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      Joe Biden scraps plan to nominate anti-abortion lawyer to Kentucky judgeship

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      Joe Biden scraps plan to nominate anti-abortion lawyer to Kentucky judgeshipSenator Rand Paul announced Friday he would not consent to Chad Meredith’s nomination, vetoing the president’s effort After weeks of criticism from fellow Democrats and abortion advocacy groups, Joe Biden has deserted plans to nominate an anti-abortion lawyer to be a federal judge in Kentucky.The White House said on Friday that Republican Kentucky senator Rand Paul would not be consenting to the nomination of Chad Meredith, effectively vetoing Biden’s move to put him on the bench.Biden planned to nominate anti-abortion lawyer to federal judgeship, emails showRead more“In considering potential district court nominees, the White House learned that Senator Rand Paul will not return a blue slip on Chad Meredith,” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates on Friday, referring to the “blue slip” tradition that allows senators to veto judicial nominations from their home states. “Therefore, the White House will not nominate Mr Meredith.”Had Biden nominated Meredith, the attorney’s promotion to the court would have been unusual in the lineup of Biden’s judicial picks. The president has made it a point to nominate people from underrepresented backgrounds, public defenders and those with experience in civil rights law to the court instead of the usual slate of corporate lawyers and prosecutors.Meredith served as chief deputy general counsel to former Republican Kentucky governor Matt Bevin, who was in office from 2015 to 2019. In this role, Meredith helped the state defend a 2017 law that required doctors to perform ultrasounds and show images of the fetus to patients before performing an abortion. The law was ultimately upheld by a federal appeals court.Working under Bevin, Meredith also helped put together the former governor’s slate of controversial pardons, which included people convicted of murder and rape, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.After Bevin left office, Meredith began working for a private law firm in Cincinnati, Ohio.News of his nomination was first reported by the Courier-Journal on 29 June. Democrats started hounding the White House for an explanation behind its intention to nominate the anti-abortion lawyer on the heels of the 24 June US supreme court decision overturning the nationwide right to terminate pregnancies embedded in Roe v Wade.In a group statement, a coalition of national abortion advocacy groups denounced news of the potential nomination.“We are in this moment because anti-abortion judges were intentionally nominated at every level to take away our fundamental right to abortion – and given his record, we know Chad Meredith would be no exception,” the statement read.When White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was questioned about the potential nomination, she said, “We make it a point here to not comment on any vacancy, whether it is on the executive branch or the judicial branch, especially those where the nomination has not been made yet.”While the White House has been quiet behind its reasoning for considering Meredith, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said that Biden was close to taking up his judicial pick “as a personal friendship gesture”, the Kentucky senator told the New York Times. McConnell said that no specific deal between himself and Biden was made, and it simply represented the “collegiality” that exists between them.Paul, who ultimately shut the nomination down, has not commented on his veto of Meredith’s nomination. McConnell suggested to the Times that Paul may believe it is his turn to pick a judicial nominee, though he has not made such an agreement on judicial nominees with Paul.TopicsKentuckyUS politicsJoe BidenAbortionDemocratsRand PaulUS justice systemnewsReuse this content More

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      in Elections

      2022 Midterms Poll: Roundup of Key Insights

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      A summary of the findings includes deep dissatisfaction among voters and potential fertile ground for new candidates in 2024.Which side has the most energy heading into November? More polls will come as the midterm elections near, but for now we’ve wrapped up our first New York Times/Siena survey, and here are some notable takeaways:Voters are not happy. Just 13 percent of registered voters said America was heading in the right direction. Only 10 percent said the economy was excellent or good. And a majority of voters said the nation was too politically divided to solve its challenges. As a point of comparison, each of these figures shows a more pessimistic electorate than in October 2020, when the pandemic was still raging and Donald J. Trump was president.Joe Biden is in trouble. His approval rating in our poll was in the low 30s. That’s lower than we ever found for Mr. Trump.Democrats would rather see someone else get the party’s nomination in 2024. Mr. Biden’s age was as much of an issue among voters as his overall job performance. Of course, he probably would have trailed “someone else” ahead of the last presidential primary as well, but he still won the nomination because his opposition was weak or fractured. Still, it’s a sign that Mr. Biden is much weaker than the typical president seeking re-election. It could augur a contested primary.Democrats’ Reasons for a Different CandidateWhat’s the most important reason you would prefer someone other than Joe Biden to be the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee?

      Asked of 191 respondents who said they planned to vote in the 2024 Democratic primary and who preferred a candidate other than Joe Biden in a New York Times/Siena College poll from July 5-7, 2022.By The New York TimesTrump isn’t doing great, either. Like Mr. Biden, Mr. Trump has become less popular over the last two years. The number of Republicans who hold an unfavorable view of him has doubled since our final polling in 2020. He’s now under 50 percent in a hypothetical 2024 Republican primary matchup.Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is already at 25 percent in an early test of the Republican primary. Mr. Trump may still be the front-runner, but the polls increasingly look more like the early surveys from the Democratic primary in 2008 — when Hillary Clinton found herself in an extremely close race and ultimately lost to Barack Obama — than the polls ahead of the Democratic primary in 2016, when she won a protracted battle against Bernie Sanders.Many voters do not want to see a 2020 rematch. Mr. Biden still led Mr. Trump in a hypothetical 2024 matchup, 44 percent to 41 percent. What was surprising: Ten percent of respondents volunteered that they would not vote at all or would vote for someone else if those were the two candidates, even though the interviewer didn’t offer those choices as an option.The midterm race starts out close, with voters nearly evenly divided on the generic congressional ballot (voters are asked whether they prefer Democrats or Republicans to be in control of Congress). That’s a little surprising, given expectations of a Republican landslide this year. More

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      Beto O’Rourke broke a Texas fund-raising record with a $27.6 million haul, his campaign said.

