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      Democrats get Trump tax returns as Republican House takeover looms

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      Democrats get Trump tax returns as Republican House takeover loomsDemocratic-led House ways and means committee does not have long to decide what to do, with majority to change in January A US House of Representatives committee has a little more than a month to decide what to do with six years of Donald Trump’s tax returns, after a years-long court fight ended late on Wednesday with the records handed to Congress.Milo Yiannopoulos claims he set up Fuentes dinner ‘to make Trump’s life miserable’Read moreThe supreme court ordered the release of Trump’s returns to the House ways and means committee last week, rejecting the former president’s plea. Trump has consistently accused the Democratic-led committee of being politically motivated.The committee had been seeking returns spanning 2015 through 2020, which it says it needs in order to establish whether the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is properly auditing presidential returns, and whether new legislation is needed.A treasury spokesperson said the department “has complied with last week’s court decision”, though it declined to say if the committee had accessed the documents.According to CNN, Democrats on the panel were due to be briefed on Thursday on the “legal ramifications on section of the tax law that … Neal used to request Trump’s tax returns” but would not immediately see the returns.Neal “declined to say if he has seen” the returns himself, CNN said. Asked if Democrats would release the returns to the public, Neal said: “The next step is to have a meeting of the Democratic caucus.”The House will soon slip from Democratic hands, although the party has retained control of the Senate. On Wednesday an aide told Reuters that Democrats on the Senate finance committee, the counterpart to the House ways and means, were considering their options on any action relating to Trump’s tax returns.One House Republican indicated he expected the returns to become public one way or another. Tory Nehls of Texas, a member of the hard-right, Trump-supporting Freedom Caucus, tweeted: “The IRS just gave six years of Donald Trump’s tax returns to the House ways and means committee. How long until someone ‘leaks’ them?”The House committee first requested Trump’s returns in 2019. Trump, who on 15 November began his third consecutive run for the presidency, dragged the issue through the court system.It was long customary, though not required, for major party presidential candidates to release their tax records. Trump was the first such candidate in four decades not to do so.Financial and taxation practices at the Trump Organization are now under scrutiny in criminal and civil cases in New York. On Thursday, attorneys began closing arguments in the criminal tax fraud case.Earlier this month, the editorial board of the Washington Post said Trump’s records should be released because “voters should expect to know what financial conflicts of interest [candidates for president] might bring to the job.“And in Mr Trump’s case … in addition to his tax records, he should have provided a detailed accounting of his holdings and interests. His refusal to do so became glaring as [he] pressed to reform the tax code in 2017. Americans could only guess how its provisions might personally enrich the president and his family.” More

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      Garland vows to hold January 6 attackers to account after Oath Keepers conviction – live

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      The House just voted to impose a labor agreement on rail workers, averting a potential rail strike that was to start in December. Though a majority of the dozen unions have supported the agreement, four have voted against it and were prepped to strike come December.The agreement includes a pay increase, a $1,000 annual bonus and a cap on healthcare premiums.Those against the agreement have decried its lack of paid sick leave for workers. The unions argue that workers have to use vacation when calling out sick else they are penalized.With a strike looming, Joe Biden called on Congress to intervene by voting on the agreement, which was made in September. In a statement, Biden said that he is “grateful” that the House voted to avert the strike and urged the Senate to “move quickly” on getting the bill passed.“Without action this week, disruptions to our auto supply chains, our ability to move food to tables, and our ability to remove hazardous waste from gasoline refineries will begin,” Biden said. “A rail shutdown would be devastating to our economy and families across the country.”NEW: Pres. Biden urges Senate to “act urgently” after House votes to impose agreement to block rail strike, warning “a rail shutdown would be devastating to our economy and families across the country.” https://t.co/2rpGhC5vln pic.twitter.com/9DMs2wbM2g— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 30, 2022
      The chair of the Georgia Republican Party cannot share lawyers with 10 other fake electors, a judge ruled. The AP reports: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The chair and other fake electors cannot share lawyers in matters related to a special grand jury investigation into possible illegal meddling in the 2020 election in the state.
      A special grand jury was seated earlier this year to aid the investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis into whether Republican former President Donald Trump and others committed crimes through their efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
      Willis has made clear that she is interested in the actions of 16 Republicans who signed a certificate declaring falsely that Trump had won and also declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors, even though Biden had won the state, and a slate of Democratic electors was certified. Willis has said in a court filing that she notified lawyers for those 16 people that they are targets of her investigation, meaning that they could face criminal charges.
      Eleven of those fake electors, including Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer, are represented by two lawyers who are paid by the party, Holly Pierson and Kimberly Debrow. Willis’ team in October filed a motion seeking to disqualify the two from representing all of those clients, saying it represented a conflict of interest.
      They argued that, if Pierson and Debrow continue to represent any of the 11, “there is a serious possibility of future ethical problems concerning confidentiality of information obtained in the course of their representation thus far.”
      In the clearest signal yet that Ron DeSantis is preparing a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, it was announced on Wednesday that the rightwing governor of Florida will publish a campaign-style book, mixing memoir with policy proposals.The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Renewal, will be published by Broadside Books, a conservative imprint of HarperCollins, on 28 February.The governor, his publisher said, will offer readers “a first-hand account from the blue-collar boy who grew up to take on Disney and Dr Fauci”.DeSantis has not announced a 2024 run, but he is widely reported to be considering one. His victory speech after a landslide re-election this month met with chants of “Two more years!”The cover of the governor’s book shows him smiling broadly in front of a US flag.With Donald Trump under fire over disappointing midterms results, looming indictments and a controversial dinner with a white supremacist, possible Republican opponents are rapidly coming into focus.Read more:Ron DeSantis book announcement a clear sign of presidential ambitionRead moreGarland’s remarks come after the recent appointment of Jack Smith as independent special counsel overseeing investigations into Donald Trump’s hoarding of top secret documents and involvement in the January 6 riot.From the Guardian’s prior explainer:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Smith has previously served as the chief of public integrity for the US justice department and dealt in particular with cases involving corruption, bringing cases against prominent Republicans and Democrats. In 2015 he was appointed first assistant US attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. He is a registered independent, not aligned with either of the two dominant political parties in the US.
