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US voting rightsSheila Jackson Lee is third Black lawmaker to be arrested during voting rights protestsCongress members Joyce Beatty and Hank Johnson were previously arrested for participating in separate demonstrations Maanvi Singh@ More
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5.19pm EDT
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China’s talks with Taliban could be a positive thing, US says
5.03pm EDT
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Today so far
4.48pm EDT
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Biden outlines vaccination incentives and mandate for federal workers
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‘You don’t have to die’: Biden pleads with unvaccinated Americans to get their shot
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Federal employees will be required to provide vaccination status, White House confirms
3.42pm EDT
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Biden calls on states to offer $100 payments to newly vaccinated Americans
2.29pm EDT
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Senate unanimously passes $2.1bn Capitol security funding bill
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5.29pm EDT
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Jessica Glenza
President Biden announced a list of mandates and incentives to get more Americans vaccinated against Covid-19 as hospitals across the country see a new surge of coronavirus cases in a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.
“We are not fully out of the woods yet,” said Biden, and later that hospital wards filled with individuals battling Covid-19, 99% of whom are unvaccinated, are “unnecessary, avoidable and tragic”.
New cases are not expected to lead to the same level of deaths and hospitalizations seen last winter, because 190 million Americans have had at least one shot. However, new modeling has sparked concern, as forecasters predicted 60,000 more Americans could die by mid-October, adding to the more than 609,000 who have already died.
Among Biden’s announcements, he said federal government workers will be required to attest they have been vaccinated against Covid-19 vaccine or get tested at least weekly for Covid-19. A similar standard will apply to federal contractors. The plan mirrors a vaccine mandate for health workers in New York City’s public hospitals announced last week.
Biden also said he would call on the Department of Defense to determine when Covid-19 vaccines should be added to required shots for the military; said the federal government would reimburse employers who give employees paid time off to get a vaccine; and that local governments should use stimulus funding to give $100 incentives to Americans who get newly vaccinated.
“It’s time to impose requirements on key groups to make sure they’re vaccinated,” said Biden. He later said he would like to see employers “move in that direction” of mandating vaccines.
The justice department has said vaccine mandates are legal, they have a history that goes back to the Revolutionary War, and have been required for years for some workers and schoolchildren for diseases such as influenza and measles.
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5.19pm EDT
17:19
China’s talks with Taliban could be a positive thing, US says
Emma Graham-Harrison
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said that Beijing’s interest in Afghanistan could be a “positive thing”, after China gave a warm and very public welcome to a senior Taliban delegation.
Nine officials from the militant group, which is eager for political recognition to bolster the impact of its military victories across much of Afghanistan, met China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, in the coastal city of Tianjin on Wednesday.
Photographs showed Wang welcoming Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar , the Taliban’s co-founder and head of its political commission, with open arms, then sitting down for talks with the Taliban delegation.
China hosted Taliban representatives in 2019, and is thought to maintain unofficial links with the group through its ally Pakistan.
Wang said the withdrawal of American and Nato troops, which will be officially completed by the end of August, “marks the failure of the US policy toward Afghanistan”. He called the Taliban “an important military and political force in Afghanistan”, and urged the group to make progress in peace talks.
Although the US might once have fiercely resisted Chinese attempts to increase their influence inside Afghanistan, now Washington’s priority appears to be staving off a collapse into full civil war.
Read more:
5.03pm EDT
17:03
Today so far
Joe Biden’s speech on vaccination efforts has now concluded, and that’s all from me for today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Biden outlined his administration’s latest efforts to vaccinate more Americans against coronavirus. Among other initiatives, the Biden administration is urging states to offer $100 payments to newly vaccinated residents and requiring federal workers to get vaccinated or receive regular coronavirus tests. “People are dying and will die who don’t have to die. If you’re out there unvaccinated, you don’t have to die,” Biden said moments ago.