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      Beto O’Rourke set a new Texas fund-raising record for state office with a $27.6 million haul over four months in the governor’s race, his campaign announced on Friday, saying that it had outpaced Gov. Greg Abbott, the Republican incumbent, in the tightening contest.But the campaign of Mr. Abbott, who still holds a cash-on-hand advantage over Mr. O’Rourke, reported that he had raised nearly $25 million during the same period ending in June.Mr. O’Rourke’s campaign received over a half-million donations at the same time that he was staunchly critical of gun control laws in Texas after a mass shooting in May at an elementary school in Uvalde, and after the state imposed restrictions on abortions last month.Both issues have boosted the national profile of Mr. O’Rourke, a Democrat and former congressman who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 2018 and later for president.Mr. O’Rourke received widespread attention in May when he interrupted a news conference held by Mr. Abbott in Uvalde after an 18-year-old gunman armed with an AR-15-style rifle killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school. Mr. O’Rourke, who supports banning assault weapons, accused Mr. Abbott of “doing nothing” to prevent gun violence before Mr. Abbott’s allies told Mr. O’Rourke to “shut up” and said that he was an “embarrassment.”Two recent polls — one conducted by the University of Houston and one by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas in Austin — had Mr. O’Rourke within five and within six percentage points of Mr. Abbott.“We’re receiving support from people in every part of Texas,” Mr. O’Rourke said in a statement and pointed to “keeping our kids safe” and “protecting a woman’s freedom to make her own decisions about her own body, health care and future” as significant concerns.Gardner Pate, who is Mr. Abbott’s campaign chairman, said in a statement that Mr. Abbott’s re-election effort was well positioned, with nearly $46 million in cash on hand as of the end of June and having raised nearly $68 million since last June.“Our campaign has also pre-purchased more than $20 million in advertising for the fall, and begun funding an extensive block-walking program to get voters to the polls this November,” Mr. Pate said.Mr. O’Rourke’s campaign did not disclose how much cash on hand it had through June, but a February filing showed that he had nearly $6.8 million.Official campaign finance reports for Mr. O’Rourke and Mr. Abbott, due on Friday to the Texas Ethics Commission, have not yet been posted. It was not immediately clear who held the previous Texas fund-raising record for state office. More

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      in US Politics

      ‘I will not back down’: Biden vows executive action if Senate cannot pass climate bill – as it happened