      Since 2018 he has been the chief prosecutor for the international criminal court in The Hague, the city on the North Sea that operates as the national administrative center of the Netherlands, and there has investigated and adjudicated war crimes that took place in Kosovo, in the Balkans.Read more:Who is Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating Donald Trump?Read moreAt a press conference, Merrick Garland spoke on the justice department’s recent lawsuit against the city of Jackson, Mississippi for violating the Clean Drinking Water Act. In August, flooding caused failure of the area’s water treatment plant, leaving residents without clean drinking water for a week.The lawsuit, if won, would revoke the city’s control over its water system.The DOJ’s new department of environmental justice, which got its first appointed leader earlier this month, is in charge of the suit against the city.“Although environmental justice can happen anywhere, injustice can happen anywhere. Communities of color, Indigenous communities and low-income communities often bear the brunt,” Garland said. “We will continue to prioritize cases like this one that will have the greatest impact on communities most vulnerable to environmental harm.”​​US attorney general Merrick Garland is speaking on yesterday’s conviction of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes for creating the violent plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.Garland praised the justice department for its effort to bring a case against Rhodes and his five co-conspirators. Rhodes was found guilty of seditious conspiracy, a rare charge, by a 12-person jury.“The verdict in this case makes clear department will work tirelessly to hold accountable those responsible for crimes related to the attack on our democracy on January 6, 2021,” Garland said.In the daily White House press briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is responding to heat Joe Biden is getting for pushing Congress to impose an agreement – one that multiple unions did not approve – on rail workers to avert a strike.Jean-Pierre on Republican Kevin McCarthy’s border invitation: “He’s been there, he’s been to the border. Since he took office the president has been taking action to fix our immigration system and secure the border.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 30, 2022
      Some rail workers are saying Biden “blew it” by giving Congress the greenlight to intervene, though Biden has been emphasizing the economic impact a rail strike would have on the country.The House voted to give rail workers seven days of paid sick leave, a key point of tension in contract negotiations between unions and rail companies.The vote was close – 221 to 207 – and it is unclear whether the provision can get enough support in the Senate.The vote was separate from a vote the House made earlier today to impose an agreement on rail workers that includes a pay raise, annual bonus and cap on healthcare premiums. The agreement, made in September, does not include paid sick leave. The House ultimately took up the agreement to avoid a rail strike in December.Union members had drawn out contract negotiations over paid sick leave, arguing that workers were subject to unfair conditions, having to use vacation days when sick or face penalties.In the Senate, Bernie Sanders is leading the fight for the seven days of sick leave. At least 12 Democrats have joined him in their support for the measure so far, though it is unclear whether Democrats can get an extra 10 Republican votes to get the measure passed.12 Dem senators, led by Sanders, call for Senate to adopt House leave resolution. “Guaranteeing 7 paid sick days to rail workers would only cost the industry $321 million a year – less than 2 percent of their total profits.”— Arthur Delaney 🇺🇸 (@ArthurDelaneyHP) November 30, 2022
      Maya Yang reports:Two men convicted of fraud for targeting Black voters with phony robocalls before the 2020 election must spend 500 hours registering voters in low-income neighborhoods of Washington DC, an Ohio judge ruled.The calls told people they could be arrested or forced to receive vaccinations based on information they submitted in votes by mail.Jacob Wohl, 24, of Irvine, California, and Jack Burkman, 56, of Arlington, Virginia – rightwing operatives with a history of targeting Democrats and other public figures – pleaded guilty last month, each to a single felony count of telecommunications fraud.The judge in Cuyahoga county common pleas court, John Sutula, also fined each man $2,500 and placed them on two years’ probation. They were ordered to spend six months in home confinement, beginning at 8pm each day.“I think it’s a despicable thing that you guys have done,” Sutula said, comparing their actions to violence used to suppress Black voters in the south in the 1960s.Wohl and Burkman were indicted in October 2020, accused of arranging for a voice broadcast service to make about 85,000 robocalls to predominantly Black neighborhoods in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois in the run-up to the 2020 general election.Prosecutors said the pair were responsible for 3,500 calls to residents of Cleveland and East Cleveland.Rightwing election robocall fraudsters must spend 500 hours registering votersRead moreThe House just voted to impose a labor agreement on rail workers, averting a potential rail strike that was to start in December. Though a majority of the dozen unions have supported the agreement, four have voted against it and were prepped to strike come December.The agreement includes a pay increase, a $1,000 annual bonus and a cap on healthcare premiums.Those against the agreement have decried its lack of paid sick leave for workers. The unions argue that workers have to use vacation when calling out sick else they are penalized.With a strike looming, Joe Biden called on Congress to intervene by voting on the agreement, which was made in September. In a statement, Biden said that he is “grateful” that the House voted to avert the strike and urged the Senate to “move quickly” on getting the bill passed.“Without action this week, disruptions to our auto supply chains, our ability to move food to tables, and our ability to remove hazardous waste from gasoline refineries will begin,” Biden said. “A rail shutdown would be devastating to our economy and families across the country.”NEW: Pres. Biden urges Senate to “act urgently” after House votes to impose agreement to block rail strike, warning “a rail shutdown would be devastating to our economy and families across the country.” https://t.co/2rpGhC5vln pic.twitter.com/9DMs2wbM2g— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 30, 2022
      Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell suggested the Fed will continue to raise interest rates, though at a slower pace if inflation continues to go down.Powell said that he believes the labor market needs to cool to get the inflation rate down. The Fed has set a goal of 2% inflation. In October, the 12-month inflation rate was at 7.7% – the lowest it’s been since the beginning of the year. “The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting,” Powell said. He indicated that a raise of half a percentage point would be suitable. The Fed has been aggressively raising interest rates, with four consecutive 0.75-point rate raises over the last year. Powell noted that there is still “a long way to go in restoring price stability”, including tempering wage growth to a level that would be consistent with 2% inflation and a balancing of the labor market. The Fed will set interest rates at its next meeting on December 14.Chris McGreal reports …Two former senior US diplomats have made a highly unusual call for the Biden administration to cut weapons supplies to Israel if the incoming far-right government uses them to annex Palestinian land, expel Arabs or finally kill off the diminishing possibility of a Palestinian state.Daniel Kurtzer, a former US ambassador to Israel under George W Bush, and Aaron David Miller, a US Middle East peace negotiator during several administrations, have called for what they described as an “unprecedented and controversial” break from America’s largely unconditional military and diplomatic support for Israel if “the most extreme government in the history of the state” pursues the stated aims of some of its members.The pair warn that these could include “efforts to change the status of the West Bank”, in effect a warning against partial or wholesale annexation of Palestinian land to Israel. They also warned against increased use of force against Arabs in the occupied territories and Israel by incoming ministers who have espoused openly racist views, escalating settlement construction, and moves “to build infrastructure for settlers that is designed to foreclose the possibility of a two-state solution”.Full story:Biden urged to threaten Israel weapons halt over far-right concernsRead moreReuters reports the latest news on Joe Biden’s bid to avert a damaging rail strike, thus:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}A majority of the US House of Representatives has backed a bill to block a potentially crippling rail strike, but the fate of a separate proposal by lawmakers to mandate paid sick time remains uncertain.
