New Jersey. A recent study shows the area can support up to 25,000 development and construction jobs by 2030, a statement said.OEM said it will push to sell commercial leases in late 2021 or early 2022.Ocean Wind, 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey, is projected to produce about 1,100 megawatts a year, enough to power 500,000 homes.The Department of the Interior has announced environmental reviews for Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts and South Fork windfarm about 35 miles east of Montauk Point in New York. Vineyard Wind is expected to produce about 800 megawatts and South Fork about 132.Biden has vowed to double offshore wind production by 2030 as part of his effort to slow the climate crisis. The likely approval of the Atlantic coast projects – the leading edge of at least 16 offshore wind projects along the east coast – marks a sharp turnaround from the Trump administration, which stymied wind power onshore and in the ocean.Donald Trump frequently derided wind power as an expensive, bird-killing way to make electricity, and his administration resisted or opposed projects including Vineyard Wind. The developer of the Massachusetts project temporarily withdrew its application in a bid to stave off possible rejection. Biden provided a fresh opening for the project soon after taking office in January.“For generations, we’ve put off the transition to clean energy and now we’re facing a climate crisis,” said the interior secretary, Deb Haaland.“As our country faces the interlocking challenges of a global pandemic, economic downturn, racial injustice and the climate crisis, we have to transition to a brighter future for everyone.”Vineyard Wind is slated to become operational in 2023, Ocean Wind a year later.Offshore wind development is in its infancy in the US, far behind Europe. A small windfarm operates in waters controlled by Rhode Island, and another small farm operates off Virginia.The three major projects are owned by European companies or subsidiaries. Vineyard Wind is a joint project of a Danish company and a US subsidiary of the Spanish energy company Iberdrola. Ocean Wind and South Fork are led by the Danish company, Orsted.Wind developers are poised to create tens of thousands of jobs and generate more than $100bn in new investment by 2030 “but the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management must first open the door to new leasing″, said Erik Milito, the president of the National Ocean Industries Association.Fishing groups from Maine to Florida have expressed fear that large offshore wind projects could render huge swaths of the ocean off-limits to their catch. More

The United States cannot prosper and remain a vigorous democracy when so few have so much and so many have so little. While many of my congressional colleagues choose to ignore it, the issue of income and wealth inequality is one of the great moral, economic and political crises that we face – and it must be dealt with.The unfortunate reality is that we are moving rapidly toward an oligarchic form of society, where a handful of billionaires have enormous wealth and power while working families have been struggling in a way we have not seen since the Great Depression. This situation has been exacerbated by the pandemic.Today, half of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, 500,000 of the very poorest among us are homeless, millions are worried about evictions, 92 million are uninsured or underinsured, and families all across the country are worried about how they are going to feed their kids. Today, an entire generation of young people carry an outrageous level of student debt and face the reality that their standard of living will be lower than their parents’. And, most obscenely, low-income Americans now have a life expectancy that is about 15 years lower than the wealthy. Poverty in America has become a death sentence.Meanwhile, the people on top have never had it so good. The top 1% now own more wealth than the bottom 92%, and the 50 wealthiest Americans own more wealth than the bottom half of American society – 165 million people. While millions of Americans have lost their jobs and incomes during the pandemic, over the past year 650 billionaires have seen their wealth increase by $1.3tn.The growing gap between the very rich and everyone else is nothing new.Over the past 40 years there has been a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class and working families to the very wealthiest people in America.In 1978, the top 0.1% owned about 7% of the nation’s wealth. In 2019, the latest year of data available, they own nearly 20%.Unbelievably, the two richest people in America, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, now own more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans combined.If income inequality had not skyrocketed over the past four decades and had simply stayed static, the average worker in America would be earning $42,000 more in income each year. Instead, as corporate chief executives now make over 300 times more than their average employees, the average American worker now earns $32 a week less than he or she did 48 years ago – after adjusting for inflation. In other words, despite huge increases in technology and productivity, ordinary workers are actually losing ground.Addressing income and wealth and inequality will not be easy, because we will be taking on some of the most powerful and well-financed entities in the country, including Wall Street, the health insurance industry, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry and the military-industrial-complex. But it must be done. Here is some of what Congress and the president can do in the very near future.We must raise the minimum wage from the current starvation wage of $7.25 an hour to a living wage of at least $15 an hour. A job should lift workers out of poverty, not keep them in it.We need to make it easier, not harder, for workers to join unions. The massive increase in wealth and income inequality can be directly linked to the decline in union membership in America.A job should lift