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      President Joe Biden has just issued a statement calling on the Senate to pass legislation that would lower prescription drug prices and extend health insurance subsidies, while vowing to sign executive orders meant to fight climate change. The announcement comes after Democratic senator Joe Manchin said yesterday he would not support legislation intended to curb America’s carbon emissions, nor new tax proposals to offset its costs. His statement was the latest complication for Democrats’ long-running efforts to pass a major spending bill despite their narrow majority in Congress, where they can afford to lose no votes in the Senate and few in the House. While the initial proposals for the bill released last year showed it would address a host of the party’s priorities, it is now set to be much narrower in scope.Here’s more from Biden’s statement:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} Action on climate change and clean energy remains more urgent than ever.
      So let me be clear: if the Senate will not move to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen our domestic clean energy industry, I will take strong executive action to meet this moment. My actions will create jobs, improve our energy security, bolster domestic manufacturing and supply chains, protect us from oil and gas price hikes in the future, and address climate change. I will not back down: the opportunity to create jobs and build a clean energy future is too important to relent.
      Health care is also critical. After decades of fierce opposition from powerful special interests, Democrats have come together, beaten back the pharmaceutical industry and are prepared to give Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices and to prevent an increase in health insurance premiums for millions of families with coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Families all over the nation will sleep easier if Congress takes this action. The Senate should move forward, pass it before the August recess, and get it to my desk so I can sign it.=
      This will not only lower the cost of prescription drugs and health care for families, it will reduce the deficit and help fight inflation.After more than a year of negotiations, was today the beginning of the end for Democrats’ long-running effort to pass a spending bill improving America’s social services? It very well may have been, after Senator Joe Manchin nixed provisions to raise taxes and fight climate change, and President Joe Biden called on Democrats to pass a narrow agreement that would lower drug costs and extend health insurance subsidies.Here’s what else happened today:
      Democrats in the House passed two bills to preserve access to abortion nationwide, but they are unlikely to pass the Senate due to Republican opposition.
      Biden fist bumped Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after arriving in the country, drawing a rebuke from The Washington Post’s publisher. Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in an operation US intelligence concluded the crown prince approved, wrote for the newspaper. The president later said he brought up Khashoggi’s murder with MBS.
      Peter Navarro, a former top advisor to Donald Trump, declined a plea deal from federal prosecutors over his refusal to cooperate with the January 6 committee.
      A House committee announced it would take up a Democratic proposal to ban assault weapons.
      A deposition of Donald Trump and his children was postponed due to the death of his first wife Ivana Trump.
      A Georgia district attorney has warned some Republicans lawmakers in the state that they could be indicted for their role in helping Donald Trump overturn the results of the 2020 election.
      In Riyadh, Joe Biden was also asked about Joe Manchin’s apparent torpedoing of Democrats’ attempt to pass spending legislation targeting the climate crisis, healthcare and other party priorities before the midterm elections.Asked for “your message to those Americans right now who were looking for that relief that would have a wide impact as it affects the climate and energy specifically”, the president said: “I’m not going away. I’m using every power I have as president to continue to fulfill my pledge to move toward dealing with global warming.”On his way out of the short and slightly testy briefing, Biden was asked if he thought Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who has nonetheless stymied his party’s agenda over and over again, had been “negotiating in good faith” over the spending deal and its climate-related provisions.“I didn’t negotiate with Joe Manchin,” Biden said.It’s true that Manchin has been talking to Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic Senate majority leader, this time.It’s also true that Manchin has an outsized influence on Democratic policy priorities in the 50-50 Senate and has been at the centre of almost every legislative drama since Biden took back the White House.In their book Peril, about the end of Trump and the beginning of Biden, Bob Woodward and Robert Costa of the Washington Post devote considerable space to Manchin’s machinations around the $1.9tn Covid relief package Biden got through in March 2021.At one point, they write, Biden told the senator: “Joe, please don’t kill my bill.”He didn’t. That time.More:Biden pledges executive action after Joe Manchin scuppers climate agendaRead moreSpeaking from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Joe Biden said he brought up the murder of Jamal Khashoggi when he met with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman earlier today.“I made my view crystal clear. I said very straightforwardly, for an American president to be silent on an issue of human rights, is this consistent… with who we are and who I am? I will always stand up for our values,” Biden said.Asked how the crown prince responded, Biden replied, “He basically said that he he was not personally responsible for it. I indicated I thought he was”. The president has previously said he wanted to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah state” for the murder, and was asked if he wanted to take those words back. “I don’t regret anything that I said. What happened to Khashoggi was outrageous,” Biden said.The House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection has announced its next hearing for 8 pm eastern time on Thursday, July 21.Just in: Jan. 6 committee formally announces eighth hearing on Thursday, July 21 at 8p ET— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) July 15, 2022
      The lawmakers are expected to explore what Donald Trump was doing as the Capitol was attacked.New: Jan. 6 committee member Elaine Luria on CNN confirms @GuardianUS reporting that she and Adam Kinzinger will lead the eighth hearing, taking place in prime time next week, about how Trump did nothing during the 187mins of the Capitol attack.— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) July 14, 2022
      The publisher of The Washington Post has condemned Joe Biden’s fist bump with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom US intelligence concluded ordered the operation that resulted in the murder of Jamal Khasshogi, a contributor to the newspaper.pic.twitter.com/l2EDKZOLsS— Kristine Coratti Kelly (@kriscoratti) July 15, 2022
      Biden, who is visiting Saudi Arabia, will address the press in about 20 minutes, according to CNN. The event was not previously scheduled.In a last minute addition to his schedule, President Biden will address reporters at 3:30 ET/10:30 P.M. local following his meeting with the Saudi crown prince.— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 15, 2022
      President Joe Biden has just issued a statement calling on the Senate to pass legislation that would lower prescription drug prices and extend health insurance subsidies, while vowing to sign executive orders meant to fight climate change. The announcement comes after Democratic senator Joe Manchin said yesterday he would not support legislation intended to curb America’s carbon emissions, nor new tax proposals to offset its costs. His statement was the latest complication for Democrats’ long-running efforts to pass a major spending bill despite their narrow majority in Congress, where they can afford to lose no votes in the Senate and few in the House. While the initial proposals for the bill released last year showed it would address a host of the party’s priorities, it is now set to be much narrower in scope.Here’s more from Biden’s statement:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} Action on climate change and clean energy remains more urgent than ever.
      So let me be clear: if the Senate will not move to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen our domestic clean energy industry, I will take strong executive action to meet this moment. My actions will create jobs, improve our energy security, bolster domestic manufacturing and supply chains, protect us from oil and gas price hikes in the future, and address climate change. I will not back down: the opportunity to create jobs and build a clean energy future is too important to relent.
      Health care is also critical. After decades of fierce opposition from powerful special interests, Democrats have come together, beaten back the pharmaceutical industry and are prepared to give Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices and to prevent an increase in health insurance premiums for millions of families with coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Families all over the nation will sleep easier if Congress takes this action. The Senate should move forward, pass it before the August recess, and get it to my desk so I can sign it.=
      This will not only lower the cost of prescription drugs and health care for families, it will reduce the deficit and help fight inflation.Joe Biden is making his controversial visit to Saudi Arabia, with an increase in oil production seen as the goal. The Guardian’s Bethan McKernan reports:Three years after Joe Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia a pariah state over the assassination of a prominent dissident, the US president greeted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a fist bump as his administration attempts to reset relations and stabilise global oil markets.Whereas Donald Trump was personally welcomed to the conservative Gulf kingdom on his first presidential visit by King Salman, Biden was met on the tarmac on Friday evening by the governor of Mecca and the Saudi ambassador to the US in a subdued ceremony before travelling to the city’s al-Salam palace, where he held talks with the 86-year-old king and his powerful heir, Prince Mohammed, before a working meeting.Fist bumps as Joe Biden arrives to reset ties with ‘pariah’ Saudi ArabiaRead moreLast week, we learned that Herschel Walker, who’s the Republican nominee for a Senate seat in Georgia, lied to his own campaign team about how many children he had. This is not his only misstep, but the longtime friend of Donald Trump continues to have the support of Georgia Republicans. The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland speaks to Roger Sollenberger of the Daily Beast about why Walker might prove a fatal blow for the GOP in November’s midterm elections.Politics Weekly AmericaWhy Republicans are backing a controversial former NFL star: Politics Weekly AmericaSorry your browser does not support audio – but you can download here and listen https://audio.guim.co.uk/2020/05/05-61553-gnl.fw.200505.jf.ch7DW.mp300:00:0000:24:04The passage of two bills preserving the right to abortion is likely to temporarily buoy Democrats, even if both bills are extremely unlikely to pass the Senate.One thing is clear though: the issue of abortion access is not going away.According to the Wall Street Journal, Democrats are “increasingly talking about abortion in their midterm campaign advertising,” while Republicans are shying away from the issue.In June the Supreme Court reversed the Roe v Wade ruling which enshrined the right to abortion in federal law. On Friday almost all House Republicans voted against the bills which would restore and protect access to abortion – but the GOP is out of step with Americans, a majority of whom think abortion should be legal. Ahead of the November mid-term elections, Democrats seem to be tying Republicans to the reversal of Roe v Wade, the WSJ reported:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}[An analysis] of broadcast and national cable data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact shows more than a third of all spots aired by Democrats and their allies in congressional and gubernatorial campaigns from July 1-12 have mentioned abortion.