      With voting ongoing, more than 250 members of 432 current House members had voted in favor of imposing a tentative contract deal reached in September on a dozen unions representing 115,000 workers after Biden warned of the catastrophic impact of a rail stoppage that could begin as early as 9 December. A separate vote is planned later on Wednesday on whether to require seven days of paid sick leave.Here at Guardian US, Michael Sainato reported earlier on disquiet among railroad unions:Railroad workers have expressed dismay at Joe Biden’s proposed solution to a looming strike that threatens to derail the US economy, which they say belies his image as the most pro-union president in generations.As a 9 December deadline looms for the long-running dispute between the US’s largest railway companies and their unions, Biden has called on Congress to intervene and block a strike that could cost the US economy about $2bn a day, by some estimates.The impending strike comes as the US struggles with a cost-of-living crisis driven by a 40-year high in inflation. Biden has said a railroad labor action could “devastate our economy”. On Wednesday, Congress is expected to pass legislation that will force a settlement.But union leaders are unhappy that Biden’s solution appears to be the imposition of a settlement reached in September that has been rejected by many for failing to address concerns about pay, sick days, staff shortages and time off.“Joe Biden blew it,” said Hugh Sawyer, treasurer of Railroad Workers United, a group representing workers from a variety of rail unions and carriers.“He had the opportunity to prove his labor-friendly pedigree to millions of workers by simply asking Congress for legislation to end the threat of a national strike on terms more favorable to workers. Sadly, he could not bring himself to advocate for a lousy handful of sick days. The Democrats and Republicans are both pawns of big business and the corporations.”Full story:US rail unions decry Biden’s proposal to impose settlement through CongressRead more More

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      House Democrats elect Hakeem Jeffries as first Black leader in Congress

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      House Democrats elect Hakeem Jeffries as first Black leader in CongressNew York congressman will assume role of minority leader early next year, inheriting position held for decades by Pelosi House Democrats on Wednesday elected the New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries as their new leader, making him the first Black American to lead a major political party in Congress after Nancy Pelosi, the current speaker, announced that she was stepping aside to pave the way for a new generation.Jeffries, 52, will assume the role of minority leader when the new Congress is sworn in early next year, inheriting the position held for nearly two decades by Pelosi, a towering figure in Democratic politics who was the first woman speaker.In a show of unity after losing the House but delivering a stronger-than-expected performance in the midterm elections, Democrats unanimously approved Jeffries and two other top leadership positions by acclamation.Emerging from the closed-door meeting room, the soon-to-be leader declared: “House Democrats fight for the people. That’s our story. That’s our legacy. That’s our values. That’s our commitment.”The trio of top leaders led by Jeffries will include the Massachusetts congresswoman Katherine Clark, 59, as whip and Pete Aguilar of California, 43, as caucus chair, in charge of messaging. They will take the mantle from three octogenarians: Pelosi and her long-serving deputies, Steny Hoyer of Maryland (majority leader) and James Clyburn, the whip from South Carolina.“Today is a day of transition and hope and a renewal of the shared values of our caucus,” Clark told reporters.Hailing the Democratic caucus as a “beautiful mosaic of the country”, Aguilar acknowledged the significance of being a Latino in a leadership role.“Having an opportunity to help guide this caucus is a great responsibility and I don’t take it lightly,” he said.The seamless elevation of a new generation of leaders came in stark contrast to the fractured House Republican conference, which has yet to unite around Kevin McCarthy after the weaker-than-expected midterms win. With only a few votes to spare, McCarthy is attempting to shore up enough support to become speaker.The narrow margin of Republicans’ majority, and McCarthy’s tenuous hold on his caucus, is likely to give Democrats some leverage in negotiations, particularly when it comes to must-pass legislation. Vowing to “get stuff done”, Jeffries said his caucus would look for opportunities to work with Republicans but would “push back against extremism whenever necessary”.Shortly before Thanksgiving, Pelosi, who has led Democrats since 2003, announced that she intended to pass the torch and would support Jeffries, another barrier-breaking leader.On Tuesday, House Democrats granted Pelosi the honorific title of “speaker emerita”. Clyburn, now the highest-ranking Black member of Congress, intends to remain as assistant leader to help with the transition. That election, and votes for other leadership posts, will take place on Thursday.Jeffries is a former lawyer who represents a diverse district in Brooklyn and Queens once represented by Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to serve in Congress. He is known on Capitol Hill as a disciplined tactician with a measured style and a penchant for pop culture references.In remarks to reporters on Wednesday, Jeffries traced his ascent from the Brooklyn hospital where he was born, the son of a caseworker and a social worker. Moved by what he described as a desire to “advance the ball for everyday Americans”, he first won election to the New York state assembly, where he sat for six years.Some progressives view Jeffries skeptically as a business-friendly centrist but such concerns were not raised on Wednesday. The vote was a jovial affair, celebrated with “handshakes, high fives and hugs”, Aguilar said.Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said: “With this new generation of leadership, House Democrats are well positioned to enter the 118th Congress and confront the challenges ahead.”Jayapal also noted that House Democrats’ top three leaders would for the first time be entirely “women or people of color”.In his own statement, Hoyer called Jeffries “a skilled consensus-builder, effective legislator, and experienced leader … well equipped to … deliver further results for the people during the 118th Congress and retake the majority in 2024.”Though Pelosi will remain in Congress, she promised not to be the “mother-in-law in the kitchen”. Asked if the continued presence of Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn might be a burden, Jeffries said the new leaders felt honored to “stand on their shoulders”.“It’s a blessing that we embrace,” he said.TopicsUS CongressDemocratsUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      US Senate passes bill protecting same-sex marriage

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      US Senate passes bill protecting same-sex marriageHouse must now pass legislation as Democrats hurry to get it Biden to sign into law before Republicans take over the chamber The US Senate has passed the Respect for Marriage Act, legislation to protect same-sex unions that Democrats are hurrying to get to Joe Biden to be signed into law before Republicans take over the House next year.‘No rings, no guests’: supreme court fears spur LGBTQ ‘shotgun’ weddingsRead moreThe House must now pass the bill, a step the majority leader, Steny Hoyer, said could come as soon as Tuesday 6 December. Nearly 50 House Republicans supported the measure earlier this year. In the Senate, support from 12 Republicans was enough to override the filibuster and advance the bill to Tuesday’s majority vote, which ended 61-36.Although the Respect for Marriage Act would not codify Obergefell v Hodges, the 2015 supreme court decision which made same-sex marriage legal nationwide, it would require states to recognise all marriages that were legal when performed, including in other states. Interracial marriages would also be protected, with states required to recognise legal marriage regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin”.Same-sex marriage has been thought under threat since June, when the conservative-dominated supreme court struck down the right to abortion. Then, the hardline justice Clarence Thomas wrote that other privacy-based rights, including same-sex marriage, could be reconsidered next.Public support for same-sex marriage is at an all-time high of around 70% but according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, if the supreme court did overturn the right, at least 29 states would be able to enforce bans.Before the vote on Tuesday, the US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, wrote on Twitter: “Strange feeling, to see something as basic and as personal as the durability of your marriage come up for debate on the Senate floor.