Biden has called on Congress to extend the eviction moratorium, which is set to expire at the end of July. While federal aid is available to renters who will not be able to make rent, housing advocates have said the aid has been slow, and many Americans are at-risk of eviction.
The US economy grew 6.5% in this year’s second quarter. The figure was lower than what analysts had expected, though bottlenecks in the supply chain of certain goods is a likely explanation.
The Senate unanimously passed a $2.1bn bill to bolster funding for Capitol security and help relocate Afghans who have assisted the US military. The White House has already indicated that Biden will sign the bill, which will provide much-needed funds for the US Capitol Police and reimburse the National Guard for their Capitol mission in response to the January 6 insurrection.
The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said that he’s gotten the support from all 50 Democratic senators to advance the reconciliation bill, which would fund many of Biden’s “human infrastructure” proposals. The bill’s price tag is currently $3.5tn, although some moderate Democrats have indicated they want a less costly package.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
4.48pm EDT
16:48
Biden outlines vaccination incentives and mandate for federal workers
Joe Biden outlined the new initiatives his administration is launching to encourage more Americans to get vaccinated against coronavirus.
As previously announced, the president noted his administration is urging state, local and tribal governments to provide $100 payments to newly vaccinated residents.
Biden acknowledged those incentives may frustrate some of the millions of Americans who are already fully vaccinated, but he emphasized the entire country would benefit from these efforts.
“Here’s the deal: if incentives help us beat this virus, I believe we should use them,” Biden said.
The president also confirmed that his administration is asking all federal workers and on-site contractors to attest to their fully vaccinated status or submit to regular coronavirus tests.
“With incentives and mandates, we will make a huge difference and save a lot of lives,” Biden said.
4.37pm EDT
16:37
‘You don’t have to die’: Biden pleads with unvaccinated Americans to get their shot
Joe Biden delivered yet another urgent plea to unvaccinated Americans, encouraging them to get their shot as quickly as possible.
“Make no mistake: vaccines are the best defense against you getting severely ill from Covid-19,” Biden said.
The president acknowledged there have been some breakthrough infections among vaccinated Americans, but he emphasized that those cases remain rare and almost all involved mild symptoms.
Biden credited the vaccines with a lower rate of coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths even as cases rise because of the spread of the Delta variant.
“People are dying and will die who don’t have to die. If you’re out there unvaccinated, you don’t have to die,” Biden said. “This is not about red states and blue states. It is literally about life and death.”
4.29pm EDT
16:29
Joe Biden is now delivering his remarks on his administration’s ongoing efforts to vaccinate more Americans against coronavirus.
Biden began by noting that the US is now seeing a surge in coronavirus cases among unvaccinated Americans because of the Delta variant, which is more highly transmissible than the original variant.
“We need some straight talk right now,” the president said. “Because there’s a lot of fear and misinformation in the country, and we need to cut through it — with facts, with science, with the truth.”
This Week
(@ThisWeekABC)
Pres. Biden gives remarks on the COVID pandemic: “We need some straight talk right now. Because there’s a lot of fear and misinformation in the country, and we need to cut through it—with facts; with science; with the truth.” https://t.co/ZHmyyZGIxU pic.twitter.com/Ml5RyyQ8YL
July 29, 2021
4.19pm EDT
16:19
Federal employees will be required to provide vaccination status, White House confirms
The White House has just released a fact sheet outlining the initiatives Joe Biden will announce in his speech on vaccination efforts this afternoon.
As expected, the Biden administration is requiring all federal employees to “attest to their vaccination status” or comply with restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus in government offices.
“Anyone who does not attest to being fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on the job no matter their geographic location, physically distance from all other employees and visitors, comply with a weekly or twice weekly screening testing requirement, and be subject to restrictions on official travel,” the fact sheet says.
The rule applies to all federal workers and on-site contractors, which accounts for about 4 million people. The White House is urging all private employers to develop a similar model.