      Republicans are focusing their ads on inflation, which voters have consistently cited as their top concern heading into November’s elections. Less than 3% of all spots run by GOP candidates and their allies during that period included the abortion issue, the analysis showed.A second bill protecting the right to abortion has passed the US House.HR 8297, the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022, passed by 223 votes to 205 no votes. Three Republicans did not vote.The bill would prohibit restrictions on out-of-state travel for the purpose of obtaining an abortion service.Like HR 8296, the bill is likely to fail in the Senate, where there is not enough support for either bill to survive the 60-vote filibuster threshold. There are 50 Republicans in the Senate.223-205: House passes abortion access legislation prohibiting restrictions blocking out of state travel to obtain an abortion in response to Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.3 Republicans joined all Democrats in voting Yes.Ensuring Access to Abortion Act now heads to Senate. pic.twitter.com/a3nAuTLnvp— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) July 15, 2022
      The US House of Representatives has approved a law which would preserve access to abortion nationwide at the federal level – but the bill is still expected to fail in the Senate.HR 8296, the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022, passed the House by 219 yes votes to 210 no votes. Two members did not vote.The law would preserve access to abortion, after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade.The bill is expected to fail in the Senate, however. In May a vote in the Senate failed, with Joe Manchin, the Democrat who has repeatedly blocked his own party’s legislative efforts, joining Republicans to vote the bill down by 51 votes to 49.The House will now consider another abortion rights bill, HR8297 – the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022. That bill would protect individual’s right to travel for abortion access.President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda is reeling after a crucial senator said he wouldn’t support proposals to address climate change or raise taxes to pay for it. Meanwhile, Democrats in the House are moving to pass a measure to codify abortion rights.Here is what has happened today so far:
      Peter Navarro, a former top advisor to Donald Trump, declined a plea deal from federal prosecutors over his refusal to cooperate with the January 6 committee.
      A House committee announced it would take up a Democratic proposal to ban assault weapons.
      A deposition of Donald Trump and his children was postponed due to the death of his first wife Ivana Trump.
      A Georgia district attorney has warned some Republicans lawmakers in the state that they could be indicted for their role in helping Donald Trump overturn the results of the 2020 election.
      House lawmakers have taken to the floor to speak for and against a proposal from the chamber’s Democratic leadership to protect abortion rights nationwide.The speeches split along party lines, with Republicans decrying the bill and Democrats casting it as a necessary response to the supreme court’s decision last month overturning Roe v. Wade and handing states the power to ban the procedure outright.California Democrat Barbara Lee condemned Republicans’ proposals to restrict abortion access, asking, “What in the world is this?” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) directly addresses Republicans during debate on bill protecting right to travel for an abortion:“You’re trying to take away people’s right to travel. What in the world is this? Is this America? … They come for me today, they’re coming for you tomorrow.” pic.twitter.com/Qkv7at6h9m— The Recount (@therecount) July 15, 2022
      Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida, put a $20 bill on the table and said to Democrats, “Any one of you or your colleagues wants to speak up and tell us when life begins, it’s sitting here for you.”Pelosi and her allies are pushing for bills that would allow abortion to the very last moment before birth. I asked if they can tell me when a life begins, but I was met with silence. pic.twitter.com/xytK5yUYza— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) July 15, 2022
      A Georgia district attorney has sent “target” letters to prominent Republicans in the state, warning them they could face indictments for their attempt to help Donald Trump overturn the results of the 2020 election, Yahoo! News reports.Fani Willis, the Democratic district attorney for Fulton county, which includes the capital and largest city Atlanta, has sent the letters to Republicans including Burt Jones, a state senator who is standing as Georgia governor Brian Kemp’s running mate in this year’s election, and David Shafer, chair of the state’s Republican party, as well as state senator Brandon Beach.According to the report:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} Jones and Shafer were among those who participate in a closed-door meeting at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, in which 16 Georgia Republicans selected themselves as the electors for the state, although they had no legal basis for doing so. Shafer, according to a source who was present, presided over the meeting, conducting it as though it was an official proceeding, in which those present voted themselves as the bona fide electors in Georgia — and then signed their names to a declaration to that effect that was sent to the National Archives.In an interview with Yahoo! News, Willis said she was also considering asking Donald Trump to testify before the grand jury investigating the plot.A colleague of Indiana doctor Caitlin Bernard, who provided the 10-year-old girl from Ohio with an abortion after her rape, has written an op-ed in The New York Times about how the episode, and the downfall of Roe v. Wade, has affected reproductive health.Tracey A. Wilkinson, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, wrote:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} Political attacks on abortion providers are, of course, nothing new. And that’s not all that providers and their staff face: They have been targeted, harassed and in some cases even murdered for providing legal health care to their patients; some types of attacks against them recently have increased. This moment, post-Roe v. Wade, feels particularly frightening and is chilling to anyone who cares for patients, especially those providing reproductive health care.
      This saga has had real-world repercussions for Dr. Bernard. The local police have been alerted to concerns for her physical safety.
      My colleagues and I have watched all this in horror. We are worried that this could happen to us, too. A law that recently went into effect in Indiana mandates that doctors, hospitals and abortion clinics report to the state when a patient who has previously had an abortion presents any of dozens of physical or psychological conditions — including anxiety, depression, sleeping disorders and uterine perforation — because they could be complications of the previous abortion. Not doing so within 30 days can result in a misdemeanor for the physician who treated the patient, punishable with up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.Here’s more on the story, which has become an example of the real consequences of the supreme court’s landmark decision last month:Man charged with rape of 10-year-old who had abortion after rightwing media called story ‘not true’Read moreThe depositions of Donald Trump and two of his children planned for Friday will be delayed following the death of Ivana Trump, his first wife and the childrens’ mother. “In light of the passing of Ivana Trump yesterday, we received a request from counsel for Donald Trump and his children to adjourn all three depositions, which we have agreed to,” the New York Attorney General’s Office said. “This is a temporary delay and the depositions will be rescheduled as soon as possible,” the office also said. “There is no other information about dates or otherwise to provide at this time.”Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Jr., were scheduled to give sworn testimony in the office’s three-year civil investigation into potential misconduct surrounding property values. The office is probing whether the Trump Organization provided inaccurate valuation to secure loans at favorable rates, or improperly claim tax breaks. Trump’s attorney has reportedly indicated that the former president will invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination and refuse to respond to questions. The Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, is facing a tax fraud trial amid a parallel investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. House Democrats will today make a renewed push to pass legislation protecting the right to abortion nationwide and the ability of Americans to cross state lines to seek the procedure. But the bills’ chances of passing the Senate are slim due to opposition from Republicans.House speaker Nancy Pelosi just held an event with other Democrats prior to the vote, declaring, “As we pass his landmark legislation today, Democrats will not stop ferociously defending freedom for women and for every American. And we want everybody to know, women out there who are concerned about their own personal reproductive freedom and what it means to their health, that… the message from the House Democrats in our groups here today is, we are not going back”, sparking a chant that was joined by the lawmakers assembled behind her.You can watch the full speech below:Join @DemWomensCaucus and me at the U.S. Capitol ahead of the passage of legislation to protect women’s reproductive freedom and to stop Republicans from criminalizing women exercising their constitutional right to travel to obtain an abortion. https://t.co/yHypmYBTR5— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 15, 2022 More