“But I am hopeful that they will act to protect millions of families, including ours, and appreciate all that has gone into preparing this important legislation to move forward.”After the vote, Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator from Rhode Island, said the Respect for Marriage Act would “place the right to marry out of this activist supreme court’s reach. We affirm what the American people already understand: every person deserves the freedom to marry the one they love.”James Esseks, director of the LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, pointed to the need for more work.In a statement, he said: “For the last seven years, LGBTQ+ families across the country have been able to build their lives around their right to marriage equality. The Respect for Marriage Act will go a long way to ensure an increasingly radical supreme court does not threaten this right, but LGBTQ+ rights are already under attack nationwide.“Transgender people especially have had their safety, dignity, and healthcare threatened by lawmakers across the country, including by members of this Congress. While we welcome the historic vote on this measure, members of Congress must also fight like trans lives depend on their efforts because trans lives do.”In his opinion in the abortion case, Thomas did not mention interracial marriage. The justice, who is Black, is married to the conservative activist Ginni Thomas, who is white.The Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, is white. His wife, the former transportation secretary Elaine Chao, is Asian American. McConnell has voted against the Respect for Marriage act.On Tuesday, Biden, who as vice-president famously came out in support of same-sex marriage before his boss, Barack Obama, said: “For millions of Americans, this legislation will safeguard the rights and protections to which LGBTQ+ and interracial couples and their children are entitled.“It will also ensure that, for generations to follow, LGBTQ+ youth will grow up knowing that they too can lead full, happy lives and build families of their own.”Biden thanked senators for their “bipartisan achievement” and said he “look[ed] forward to welcoming them at the White House after the House passes this legislation and sends it to my desk, where I will promptly and proudly sign it into law”.On Monday, before a test vote, the Democratic Senate leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, also praised Republicans who backed the measure, saying: “A decade ago, it would have strained all of our imaginations to envision both sides talking about protecting the rights of same-sex married couples.”Republicans argued for amendments they say won the support of religious groups that nonetheless oppose same-sex marriage, among them the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.“They see this as a step forward for religious freedom,” Thom Tillis of South Carolina told the Associated Press.Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, a Democrat and the first openly gay senator, told the AP the way some Republicans came round on the issue reminded her “of the arc of the LBGTQ+ movement to begin with, in the early days when people weren’t out and people knew gay people by myths and stereotypes”.With growing acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights, Baldwin said, “slowly laws have followed. It is history.”Associated Press contributed reportingTopicsSame-sex marriage (US)LGBTQ+ rightsUS politicsUS CongressUS SenateDemocratsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      Congress to take up bill to avert rail strike as Biden and unions clash – as it happened

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      Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just emerged from the White House to talk about their meeting just now with Joe Biden to talk about legislation in the lame duck session and, most urgently, his request that Congress intervene to stop the looming rail strike.Schumer signaled the Senate would support the move.Pelosi said: “Tomorrow morning we will have a bill on the floor, it will come up as early as 9am.”Biden wants Congress to impose the agreement tentatively reached in September, but which four unions didn’t sign on to, forcing the president and the labor unions to be at loggerheads.Pelosi said the original elements of the agreement, on pay, etc, would be included in the bill and some “additional benefits” agreed to by Biden and labor secretary Marty Walsh.She said the agreement “is not everything I would like to see, I would like to see paid sick leave – every [leading democratic] country in the world has it. I don’t like going against the ability of a union to strike but, weighing the equities, we must avoid a strike.”Assuming the House votes for the bill, it will then move to the Senate for a vote there.Schumer said: “We will try to get it done … we are going to try to solve this ASAP.”Both leaders warned of job losses and further supply chain problems affecting ordinary goods and essential things such as chlorine for safe public water supplies.Schumer and Pelosi, speaking to reporters call it a “productive meeting,” Finding a solution to rail strike a top priority, they say. “We must avoid a strike,” Pelosi says. pic.twitter.com/cK0HwSCcXy— Myah Ward (@MyahWard) November 29, 2022
      House minority leader Kevin McCarthy emerged from the West Wing a few minutes after Schumer and Pelosi spoke to gathered reporters and indicated that he expected a resolution on the rail strike.Schumer had earlier noted that he had minority leader Mitch McConnell’s support in the Senate.All 100 senators must agree to hold a quick vote like this and it’s unclear yet if all are on board, especially Bernie Sanders.Asked if he will allow a vote on legislation to avert the rail strike to happen by the Dec. 9 deadline, Bernie Sanders just told me:  “We will have more to say about that later.” He criticized the deal for lack of paid sick leave. “That is outrageous.”— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 29, 2022
      As we wrap up this US politics blog for the day, the US Senate is debating proposed amendments to the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act that seeks to codify in legislation the right to same sex and interracial marriages. A final vote is expected soon and will be covered in a news story. The politics blog will be back tomorrow morning.Here’s where things stand:
      US Senate to vote on legislation codifying federal rights to same-sex and interracial marriage in the US. The upper chamber is debating a bill right now.
      A bill to avert the looming US passenger and freight rail strike will be brought to the floor of the House of Representatives early tomorrow, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after a meeting at the White House with Joe Biden and the other congressional leaders.
      Record early voting is happening in Georgia. The number of people casting their ballots during early voting in the run-off election for one of the state’s seats in the US Senate is already on its way to half a million since the process got under way at the weekend. Polls close 6 December.
      Nato foreign ministers pledged to step up support to Ukraine and help repair its energy infrastructure amid a wave of Russian attacks that have repeatedly knocked out power supplies and heating for millions of Ukrainians.
      Joe Biden has urged the US Congress to intervene to prevent the rail strike that is looming across America and could bring passenger and freight trains screeching to a halt as early as next week. This puts the pro-labor president at loggerheads with some of the key rail unions.