Biden will also call on the Pentagon to “look into how and when they will add Covid-19 vaccination to the list of required vaccinations for members of the military”.
The blog will have more details coming up, so stay tuned.
Updated
at 4.42pm EDT
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Ouch, that’s got to hurt: Jill Biden will undergo a procedure at Walter Reed medical center today to remove an object that became lodged in her foot last weekend.
Michael LaRosa, the first lady’s spokesperson, said in a statement provided to the White House press pool: “Last weekend, prior to her two official events in Hawaii, the First Lady stepped on an object on the beach which became lodged in her left foot. She will undergo a procedure today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to remove the object. The President will join her.”
The first lady visited Hawaii over the weekend after traveling to Tokyo for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
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New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, has already followed the treasury department’s advice, announcing yesterday that anyone who goes to a city-run vaccination site for their first dose of the vaccine will receive $100 starting Friday.
NYC Mayor’s Office
(@NYCMayorsOffice)
STARTING FRIDAY:Get your first dose of the #COVID19 vaccine at a City run site and you’ll get $100. It’s that simple.➡️ https://t.co/V1jusyFv1K https://t.co/etaipgbCtd pic.twitter.com/w7V1nKrk9S
July 28, 2021
On Monday, De Blasio also announced a vaccine mandate for all of New York’s roughly 340,000 city employees. Starting 13 September, all city workers – including public school teachers, police officers and firefighters – will need to show proof of vaccination or receive weekly coronavirus tests.
Joe Biden is expected to soon announce a similar mandate for federal workers when he delivers his speech on the White House’s vaccination campaign.
Updated
at 4.20pm EDT
3.42pm EDT
15:42
Biden calls on states to offer $100 payments to newly vaccinated Americans
Joe Biden is set to soon deliver a speech on his administration’s efforts to vaccinate more Americans against coronavirus, and the treasury department is now previewing one of those initiatives.
The department released a statement urging state, local and tribal governments to use funds they received from the American Rescue Plan to offer payments to newly vaccinated residents.
“For these governments and the communities they represent, no task is more urgent than turning the tide on the pandemic, and there is no better tool than vaccination. This is why Treasury is encouraging state, territorial and local governments to use the funds to enhance their vaccination efforts, including by providing individual vaccine incentives,” the statement says.
“Today, the President is calling on state, territorial, and local governments to provide $100 payments for every newly vaccinated American, as an extra incentive to boost vaccination rates, protect communities, and save lives. Treasury stands ready to give technical assistance to state and local governments so that they may use the funds effectively to support increased vaccination in their communities, and Treasury will partner with the Department of Health and Human Services throughout this effort.”
Biden’s speech is scheduled to start in about 20 minutes, so stay tuned.
Updated
at 4.20pm EDT
3.25pm EDT
15:25
Well, this is moving quite quickly. The House has already taken up the $2.1bn Capitol security funding bill that passed the Senate this afternoon.
House Press Gallery
(@HouseDailyPress)
The House is debating for up to 40 minutes @rosadelauro motion to suspend the rules and concur with the Senate amendment H.R. 3237 – emergency supplemental bill.
July 29, 2021
However, Republican congressman Chip Roy has just introduced a motion to adjourn the session, which will slightly delay the final vote on the security bill. Stay tuned.
3.20pm EDT
15:20
Meanwhile, over on Capitol Hill, the House will vote today on the $2.1bn Capitol security bill that unanimously passed the Senate this afternoon.
Craig Caplan
(@CraigCaplan)
House today plans to debate & vote on Senate-passed $2.1B US Capitol security/Afghan relocation emergency supplemental spending bill “upon receipt of the papers” per Hoyer. House will consider bill under suspension of the rules w/40 mins for debate,no amdts & 2/3rds vote to pass. pic.twitter.com/p7PxnpTIXj
July 29, 2021
The office of the House majority leader, Steny Hoyer ,has just said the chamber will consider the bill under suspension of the rules, meaning the legislation will need a two-thirds majority to pass.