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      in US Politics

      House approves legislation to protect abortion access across US

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      House approves legislation to protect abortion access across US Vote was largely symbolic as two bills stand all but no chance of overcoming Republican opposition in the evenly-divided Senate The House of Representatives on Friday approved legislation that would protect abortion access nationwide, the first action by Democrats in Congress to respond to the supreme court decision in late June overturning Roe v Wade.The vote was largely symbolic – the bills stand all but no chance of overcoming Republican opposition in the evenly divided Senate, where 60 votes are needed to move legislation forward.US employers’ support for workers’ abortion care leaves serious gapsRead moreBut the action, the first in the post-Roe era, begins what Democrats promise will be an all-out, potentially years-long, political campaign to restore abortion rights in all 50 states.Already, Republican-led legislatures in states across wide swaths of the south and midwest are moving quickly to enact restrictions or bans on abortion that were once unlawful under the precedent set by the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling by the supreme court, while Democratic-led states have acted to expand access and protections for women seeking the procedure.The June ruling was expected to lead to bans in nearly half of US states, though lawsuits and legislative delays vary when they would take effect.US president Joe Biden and party leaders are under mounting pressure from their supporters, who are furious over the court’s decision to invalidate a half-century constitutional right to abortion and frustrated that their party leaders appeared to lack a cogent plan of action.Before the vote, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and a coalition of Democratic women, all wearing green, a color that has come to symbolize abortion rights, stood on the steps of the Capitol chanting: “We are not going back.”During her remarks on the floor, Pelosi warned that Republicans would seek a “barbaric” national ban on abortion if they win control of the chamber.Many Democrats highlighted the case of a 10-year-old Ohio girl who was raped and then had to cross state lines into Indiana in order to get an abortion because of tighter restrictions in her own state, as an example of the tragic consequences of the supreme court’s ruling. Many conservatives cast doubt on the veracity of the story, which was confirmed when a man was arraigned in the rape.House Democrats approved two measures on Friday. One would protect the right to travel across state lines for abortion services, a new flashpoint in the debate as anti-abortion groups push legislation that would block women from traveling out-of-state. That passed the House by 223 votes to 205 no votes.The measure would also shield healthcare providers who perform abortions on out-of-state patients from legal repercussions.The other bill, a version of which already passed the House last year, would establish abortion rights in federal law, effectively overturning a flurry of state restrictions and bans and giving a national legislative underpinning to a federal right that had been dictated by the court.The measure would guarantee abortion access until fetal viability, the point at which a human fetus is widely deemed able to survive outsidethe uterus, roughly considered to be around 24 weeks, or after that point if the mother’s health or life are at risk. It passed by 219 yes votes to 210 no votes.It would also prohibit what its authors say are medically unnecessary restrictions designed to restrict abortion access under the guise of protecting women’s health.“You should not have more rights if you get pregnant in California than if you get pregnant in Texas,” said Congresswoman Judy Chu, a Democrat from California and the author of the Women’s Health Protection Act.Friday’s action was also an attempt to put Republicans on the record on an issue Democrats believe will galvanize their ranks in November’s midterm elections.Only a narrow sliver of Americans believe abortion should be banned, and consistent majorities oppose the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe. Republicans uniformly opposed the bills. A number of Republican lawmakers have embraced a nationwide ban on abortion, promising a flurry of new federal restrictions if they win control of Congress in the midterm elections.There are two Republican senators in the House who support abortion rights, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. They do not support the House’s bill codifying Roe, saying it goes further than the supreme court precedent. They have introduced alternative legislation, but even so, it is unlikely to persuade enough Republican senators to overcome the 60-vote threshold.Asked whether Democrats should work with these Republican senators on a compromise plan, Pelosi told reporters: “We’re not going to negotiate a woman’s right to choose.”Joe Biden has faced widespread criticism from Democrats disappointed with his response to the overturning of Roe, which they viewed as belated and overly cautious. The president has since displayed a more aggressive tone on the issue and directed his administration to take additional steps to protect access.But ultimately he said the only way to “truly” protect abortion rights was for Congress to act, and to do that voters needed to elect at least two more Democratic senators in November.“We must ensure that the American people remember in November,” Pelosi said, “because with two more Democratic senators we will be able to eliminate the filibuster when it comes to a woman’s right to choose and to make reproductive freedom the law of the land.”TopicsHouse of RepresentativesUS politicsRoe v WadeAbortionnewsReuse this content More

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      A Culture Warrior Goes Quiet: DeSantis Dodges Questions on Abortion Plans