      The US Senate is currently debating proposed amendments to the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act that seeks to codify in legislation the right to same-sex and interracial marriages in the US.It’s expected to pass when it comes to a final vote a bit later this afternoon, from whence it will go back to the House, where it is also expected to pass, and speed its way to Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law in December.Earlier this month, 12 Republican senators voted with all Senate Democrats to advance the bill.The bill has Democratic and Republican sponsors and was spearheaded by Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, the first openly lesbian or gay senator in the US.The expected passage of the legislation with support from both parties is an extraordinary sign of the shifting politics on the issue and a measure of relief for the hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples who have married since the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v Hodges decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide, the Associated Press writes.The bill has gained steady momentum since the supreme court’s June decision that overturned the federal right to an abortion, and comments from Justice Clarence Thomas at the time that suggested same-sex marriage could also come under threat.Bipartisan Senate negotiations kick-started this summer after 47 Republicans unexpectedly voted for a House bill and gave supporters new optimism.The legislation would not codify the Obergefell decision or force any state to allow same-sex couples to marry. But it would require states to recognize all marriages that were legal where they were performed, and protect current same-sex unions, if Obergefell were to be overturned.It would also protect interracial marriages by requiring states to recognize legal marriages regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin”.The US supreme court today wrestled with a partisan-tinged dispute over a Biden administration policy that would prioritize deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk, the Associated Press writes.It was not clear after arguments that stretched past two hours and turned highly contentious at times whether the justices would allow the policy to take effect, or side with Republican-led states that have so far succeeded in blocking it.At the center of the case is a September 2021 directive from the Department of Homeland Security that paused deportations unless individuals had committed acts of terrorism, espionage or “egregious threats to public safety”.The guidance, issued after Joe Biden became president, updated a Trump-era policy that removed people in the country illegally regardless of criminal history or community ties.Today, the administration’s top supreme court lawyer told the justices that federal law does “not create an unyielding mandate to apprehend and remove” every one of the more than 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally.Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said it would be “incredibly destabilizing on the ground” for the high court to require that.Congress has not given DHS enough money to vastly increase the number of people it holds and deports, the Biden administration has said.But Texas Solicitor General Judd Stone told the court that the administration violated federal law requiring the detention of people who are in the US illegally and who have been convicted of serious crimes.Chief Justice John Roberts was among the conservative justices who pushed back strongly on the Biden administration’s arguments..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}It’s our job to say what the law is, not whether or not it can be possibly implemented or whether there are difficulties there, and I don’t think we should change that responsibility just because Congress and the executive can’t agree on something … I don’t think we should let them off the hook,” he said.Yet Roberts, in questioning Stone, also called Prelogar’s argument compelling.Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, made clear they believed that Texas and Louisiana, which joined Texas in suing over the directive, weren’t even entitled to bring their case.As Joe Biden is dependent on Congress to avoid a government shutdown on December 16, the president wants a government funding bill passed to provide additional money for the Covid-19 response and to bolster US support for Ukraine’s economy and defense against Russia’s invasion, the Associated Press reports.Lawmakers are months behind on passing funding legislation for the current fiscal year, relying on stop-gap measures that largely maintain existing funding levels, that federal agencies have warned leaves them strapped for cash..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}We’re going to work together, I hope, to fund the government,” Biden told lawmakers, emphasizing the importance of Ukraine and pandemic funding as well.Meeting in the Roosevelt Room at the White House earlier, Biden sat at the head of the conference table, flanked on either side by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the two smiling brightly at the start of the meeting.Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy sat next to Schumer, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was next to Pelosi and appeared more reserved.The 2022 election, summed. https://t.co/4ZyxVUcigO— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) November 29, 2022
      As the meeting began, Biden quipped, “I’m sure this is going to go very quickly” to reach agreement on everything.Lawmakers spent a bit more than an hour with the president, who was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris and senior aides.McCarthy is working to become speaker in January, though he must first overcome dissent within the GOP conference to win a floor vote on January 3.All the leaders said their preference was to pass a comprehensive spending bill for the fiscal year, rather than a continuing resolution (CR) that largely maintains existing funding levels.“If we don’t have an option we may have to have a yearlong” stop-gap bill, Pelosi added.McCarthy, who has promised to look more critically at the Biden administration’s requests for Ukraine aid, told reporters that, “I’m not for a blank check for anything.”He said he wasn’t necessarily opposed to more funding, but wanted to ensure “there’s accountability and audits.”Schumer and Pelosi popped out of the west wing after the meeting to take questions from reporters and were followed shortly afterwards by McCarthy who did the same.On a spending bill, Pelosi said: “We have to have a bipartisan agreement on what the top line is.”CNN reported that McConnell eschewed such an appearance and returned directly to Capitol Hill.SCHUMER calls the White House meeting among Hill leaders “a very productive discussion about funding the government — we all agreed that it should be done this year.”PELOSI says if they can’t reach a deal, “we may have to have a year-long CR.” She says they don’t want that. pic.twitter.com/fEFiBOiQgY— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) November 29, 2022
      It’s been a lively morning in US politics and there’s more to come. Joe Biden is en route to Michigan to tour a factory and talk about the economy and the US Senate is poised to vote on a bill codifying same-sex and interracial marriage.Here’s where things stand:
      A bill to avert the looming US passenger and freight rail strike will be brought to the floor of the House of Representatives early tomorrow, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after a meeting at the White House with Joe Biden and the other congressional leaders.
      Record early voting is happening in Georgia. The number of people casting their ballots during early voting in the run-off election for one of the state’s seats in the US Senate is already on its way to half a million since the process got under way at the weekend. Polls close 6 December.
      Nato foreign ministers pledged to step up support to Ukraine and help repair its energy infrastructure amid a wave of Russian attacks that have repeatedly knocked out power supplies and heating for millions of Ukrainians.
      Joe Biden has urged the US Congress to intervene to prevent the rail strike that is looming across America and could bring passenger and freight trains screeching to a halt as early as next week. This puts the pro-labor president at loggerheads with some of the key rail unions.
      Joe Biden is on his way to Michigan, aboard Air Force One right now, to tour the SK Siltron CSS semiconductor facility in Bay City, on the shore of Lake Huron.It’s part of his agenda to promote progress in rebuilding the US manufacturing sector.A local ABC channel described how SK Siltron recently completed a $300m expansion. The firm makes semiconductor wafers “used in power system components for electric vehicles and 5G cellular technology,” the outlet reported ahead of the president’s visit this afternoon.The ABC report noted that “local, state and federal leaders hailed the project as an example of the US bringing semiconductor manufacturing back home during a crippling supply shortage of the devices.”He’s due to speak about the US economy a bit later. He’s being accompanied on the factory tour by newly-reelected Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, congresswoman Elissa Slotkin and others.When Mitt Romney compared Donald Trump to a gargoyle …Hats off to Politico for gathering this reporting. The outlet reports that senior Republicans Mike Pence, Bill Cassidy, Marco Rubio, Susan Collins and John Thune all directly or obliquely criticized Trump’s meeting with the far right’s Nick Fuentes last week, as senators returned to Capitol Hill after the Thanksgiving break.But it noted this choice comment, that Utah Republican Senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney was “particularly sharp” on Trump, in general, and noted that he was not a fan of the former president running for office again, as he intends to in 2024 and said: “I certainly don’t want him hanging over our party like a gargoyle.”Here’s NBC:Romney on Trump: “I voted to remove him from office twice… I don’t think he should be president of the United states. I don’t think he should be the nominee of our party in 2024. And I certainly don’t want him hanging over our party like a gargoyle.”“It’s a character issue.”— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) November 28, 2022