The White House has already indicated that Joe Biden will sign the bill if it passes the House. Stay tuned.
Updated
at 4.21pm EDT
3.02pm EDT
15:02
Karine Jean-Pierre avoided providing specifics on the expected vaccine mandate for federal workers, but she argued the White House has a responsibility to set the best standards for their employees.
As the largest employer in the US, the federal government has “an obligation to be good stewards of the workforce and ensure their health and their safety”, the deputy press secretary said.
“We’re taking action to protect the federal workforce so that they can continue to execute on the hard and important work of government,” Jean-Pierre said.
She also argued that the steps the federal government is taking are not all that dissimilar from action initiated by other workplaces across the country.
Updated
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14:54
White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not provide any details on Joe Biden’s speech this afternoon about the administration’s vaccination efforts.
Using one of press secretary Jen Psaki’s favorite answers, Jean-Pierre told reporters: “I don’t want to get ahead of the president.”
Biden is scheduled to deliver his speech in about an hour, and the president is expected to announce a coronavirus vaccine mandate for all federal employees.
Updated
at 4.22pm EDT More
CaliforniaDemocratic donor Ed Buck found guilty in fatal meth overdoses of two menGuilty of all nine felony counts, which could lead to life sentenceProsecutors said Buck paid men and provided drugs for sex acts G More
Key events
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11.13am EDT
11:13
CDC to recommend vaccinated people wear masks indoors – sometimes
10.15am EDT
10:15
‘This is how I’m going to die’: USCP officer recounts January 6
9.56am EDT
09:56
Committee must uncover what happened at the White House on January 6, Cheney says
9.48am EDT
09:48
Thompson plays graphic footage of insurrection in opening statement
9.32am EDT
09:32
January 6 select committee begins first hearing
9.13am EDT
09:13
January 6 select committee to hold first hearing
Live feed
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11.21am EDT
11:21
Thompson is using his questions to hit key emotional points in the testimony of the four officers. Such committee hearings are about TV too, remember – which is why Donald Trump may be unhappy that thanks to Kevin McCarthy’s choice to withdraw Republicans from the panel, he has no defenders here, beaming to screens around the country.
Officer Dunn is asked about his experience enduring racist abuse, seeing Confederate flags among the rioters and other such issues.
“It’s so overwhelming and disappointing and disheartening,” he says, that America contains people who would “attack you because of the colour of your skin”.
“My blood is red, I’m an American citizen, I’m a police officer and a peace officer,” he says. “I’m here to defend everybody.”
Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming and pariah in her own party, is next up. She asks Sgt Gonell about Trump’s claims that the crowd was full of “loving” people. He is not impressed.
“I’m still recovering from those hugs and kisses,” Gonell says, adding: “If that was hugs and kisses I wish you all go to his house and do the same to him.”
“All of them were telling us Trump sent us,” Gonell adds, dismissing Trump’s claim leftwing demonstrators or the FBI were behind the riot.
Officer Fanone is next to receive a question from Cheney. “The politics of that day didn’t play into my response at all,” he says.
Officer Hodges is asked to describe his experience in seeing protesters in military and tactical gear at the Capitol. Cheney asks Officer Dunn about what police expected on 6 January. “A couple arrests, name-calling, unfriendly people,” he says – but not close to what actually happened.
11.13am EDT
11:13
CDC to recommend vaccinated people wear masks indoors – sometimes
The Washington Post reports that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will this afternoon recommend that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in certain circumstances. The paper, which tends to turn out to be reasonably well connected in the capital, says the announcement is coming at 3pm ET.
The CDC will revise guidance issued on 13 May, which said vaccinated individuals did not need to wear masks indoors.