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      Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida faces political pressure from Republicans to further curb abortions — and risks to his re-election campaign and any presidential aspirations if he goes too far.When the Supreme Court erased the constitutional right to an abortion last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida was among the many Republicans who celebrated. “The prayers of millions have been answered,” he tweeted.But while other Republican leaders vowed to charge ahead with new restrictions — or near-total bans — Mr. DeSantis offered only a vague promise to “work to expand pro-life protections.”More than two weeks later, he has yet to explain what that means.Mr. DeSantis, a favorite among those Republicans who want to move on from the Trump era, is rarely a reluctant partisan warrior. But his hesitance to detail his plans for abortion policy reflects the new and, in some states, difficult political terrain for Republicans in the post-Roe v. Wade era, as Democrats grasp for advantage on the issue in an otherwise largely hostile midterm election year.In April, Mr. DeSantis signed a law barring abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, bringing the state’s limit down from 24 weeks. But with Roe overturned, some on the right now see a 15-week ban as insufficient, and other Republican governors, particularly in Southern states, have pushed for more aggressive restrictions.Mr. DeSantis has described fetuses in the womb as “unborn babies.” Yet he has largely avoided specifying what other restrictions he might endorse. When a state representative filed legislation last year seeking a six-week ban, the governor would not support or oppose it. “I have a 100 percent pro-life record,” he said instead.Now, campaigning for a second term as governor, Mr. DeSantis is coming under intense pressure from powerful parts of the G.O.P. base to further curb abortions in Florida — the most populous state with a Republican governor where abortions are still fairly widely available.Yet doing so could undermine Mr. DeSantis’s efforts to recruit residents and businesses to his state and complicate his re-election campaign, not to mention his national ambitions, because polls show that a majority of Floridians, and of Americans, want to keep most abortions legal. In a New York Times/Siena College poll this week, U.S. voters, by a 2-to-1 margin, or 61 percent to 29 percent, said they opposed the Supreme Court’s decision.Abortion rights demonstrators in front of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee on Friday.Lawren Simmons for The New York TimesThat leaves Mr. DeSantis in an unfamiliar position: on the sidelines on a major cultural-political issue. Though he has spoken about wanting to prevent abortions from taking place late in pregnancy — a far less controversial stance than pushing for an outright ban — he has said nothing about calling a special session to enact additional restrictions, as anti-abortion activists hope he will.And Republicans nationally have noticed his hesitancy so far.“This is a guy who jumps into the culture wars when he thinks he can make a point,” said Mike DuHaime, who managed Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign in 2008 and was a top adviser to Chris Christie’s in 2016.Read More on the End of Roe v. WadeA Culture Warrior Goes Quiet: Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida celebrated the end of Roe. But his hesitance to detail his plans for abortion policy in his state reflects the new and difficult political terrain for Republicans.Under Pressure to Act: Democrats in Congress are moving ahead on measures to preserve abortion access, but with Republicans and at least one Democrat opposed in the Senate, the bills are all but certain to fail.The Right to Travel?: Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh said the Constitution did not allow states to stop women from traveling to get abortions. But what a state may choose to do if a resident travels to get an abortion is not clear.‘Pro-Life Generation’: Many young women mourned the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe. For others it was a moment of triumph and a matter of human rights.Mr. DeSantis is not the only Republican governor whose supporters expect more from him now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. But few have as much at stake: Mr. DeSantis’s next move could not only affect his re-election in Florida but also complicate a presidential bid.Mr. DeSantis was the most popular alternative to Donald J. Trump among Republican primary voters when they were asked about potential 2024 presidential candidates, according to the Times/Siena poll. Mr. DeSantis trailed Mr. Trump 49 percent to 25 percent, but was favored over the former president by younger Republicans, those with a college degree and those who said they voted for President Biden in 2020.The poll showed that Mr. DeSantis was still relatively unknown, with about one-fourth of Republicans saying they didn’t know enough to have an opinion about him. But he was well liked among those who did. Among white evangelical voters, 54 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the Florida governor while just 15 percent said they had an unfavorable view of him.And abortion opponents are not shy about pressing Mr. DeSantis for bold new action.“There’s an enormous expectation,” said John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, a conservative Christian group. “I think he realizes this is something that has to be dealt with.”A spokesman for Mr. DeSantis’s office would only refer to a previous statement when asked whether a special session of the legislature — or any other move related to abortion — was in the offing.Mr. DeSantis signed the new 15-week abortion ban to great fanfare in April.“This will represent the most significant protections for life that have been enacted in this state in a generation,” he said at the time, accusing the “far left” of “taking the position that babies can be aborted up to the ninth month.”“We will not let that happen in the State of Florida,” he vowed.The new law, which took effect July 1, was briefly blocked by a state judge, but that ruling was placed on hold pending appeal, leaving the 15-week ban in place. Mr. DeSantis’s administration wants the Florida Supreme Court to uphold the new law.Doing so would require reversing 30 years of legal precedent asserting that a privacy provision in the State Constitution applies to abortion. But the seven-member court, which for decades pushed back against some of the more ambitious policies enacted by Republican governors and lawmakers, is now made up entirely of conservative justices appointed by Republican governors, including three appointed by Mr. DeSantis.Mr. Stemberger predicted that if, as expected, the court allows the 15-week ban to stand, lawmakers will move to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — either during a special session after the November election or in the next regular legislative session in March.Kelli Stargel, a Republican state senator, sponsored Florida’s 15-week abortion ban.Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressState Senator Kelli Stargel, the Lakeland Republican who sponsored the 15-week abortion ban, said lawmakers would undoubtedly face pressure to do more, especially if women from other states with newly tightened restrictions started coming to Florida for abortions.“Hearing that people are going to be traveling into Florida is very disturbing to me and I’m sure very disturbing to others,” said Ms. Stargel, who is reaching her term limit and is running for Congress.Even as the Florida law was being debated, some anti-abortion activists described it as merely a first step; others explicitly told lawmakers it did not go far enough in restricting the procedure. In May, after a draft of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe was published, Florida abortion opponents pushed for a complete ban to be taken up in one of the Legislature’s special sessions.State Representative Anna V. Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, said she expected Republicans to file proposals for a six-week abortion ban and for a complete ban next year, as well as for new restrictions on medical abortions, in which prescription drugs are used to end a pregnancy. The fact that medical abortion was defined for the first time in this year’s law suggests to Ms. Eskamani that such abortions could be regulated in the future.Ms. Eskamani noted that Mr. DeSantis’s statement after Roe was overturned was “pretty watered-down.”“It’s clear that he knows this is politically unpopular,” she said. “It’s also a wake-up call for Democratic voters.”Mr. DeSantis has widely been expected to win re-election by a comfortable margin, which could bolster his standing in a crowded Republican presidential primary field for 2024.But a large margin of victory is not assured.Representative Charlie Crist, Democrat of Florida, at an art exhibit in Miami on Friday. At least one poll has shown a prospective race between Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Crist as tight.Scott McIntyre for The New York TimesRepresentative Charlie Crist and Nikki Fried, the state’s agriculture commissioner, are competing in the Democratic primary for governor. Public polling of the general election is scant; the most recent credible surveys are from earlier this year and show Mr. DeSantis with a healthy lead over Mr. Crist. Mr. DeSantis’s popularity in the state has grown since last year. A Suffolk University/USA Today poll of likely voters in January showed Mr. DeSantis leading Mr. Crist by six points and leading Ms. Fried by 11.At least one poll has shown a prospective race between Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Crist as tight. That private survey, taken last month by the veteran pollster Tony Fabrizio, who often works for former President Donald J. Trump and has frequently worked in Florida, showed Mr. DeSantis as the slight favorite in a competitive race, running just three points ahead of Mr. Crist. That survey was of registered voters, which can be less predictive than one of likely voters.Races for governor in Florida have been close in recent years as politics have become more polarized. In 2014, then-Gov. Rick Scott barely eked out a victory over Mr. Crist. In 2018, Mr. DeSantis won by a narrow margin over the Democrat, Andrew Gillum, who was recently indicted on conspiracy and fraud charges.And Mr. DeSantis is one of the most polarizing and overtly partisan statewide elected Republicans in the country — taking on Disney after it criticized a bill limiting what schools can teach about sexual and gender identity, denouncing Covid-19 vaccines for young children and opening up several fronts in the broader Republican battle against critical race theory.Some anti-abortion activists appeared willing to give Mr. DeSantis room to maneuver politically.“Ron DeSantis is one of the best governors in the country, and I believe that he will work to pass the most conservative bill he can possibly get through the Legislature,” said Penny Nance, chief executive and president of Concerned Women for America, which calls itself the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization. She said she supported a six-week abortion ban in Florida.“There are no concerns or reservations about his pro-life convictions,” said Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition. “And for that reason, I think he’s going to have running room to make his own decision when it comes to taking the next steps with legislation to protect unborn children.”With abortion a topic of fresh intensity among conservatives positioning themselves to run for president — some of whom, like former Vice President Mike Pence, want to see bans in every state — Mr. DeSantis faces pressure from the right both in Florida and beyond.As even his admirers are reminding him.Andrew Shirvell, founder and executive director of Florida Voice for the Unborn, described Mr. DeSantis as “a tremendous ally for the pro-life movement,” but expressed some impatience with his silence on abortion since the Supreme Court’s decision.“It is frustrating that the governor doesn’t speak out more about this,” he said. “But I attribute that to other pressures going on just months before the election.”Still, to hear Mr. Shirvell tell it, Mr. DeSantis will eventually need to press for further action on abortion in Tallahassee. “It’s really up to the governor to twist the arms of the legislative leaders if he’s got presidential ambitions,” he said. 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      Should Biden Run Again in 2024?