      House Republican leader and would-be next speaker Kevin McCarthy has spoken out for the first time to condemn the meeting between Donald Trump and blatant white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes last week.McCarthy spoke about several topics as he emerged from the west wing of the White House a little earlier, following a meeting called there by Joe Biden with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders to talk about urgent legislative business before the year end.“I don’t think anybody should be spending any time with Nick Fuentes. He has no place in this Republican Party,” McCarthy told reporters at the White House.McCarthy is the latest GOP figure to speak out, following a series of senior Republicans and pressure group leaders condemning the fact that Trump had dinner last week with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who is in deep controversy for antisemitic remarks, and Fuentes, who accompanied Ye.As the Guardian’s Edwin Rios noted it was just the latest in a long line of incidents involving the former US president and the far right.McCarthy did stumble though. He said that Trump had four times condemned Fuentes and did not know who he was.Reporters on the scene immediately pounced to note, accurately, that Trump has not condemned Fuentes and his racist views.McCarthy responded: “Well, I condemn.”On Sunday, Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson said the meeting between Trump, Ye and Fuentes “was not accidental.”Moments earlier, when asked if it was appropriate for Trump to meet with Ye, McCarthy said Trump could have meetings “with who he wants.” Then went onto criticize Fuentes.WATCH: Kevin Mccarthy Denounces Trump Meeting With Kanye Literally Two Seconds After Saying Kanye Fine, Fuentes Bad https://t.co/hnT6lpKWc1— Mediaite (@Mediaite) November 29, 2022
      But also Ye, sort of?McCarthy: “The president can have meetings with who he wants. I don’t think anybody though should have meetings with Nick Fuentes. And his views are nowhere within the R Party or within this country itself.”And Kanye?”I don’t think he should have associated with him as well.”— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) November 29, 2022
      Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just emerged from the White House to talk about their meeting just now with Joe Biden to talk about legislation in the lame duck session and, most urgently, his request that Congress intervene to stop the looming rail strike.Schumer signaled the Senate would support the move.Pelosi said: “Tomorrow morning we will have a bill on the floor, it will come up as early as 9am.”Biden wants Congress to impose the agreement tentatively reached in September, but which four unions didn’t sign on to, forcing the president and the labor unions to be at loggerheads.Pelosi said the original elements of the agreement, on pay, etc, would be included in the bill and some “additional benefits” agreed to by Biden and labor secretary Marty Walsh.She said the agreement “is not everything I would like to see, I would like to see paid sick leave – every [leading democratic] country in the world has it. I don’t like going against the ability of a union to strike but, weighing the equities, we must avoid a strike.”Assuming the House votes for the bill, it will then move to the Senate for a vote there.Schumer said: “We will try to get it done … we are going to try to solve this ASAP.”Both leaders warned of job losses and further supply chain problems affecting ordinary goods and essential things such as chlorine for safe public water supplies.Schumer and Pelosi, speaking to reporters call it a “productive meeting,” Finding a solution to rail strike a top priority, they say. “We must avoid a strike,” Pelosi says. pic.twitter.com/cK0HwSCcXy— Myah Ward (@MyahWard) November 29, 2022
      House minority leader Kevin McCarthy emerged from the West Wing a few minutes after Schumer and Pelosi spoke to gathered reporters and indicated that he expected a resolution on the rail strike.Schumer had earlier noted that he had minority leader Mitch McConnell’s support in the Senate.All 100 senators must agree to hold a quick vote like this and it’s unclear yet if all are on board, especially Bernie Sanders.Asked if he will allow a vote on legislation to avert the rail strike to happen by the Dec. 9 deadline, Bernie Sanders just told me:  “We will have more to say about that later.” He criticized the deal for lack of paid sick leave. “That is outrageous.”— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 29, 2022
      Despite the extensive efforts of progressive organizers in Georgia, the state’s early voting operation has run into some significant issues.Many voters reported long lines at polling places over the weekend, as they tried to cast ballots in Georgia’s Senate runoff election.One of the candidates in that race, Democrat Raphael Warnock, the incumbent, waited in line for about an hour on Sunday to cast his vote.A coalition of progressive groups has launched a massive canvassing operation to help ensure that voters know how and when they can cast their ballots.Hillary Holley, executive director of the progressive group Care in Action, said that canvassers have encountered a lot of misunderstanding among voters as they knock on doors.“Every time basically our canvassers reach a voter at their house, they’re saying, ‘Thank you so much because we are so confused about when we can go vote,’” Holley said on a Monday press call.Part of that confusion stems from a judge’s last-minute ruling that counties could allow early voting to occur on the Saturday after the Thanksgiving holiday.Georgia election officials had initially said that early voting could not take place on that day, but the Warnock campaign won a legal challenge to expand voting hours.Stephanie Jackson Ali, policy director of the progressive group New Georgia Project, said: “Our call is for counties to continue the fight to get more locations open, to continue the fight to keep your counties open late, and for our voters to stay in line.” More

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      Record early voting in runoff for Georgia Senate seat

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      Record early voting in runoff for Georgia Senate seatMonday the largest in-person early voting day as Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker neck and neck before 6 December election The number of people casting early ballots in the runoff election for one of Georgia’s seats in the US Senate has already broken records since the process began on the weekend, with some counties posting staggeringly long wait times at early voting sites during the first days of early voting.Reports on Monday’s turnout varied from more than 250,000 voters to more than 300,000 on the first day of statewide early operation of the polls. Some counties began earlier.Herschel Walker accuser comes forward with fresh relationship claimsRead moreAs of mid-afternoon Tuesday, 11 of 27 early voting locations in Fulton county, the state’s most populous, had a wait time of at least an hour. Several reported wait times of more than two hours.In Gwinnett county, in suburban Atlanta, eight of the 11 early voting sites reported wait times of at least 45 minutes, including three sites with wait times of more than an hour. Zach Manifold, the county’s election administrator, attributed the long waits to “heavy turnout and only seven days of advance voting”. Georgia Republicans passed a law last year that shortened the runoff period from nine weeks to four.Manifold said his county was operating at “maximum capacity on check-ins” and was equipped to handle about 20,000 voters a day. Nearly 18,000 people voted in person in the county on Monday, according to state data.The incumbent Democrat, Raphael Warnock, and his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, are neck and neck as the election on 6 December approaches. The deputy secretary of state, Gabriel Sterling, said it was the largest in-person early voting day in Georgia history.Just…WOW! GA voters, facilitated through the hard work of county election & poll workers, have shattered the old Early Vote turnout, with 300,438 Georgians casting their votes today. They blew up the old record of 233k votes in a day. Way to go voters & election workers. #gapol pic.twitter.com/rYbmpjAs43— Gabriel Sterling (@GabrielSterling) November 29, 2022