workers out of poverty, not keep them in itWe need to create millions of good-paying jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure – our roads, bridges, wastewater plants, sewers, culverts, dams, schools and affordable housing.We need to combat climate change by fundamentally transforming our energy system away from fossil fuels towards energy efficiency and renewable energy which will also create millions of good paying jobs.We need to do what virtually every other major country does by guaranteeing healthcare to all people as a human right. Passing a Medicare for All program would end the absurdity of us paying twice as much per capita for healthcare as do the people of other countries, while tens of millions of Americans are uninsured or under-insured.We need to make certain that all of our young people, regardless of income, have the right to high quality education – including college. And that means making public colleges and universities tuition free and substantially reducing student debt for working families.And yes. We need to make the wealthiest people and most profitable corporations in America start paying their fair share of taxes.Growing income and wealth inequality is not just an economic issue. It touches the very foundation of American democracy. If the very rich become much richer while millions of working people see their standard of living continue to decline, faith in government and our democratic institutions will wither and support for authoritarianism will increase. We cannot let that happen. More

Sign up for the Guardian’s Fight to Vote newsletterThe Georgia Democratic senator the Rev Raphael Warnock delivered a challenge to Joe Biden on Sunday to prioritize the fight against voter suppression, telling the US president: “We have to pass voting rights no matter what.”Controversial legislation introducing sweeping new restrictions on voting was signed into law by Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, last week, the spearhead of an apparent effort by Republicans in dozens of states to dramatically curtail access to the electoral process for Black and other minority voters, who lean Democrat.The president has slammed Georgia’s move as “un-American” and “Jim Crow in the 21st century,” a reference to laws enforcing racial segregation following the civil war.But some supporters are worried that his fledgling administration appears more concerned about passing a $3tn economic package focused on infrastructure than tackling what Warnock calls “an assault on democracy”.“We’ve got to work on the infrastructure of our country, our roads and our bridges, and we’ve got to work on the infrastructure of our democracy,” Warnock told CNN’s State of the Union.Two pieces of proposed legislation currently before Congress would counter the Republicans’ voter suppression strategy.The John Lewis Voting Rights Act that Warnock addressed in his first speech on the Senate floor in January would allow courts to block new election legislation by states perceived to violate federal law and impose greater federal oversight on the electoral process.The second, the For the People Act that has already passed the House, would require states to provide at least 15 days of early voting, allow universal access to mail-in voting, permit election day voter registration and create a national holiday for voting.Both bills face an uncertain fate in the US Senate, which has created a furious debate over whether Democrats should remove the filibuster and eliminate the 60-vote requirement for passage.Biden on Sunday urged Congress to pass the two bills, tweeting: “We need to make it easier for all eligible Americans to access the ballot box and prevent attacks on the sacred right to vote.”I urge Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. We need to make it easier for all eligible Americans to access the ballot box and prevent attacks on the sacred right to vote.— President Biden (@POTUS) March 28, 2021
The backlash in Georgia was immediate to Kemp’s Thursday afternoon signing of the legislation that imposes stricter ID voter requirements, limits the availability of ballot drop boxes and shortens the time for voters to request and return mail-in ballots.A Black Democratic state assembly member, Park Cannon, was arrested by Georgia state troopers for knocking on Kemp’s locked door while the signing took place in private. Demonstrators took to the streets of Atlanta on Saturday to support Park.Meanwhile, the editorial board of the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper accused state leaders of “marching backward into history”.“People … will see these voting access restrictions for what they really are: a house built hurriedly on shifting sands of lies. Verifiable facts or statistics are not part of the foundation for the unwarranted package of changes rapidly signed into law Thursday behind closed doors,” the editorial stated, referring to Donald Trump’s false allegations of fraud in the presidential election in Georgia.Nikema Williams, a Black newly elected US congresswoman for Georgia, told CNN on Sunday she believed that the victories of the state’s new Democratic US senators, Warnock and Jon Ossoff, following Biden’s November defeat of Trump in a traditionally red state, had fueled a desire for revenge.“Republicans are pushing back and they’re upset that we were able to win,” she said. “And so they’re going to do everything in their power right now to restrict access to people who mainly look like me from voting.”Kemp incurred the former president’s wrath in December for failing to support his lies about a stolen election, but has since stated he would back Trump for another White House run in 2024.Kemp sparked outrage last week by signing the new state legislation in front of a painting of a slavery-era plantation building, and surrounded only by white men.“I gasped,” Kimberley Wallace, whose family members labored at the plantation for generations, dating back to sharecropping and slavery, told CNN. She said the moment was “very rude and very disrespectful to me, to my family, to Black people of Georgia”. More