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      More from our inbox:A Capitol Policeman’s Account ‘Will Stand Forever as Testimony’How Ectopic Pregnancies Will Be Treated After RoePresident Biden in Cleveland last week. Only 26 percent of Democratic voters said the party should renominate him in 2024.Haiyun Jiang/The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “Democrats Sour on Biden, Citing Age and Economy” (front page, July 11):Joe Biden reads the polls — all politicians do — and the numbers are dismal. His current performance approval ratings are in the tank. As alarming to Mr. Biden may be the public’s antipathy toward his running again in 2024.Barely one in four Democrats definitely want him to run again. This isn’t a small wave; it’s a veritable tsunami. Whether it’s people’s feelings about how Mr. Biden has performed in office, or whether it’s their alarm at his advancing age (he’ll be nearly 82 on Election Day in 2024), it doesn’t really matter. The message is clear — even his own party faithful feel Mr. Biden should not run.President Biden, soon after the midterm elections in November, should declare his intention not to run again. This will unfreeze the Democratic field and give his party a better chance to retain the presidency after 2024.Ken DerowSwarthmore, Pa.To the Editor:Democrats’ discontent with President Biden seems kind of childish. Because he hasn’t fixed everything in half a term, they’re ready to jump ship for someone else.Mr. Biden beat the most corrupt president in history. It is doubtful another Democrat could have done that. With his economic policies, we have near full employment. Most of the persistent problems stem from the Trumpist G.O.P.No president has absolute power. But Mr. Biden could do more with substantial Democratic majorities in all areas of government. It is bizarre that he takes the heat for Republican roadblocks. They have shifted the blame for their own perfidy to Mr. Biden.Howard SchmittGreen Tree, Pa.To the Editor:As someone born in 1930 I’m sensitive to the signs of aging in other people. I’m also a yellow dog Democrat.It’s not his policies or his stance on important matters that give us pause: It’s his age. For instance, the way he walks, as if afraid he might just topple over; the way he delivers a speech, running his words together, not enunciating clearly; his overall demeanor that seems to suggest he’d rather be anywhere else.He’s not aging prematurely; he’s just plain old.I hope his people let him know that it’s time for him to move along and become an elder statesman, at which point he’ll get a hell of a lot more respect than he does now.Anne BernaysTruro, Mass.To the Editor:Re “Biden, at 79, Shows Signs of Age and Aides Fret About His Image” (front page, July 10):Despite all that he has on his plate, I don’t perceive any decline, physically or mentally, in President Biden’s capacity to lead this nation. He exhibits the same straightforward, easygoing and relatable persona that has been his trademark since he was elected senator 50 years ago.While I did have concerns about his capacity to handle the rigors of presidential office upon his election, now that he is well into the second year of his presidency, those reservations have been alleviated to the degree that he has shown that he is up to the job, the most demanding on the face of the earth.No one knows what the future holds, good or bad. Until such time as it can be objectively demonstrated that Mr. Biden is unfit for office, rumblings from within his administration and without about his allegedly diminished leadership capabilities are just that, and are not worthy of front-page coverage.Mark GodesChelsea, Mass.To the Editor:Re “Biden Promised Calm, but Base Wants a Fighter” (front page, July 7):If Democrats have learned nothing else in this Era of Trump, it’s that playing by the rules, playing fair, being honorable and “going high when they go low” has neither roused the base nor excited the electorate.I am a lifelong Democrat, voting for the D column in every election since I returned from Vietnam in 1969. I believe in the platform of the party, and I was a New Hampshire state representative. One lesson I learned in that Legislature was that while there are some Republicans who are moderately reasonable, as a whole they are steadfast in their beliefs, with a rock-hard resistance to compromise.I want a pit bull as tenacious representing my core political beliefs as Republicans are representing theirs. I want passion in the Senate. I want pointed anger at what the Republican Party has done and continues to do to my country, to our democracy.I voted for Joe Biden, but I am becoming more and more critical of seeing his tepid responses and watered down solutions to what the Republicans are trying to do.We need a more dynamic response from him other than urging people to vote in November.Len DiSesaDresher, Pa.A Capitol Policeman’s Account ‘Will Stand Forever as Testimony’Sergeant Gonell being sworn in before testifying at a Jan. 6 committee hearing.Pool photo by Oliver ContrerasTo the Editor:Re “Trump Wrecked Lives on Jan. 6. I Should Know,” by Aquilino Gonell (Opinion guest essay, July 11):Much appreciation to Sergeant Gonell of the Capitol Police for his essay vividly expressing what really happened on Jan. 6, expanding the public’s understanding of the damage done personally to our law enforcement people, and to our government and democracy. This essay will stand forever as testimony.We hope he keeps writing as the hearings continue with witness testimony. Help explain the truth as more facts come out, despite Republican attempts to distort and deny reality.The hostile attitudes of the armed mobs were already formed, and they were just waiting for their chance to act. They responded eagerly to an authoritarian president who disrespected democracy, who refused to accept his election defeat. They saw their chance, and they let loose.Meredith BalkNew YorkHow Ectopic Pregnancies Will Be Treated After Roe Kristina TzekovaTo the Editor:Re “In a Post-Roe World, We Can Avoid Pitting Mothers Against Babies,” by Leah Libresco Sargeant (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, July 4):I’d like to thank Mrs. Sargeant for her thought-provoking piece. She has my condolences for her pregnancy losses. However, I am troubled that she never acknowledges that she was fortunate enough to receive prompt and appropriate treatment for her ectopic pregnancy — treatment that will now be denied or dangerously delayed for many women in a post-Roe world.Her stated goal in managing ectopic pregnancies — “treating mother and child with dignity” — is laudable but does nothing to address the core issue: that many states are now outlawing or severely limiting a lifesaving surgical procedure. As an emergency medicine physician, I have cared for women with ruptured ectopic pregnancies, and I can assure her that there is no dignity in unnecessarily bleeding to death from a treatable condition.I hope that Mrs. Sargeant can turn her talents to advocating for all women to receive the same standard of care that she received.Margaret Gluntz KrebsPerrysburg, OhioTo the Editor:Leah Libresco Sargeant states, “A baby delivered in the first trimester because of an ectopic pregnancy definitely won’t survive.” In an ectopic pregnancy, there is no baby. As a matter of science, you are not pitting mothers against babies. The woman has a dangerous condition that if not properly treated may result in her death.Treatment of an ectopic pregnancy does not require choosing the woman over the fetus. There is no choice because in an ectopic pregnancy the fetus cannot survive. In any case, the proper term is “fetus.” Using the term “baby” in this context is simply wrong. The fetus is not a baby and under the circumstances of an ectopic pregnancy can never become a baby.Obviously the author has strong religious beliefs, which she should be able to pursue in her life. She has no right, however, to impose those beliefs on others.Elise SingerPhiladelphia More