      Neither candidate got above the 50% threshold in the midterm elections earlier this month, so under Georgia rules the fierce race went to a runoff.With just a week to go before polls close, progressives in Georgia are leaving nothing to chance. A coalition of progressive groups has launched a massive canvassing effort for the Democratic party.Leaders of the coalition, known as Georgia Organizers for Active Transformation, said on a Monday press call that they now have 2,500 canvassers knocking on 200,000 doors a day, and that canvassers have knocked on more than 2.5m doors in the three weeks since election day.The early voting numbers appear to indicate that the effort is paying dividends. According to the progressive group Progress Georgia, African Americans and women are currently outpacing their high turnout levels in the 2020 general election. Given that those constituencies lean toward Democrats, the early voting data could provide some reassurance to Warnock’s camp as he defends a seat he has only held since 2021.“Georgia voters know exactly what’s going on,” said Hillary Holley, a coalition leader and the executive director of Care in Action. “They know what the stakes are, and they want Warnock to remain representing them for six additional years.”Despite the extensive efforts of progressive organizers, the state’s early voting operation has run into some significant issues. Many voters reported long lines at polling places over the weekend, with Warnock himself waiting in line for about an hour on Sunday to cast his vote.Misunderstandings about voting rules appear to be widespread, according to Holley. “Every time basically our canvassers reach a voter at their house they’re saying, ‘Thank you so much because we are so confused about when we can go vote,’” she said.Part of that confusion stems from a judge’s last-minute ruling that counties could allow early voting to occur on the Saturday after the Thanksgiving holiday.Georgia election officials had initially said that early voting could not take place on that day, but the Warnock campaign won a legal challenge to expand voting hours.Stephanie Jackson Ali, policy director of the progressive group New Georgia Project, said: “Our call is for counties to continue the fight to get more locations open, to continue the fight to keep your counties open late, and for our voters to stay in line.”TopicsGeorgiaDemocratsUS midterm elections 2022US politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Hakeem Jeffries’ likely elevation set to please US pro-Israel groups

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      Hakeem Jeffries’ likely elevation set to please US pro-Israel groupsDemocrat set to succeed Nancy Pelosi maintains ties to Aipac and others but could be challenged by critics in his own caucus Hakeem Jeffries might be about to make history but some critics fear that on one issue, at least, he will be on the wrong side of it.The progressive New York congressman widely expected to lead the Democrats in the US House of Representatives will be the first person of color to head either party in the chamber. Jeffries’ election as House minority leader in the new Congress in January would also see the baton pass to a new generation of Democratic leaders as the speaker, Nancy Pelosi, 82, steps aside.US corporations gave more than $8m to election deniers’ midterm campaignsRead moreThe change will be a profound one but, for some, it will only go so far.The prospect of Jeffries heading the Democrats in the House has been greeted with delight by hardline pro-Israel groups increasingly alarmed at a growing dissent in Congress over Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, including large-scale forced removals of Arabs from their homes, which is only likely to intensify as the Israeli far-right gains power.The former Democratic congressman Robert Wexler told Jewish Insider that “the pro-Israel camp needs someone just like Hakeem to lead us into the future”.“In fact, I would say, if the pro-Israel community wanted to create a Democratic leader for the future, we would create Hakeem Jeffries,” he said.“Hakeem is not just interested in these issues. He’s devoted to them. He’s respectful of the American Jewish community. He identifies with it. And he’s just a really nice guy on top of it.”Others who defend Israeli policies have praised Jeffries in similarly lavish terms. The congressman has been just as effusive in speaking about Israel.In 2020, Jeffries told a conference of the US’s largest and most powerful pro-Israel lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), that “back home in New York City we consider Jerusalem to be the sixth borough”.“The relationship is anchored in values,” he told the meeting.But as Jeffries takes over the Democratic House leadership he is likely to find the claim of common values increasingly tested by far-right ministers in the new Israeli government and challenged by critics of its policies in his own caucus.Among those expected to be have a powerful influence over the next Israeli government is the leader of the Jewish Power party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was active in the anti-Arab Kach party until it was banned as a terrorist organisation after one of its followers, Baruch Goldstein, murdered 29 Palestinians in Hebron in 1994. Ben-Gvir used to hang a portrait of Goldstein in his living room.Ben-Gvir, like Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to become prime minister again, is opposed to the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Jeffries supports “a self-governed and demilitarized Palestinian state”.With Ben-Gvir expected to be appointed public security minister in Netanyahu’s new government, while advocating the expulsion of Arabs deemed to be disloyal to the Jewish state, the pressure within the Democratic caucus to ensure that Israel lives up to the democratic values Jeffries praises is only likely to grow.Jeffries opposed a bill introduced last year by another party member, Betty McCollum, to ensure that the nearly $4bn in annual American military aid to Israel is not used to illegally annex Palestinian land, to demolish Arab homes and forcibly remove Palestinians, or to detain children in Israel’s labyrinthian military judicial system.Earlier this year, 15 Democratic members of Congress urged the Biden administration to intervene over the largest forcible removal of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by the Israeli military in decades, in what has been called a war crime by Human Rights Watch.Jeffries told Aipac that aid should continue with “no conditions”. He signed a letter drawn up by Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch opposing “reducing funding or adding conditions on security assistance”. The letter was signed by more than 300 members of Congress, boosted by an Aipac lobbying campaign.Pressure has also grown in Congress for a proper accounting by Israel over the killing of the Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in May.Dylan Williams, the senior vice-president of policy and strategy at the Washington-based campaign group J Street, which describes itself as “pro-Israel and pro-peace”, has said the demands for justice for Abu Akleh reflect broader concerns within Congress as Israeli killings of Palestinians have escalated while Jewish settlers in the West Bank appear to have been given free rein at times to attack Palestinians and take over their land.“Members of Congress seem increasingly frustrated that these types of disturbing actions from Israeli forces continue to take place, without facing meaningful pushback or accountability from our government,” he said.“There’s growing momentum to make clear that Israel must be held to the same important standards as all close US allies, and that our steadfast support for Israel’s security does not and should not preclude our government from also standing up in defense of human rights and international law in the occupied Palestinian territory.”Jeffries maintains close ties to Aipac and other hardline pro-Israel lobby groups. One of them, Pro-Israel America, was his largest single donor over the past year, giving his campaign more than $213,000. Pro-Israel groups gave him $460,000 in total, second only to donations from the financial industry.Critics have said that Jeffries’ statements on Israel often read like lobby talking points. Earlier this year, the congressman rejected reports by Israeli and international human rights groups that Israel practices a form of apartheid against the Palestinians. He said the claim is “designed to isolate Israel in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the world”.During a visit to Israel and the occupied territories earlier this year, Jeffries confronted the Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh for raising the apartheid parallel, in effect telling him how the Palestinians are permitted to describe their own oppression.However, Jeffries broke with the pro-Israel lobby and many of his Jewish constituents in supporting President Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Aipac lobbied heavily against it after Israel opposed the agreement, which was intended to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.TopicsUS politicsDemocratsIsraelMiddle East and north AfricaPalestinian territoriesnewsReuse this content More

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      Congress returns after holiday break to face lengthy to-do list – as it happened

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      That’s it for today’s US politics blog!Here’s what happened today:
      Joe Biden will call on Congress to intervene in a railroad labor strike, first reported the Washington Post. Talks between railroads and unions have broken down, with unions saying it is unlikely a deal will be reached before the 9 December deadline.
      White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke on the dinner between Donald Trump and white supremacist Nick Fuentes during today’s press briefing, saying that the Biden administration “totally rejects bigotry, racism, antisemitism”.
      At least six counties in Arizona have yet to certify 2022 election results. Arizona was a center point in 2020 when several Republicans and Donald Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election amid false accusations of election fraud.
      Congress came back from Thanksgiving break, with a sizable to-do list that includes passing some type of funding bill to avoid a 16 December government shutdown.
      Jill Biden announced the 2022 White House holiday theme, We the People, and unveiled themed decorations. In remarks, Biden also honored National Guard families who were in attendance for the festivities.
      Thank you for reading and have a good evening! Jean-Pierre has commented on dinner between Donald Trump and white supremacist Nick Fuentes:Jean-Pierre on Donald Trump’s dinner with Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes: “This administration, this president totally rejects bigotry, racism, antisemitism and there is just no places for these types of vile forces in our society… We should all be condemning this.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 28, 2022
      Bloomberg is also reporting a confirmation of the Washington Post report that Biden will call on Congress to intervene in a potential railroad labor strike. NEW: Confirming WaPo scoop, a source close to the White House says that Biden will ask Congress to step in to avert a nationwide rail strike.— Ian Kullgren (@IanKullgren) November 28, 2022
      The WH is waiting on a public announcement until aides are sure they have the votes. “It’s there but it’s soft,” this person said.— Ian Kullgren (@IanKullgren) November 28, 2022
      Jean-Pierre is now facing questions about reports that Biden could ask Congress to intervene in a potential railroad strike, as a railroad labor standoff continues. .@PressSec says Biden is in regular contact with members of Congress about a possible rail workers strike, but declines to say if he will call on lwmks to intervene. “When the President has made a decision on this, if he makes a decision on this, you’ll hear directly from him.”— Jennifer Shutt (@JenniferShutt) November 28, 2022
      A report from the Washington Post earlier today said that Biden plans to call on Congress to intervene, as unions say it is unlikely a deal will be reached before the 9 December deadline. From the Post’s Lauren Kaori Gurley, Tyler Pager, Tony Romm:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}With less than two weeks until a railroad strike deadline, President Biden plans to call on Congress to take action to avert a shutdown of the country’s freight railroads, according to an official briefed on his plans.
      The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that were not yet public. The White House declined to comment.
      A rail strike could threaten the nation’s water supply, halt passenger rail travel and trigger major disruptions to the U.S. supply chain during the height of the holiday season, potentially worsening inflation. Already, some tech companies have begun rerouting cargo shipments from railroads to trucks in preparation for a potential shutdown, according to CNBC.
      Union officials have said it’s looking increasingly unlikely that the unions and major rail freight carriers would reach a deal over lingering issues before a Dec. 9 strike deadline, renewing pressure on Congress and the White House to intervene.Read the full article here (paywall). Now, onto Georgia. Jean-Pierre was asked if Biden plans to visit Georgia with the Senate run-off election approaching. Jean-Pierre on Senate runoff in Georgia: “The president is willing to do whatever is needed of him by Senator Warnock.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 28, 2022
      Jean-Pierre did not confirm if Biden has been asked to go to the Peach state, with some pointing to Biden’s low approval ratings as a reason for him to avoid campaigning with Warnock. Jean-Pierre has been asked about meetings between Democrat and Republican congressional leaders, something Joe Biden said he was doing during a post-Midterms press conference. .@PressSec says Biden “is indeed looking forward to” speaking with congressional leaders, but says she doesn’t have any info to share about when a meeting might take place.— Jennifer Shutt (@JenniferShutt) November 28, 2022
      Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is now at the podium and has taken the briefing’s first question from a young reporter, Eva, who is from a youth journalism program. Eva asked Jean-Pierre about what Joe Biden is doing about protests in Iran. Kirby was asked about the welfare of Brittney Griner, the WNBA player who is serving a 9 year prison sentence in a Russian penal colony. A number of reports have come out about the brutal condition of Russian penal colonies, including 16-hour work days as well as racism and homophobia Griner is facing. Kirby on Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia: “I think you can understand for privacy reasons I’m not going to get into too much detail about her physical health.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 28, 2022
      Kirby added that conversations are “ongoing” to bring home Griner and Paul Whelan, a former marine who is also jailed in Russia. US awaits ‘serious response’ from Russia over Brittney Griner release proposalRead moreKirby asked another question about the potential impact that protests in China could have on the US supply chain: Kirby on China: “We don’t see any particular impact to the supply chain right now as a result of these protests.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 28, 2022
      Kirby answered a question about protests in China over Covid-19 lockdowns.Kirby: “Our message to peaceful protesters around the world is the same and consistent: they should be allowed to assemble… The White House supports the rights of peaceful protesters.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 28, 2022
      Now onto today’s press briefing.John Kirby took questions at the start of today’s briefing about the first state visit of the Biden-Harris administration, with French president Emmanuel Macron.At White House press briefing. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby: “France is a vital global partner and, of course, the United States’s old ally.” pic.twitter.com/xyXZC5bOjD— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 28, 2022
      Kirby on France: “President Macron has been a dynamic leader inside the G7.” President Biden thought this was the right country to start with.— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 28, 2022
      The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled today that a state board has to reconsider a rejected substitute teacher application from the police officer who killed Philando Castile in 2016, reported the Associated Press. Jeronimo Yanez had his substitute teacher application denied by the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board in 2020, which cited “immoral character or conduct.”The court ruled that the Board has to reconsider and focus more on whether or not Yanez’s conduct makes him unfit to be a teacher. “The board’s decision must focus exclusively on Yanez’s conduct and his fitness to be a teacher, not fitness to be a police officer,” ruled the court. Yanez shot and killed Castile, a Black man, during a 2016 traffic stop. Yanez alleged Castile was armed, but Castile had a permit for his firearm. Castile’s girlfriend live streamed the aftermath of the shooting, as she and her young daughter were in the car at the time. Here’s the latest on claims made by several women that Walker pressured them into having an abortion, from the Guardian’s Ed Pilkington. .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The second woman to allege that she was pressured into having an abortion by Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee in Georgia’s hotly contested US Senate race, on Tuesday presented previously unseen letters, audio recordings and pages of her personal diary that she said were evidence of their relationship, which he has denied.
      At a press conference in Los Angeles organized by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, the anonymous woman known only as Jane Doe came forward anew with a raft of fresh materials. She said she was doing so because when she first aired her allegations last month “and told the truth, he denied that he knew that I existed”.
      The alleged new evidence of the relationship between the woman and the former college football star included a voicemail recording in which Walker was purported to say to her: “This is your stud farm calling, you big sex puppy you”.
      Jane Doe also read out a letter which she said had been written by Walker to her parents. “I do love your daughter and I’m not out to hurt her. She has been a strong backbone for me through all of this,” the letter said…Herschel Walker accuser comes forward with fresh relationship claimsRead moreThe Democratic Chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia has called for an investigation into whether or not Georgia senate candidate Herschel Walker is actually a Georgia resident. In a statement, Nikema Williams said: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The Georgia Bureau of Investigations and the Georgia Attorney General’s office must immediately investigate whether Herschel Walker lied about being a Georgia resident. Georgians deserve answers, and Walker must be held accountable for his pattern of lies and disturbing conduct. This is yet another reminder that Walker lacks both the competence and character to be our U.S. Senator.Concerns of Walker’s residency have come most recently following Walker’s tax records showing that he receives a break meant for Texas residence, reports CNN. Read the full CNN article here. Jill Biden has just finished her holiday remarks at the White House, announcing the 2022 holiday theme We the People. “The soul of our nation is and has always been, We the People,” said Biden during her address. “And that is what has inspired this year’s White House holiday decorations.” For this year’s holidays at the White House, we hope to capture the spirit embodied in the very idea of America: We the People. pic.twitter.com/SKyXZ9RkI8— Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) November 28, 2022
      Each room touches upon themes including unity and community. As apart of the holiday rollout, several National Guard families were honored guests at the remarks and holiday decoration unveiling, with Biden and attendees applauding them. More