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      Kamala Harris urges voters to elect a ‘pro-choice Congress’ in midterms

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      Kamala Harris urges voters to elect a ‘pro-choice Congress’ in midtermsVice-president highlights that down-ballot contests at local level would also be central to restoring abortion rights Vice-President Kamala Harris renewed pleas to voters ahead of the midterm congressional races to elect pro-choice candidates, as the Biden administration continues to face criticism from progressives over a perceived lackluster response to the recent landmark supreme court decision striking down federal abortion rights in the US.In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Harris urged voters to elect a “pro-choice Congress” in November and highlighted that down-ballot contests at the local level would also be central to restoring abortion rights in certain parts of the country.“You don’t have to advocate or believe that this is right for you or your family, but don’t let the government make the decision for her family, whoever she may be,” Harris said in a pre-recorded interview. “It means state offices, governors, secretaries of state, attorneys general. It means local races, who’s going to be your DA, who’s going to be your sheriff, enforcing laws that are being passed to criminalize medical health providers, and maybe even the women who seek the service.”On Friday, Joe Biden signed a limited executive order designed to protect access to reproductive health services by expanding access to emergency contraception and bolstering legal services to support people who cross state lines to seek an abortion.But for many abortion advocates and progressive Democrats, the president’s measures do not go far enough. The administration has, for example, resisted calls to use federal land in anti-abortion states to facilitate terminating pregnancies, or subsidizing travel to people forced to travel in order to access services.At least nine US states have banned abortion in the wake of 6-3 supreme court ruling that overturned the Roe v Wade decision that had enshrined the procedure as a constitutional right since 1973. The ruling makes it likely that around half the country – 26 states – will eventually outlaw abortion in some way.The decision followed Donald Trump’s installation of three rightwing justices to the supreme court, paving the way for a conservative super majority on the court.Harris, then a US senator, voted against the former president’s appointments of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. And she said on Sunday she had never believed assurances made in private and public by Gorsuch and Kavanaugh that they respected the precedence of the Roe decision.“I start from the point of experience of having served in the Senate,” Harris said. “I never believed them. I didn’t believe them. So I voted against.”Asked if the Democrats should have done more to enshrine the right to abortion into federal law when the party controlled both chambers of Congress, Harris responded: “We certainly believe that certain issues are just settled. Certain issues are just settled. And that’s why I do believe that we are living, sadly, in real unsettled times.”Democrats have faced criticism for fundraising drives off the back of the supreme court decision and recent polling indicates their party still faces a tough day at the ballot box in November, with Biden’s approval ratings plummeting and the party looking set to lose its majority in the House of Representatives.On Sunday, Harris sought to quell calls for Biden to serve just one term as president before allowing a new Democratic nominee to contest the 2024 election.“Listen to President Biden,” Harris said. “He intends to run. And if he does, I intend to run with him.”TopicsKamala HarrisUS midterm elections 2022US politicsRoe v WadeAbortionUS supreme courtLaw (US)newsReuse this content More