As is the way of things, the administration’s view on whether mask advisories or mandates might return, as with the question of whether vaccinations should be made mandatory in any circumstances, has been a little opaque. But as press secretary Jen Psaki said yesterday, Joe Biden regards his scientific and medical advisers as his “North Star” on such matters, so here we are. Or will be, when the announcement comes later.
The highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus has fuelled steep rises in case numbers, particularly among unvaccinated Americans and amid struggles with disinformation and resistance, particularly on the political right.
Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, discussed the possible need to return to advising mask-wearing over the weekend. Report here.
Speaking to the Post, Robert Wachter, chairman of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said: “Nobody wants to go backward but you have to deal with the facts on the ground, and the facts on the ground are that it’s a pretty scary time and there are a lot of vulnerable people.
“I think the biggest thing we got wrong was not anticipating that 30% of the country would choose not to be vaccinated.
“In June we were in this virtuous cycle, where cases were going down, people were getting vaccinated, everyone said happy days are here again, and let their guard down.”
Some further reading, from Jessica Glenza:
11.10am EDT
11:10
This is Martin Pengelly, taking over the controls from Joanie Greve for a while. In response to questions from Bennie Thompson, the committee chair, Sgt Gonell is currently describing his experiences in Iraq: “We could run over an IED and that’s it but at least we knew we were in a combat zone. Here, in our nation’s capital, we were attacked multiple times.”
He adds that police officers were “fighting for our lives” during the assault by the Trump supporters seeking to overturn the election result.
Updated
at 11.10am EDT
11.04am EDT
11:04
US Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who is Black, said he was repeatedly called the “n” word as he sought to protect the Capitol from pro-Trump insurrectionists on January 6.
“Nobody had ever, ever called me a [‘n’ word] while wearing the uniform of a Capitol Police officer,” Dunn said, actually saying the racial slur.
Dunn closed his testimony by expressing pride in his fellow USCP officers and encouraging them to protect their mental health as they deal with the fallout of the insurrection.
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking professional counseling,” Dunn said.
Updated
at 11.04am EDT
10.50am EDT
10:50
US Capitol Police officers are closely watching the January 6 select committee’s hearing as some of their colleagues testify.
An NBC News reporter shared a photo of two USCP officers watching C-SPAN as it streamed the hearing:
Haley Talbot
(@haleytalbotnbc)
As we hear the powerful stories from officers on Jan 6 can’t help but think of the entire USCP force, including those that lost their lives as a result of that day. As you walk around the Capitol today officers are glued to the hearing, watching their colleagues testify. pic.twitter.com/ljw2Br7tk3
July 27, 2021
10.42am EDT
10:42
Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges, who was nearly crushed against a door on January 6 as pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, delivered his opening statement to the select committee. More
The fight to voteUS voting rightsRepublicans poised to rig the next election by gerrymandering electoral mapsA supreme court justice described the last round of gerrymandering as ‘dishonoring US democracy’. Another round is about to start – will this be another ‘political heist’? The fight to vote is supported byAbout this contentSam LevineTue 27 Jul 2021 05.00 EDTLast modified on Tue 27 Jul 2021 05.01 EDTTen years ago, Republicans pulled off what would later be described as “the most audacious political heist of modern times”.It wasn’t particularly complicated. Every 10 years, the US constitution requires states to redraw the maps for both congressional and state legislative seats. The constitution entrusts state lawmakers with the power to draw those districts. Looking at the political map in 2010, Republicans realized that by winning just a few state legislative seats in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, they could draw maps that would be in place for the next decade, distorting them to guarantee Republican control for years to come.Sign up for the Guardian’s Fight to Vote newsletterRepublicans executed the plan, called Project Redmap, nearly perfectly and took control of 20 legislative bodies, including ones in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Then, Republicans set to work drawing maps that cemented their control on power for the next decade. Working behind closed doors, they were brazen in their efforts.In Wisconsin, lawmakers signed secrecy agreements and then drew maps that were so rigged that Republicans could nearly hold on to a supermajority of seats with a minority of the vote. In Michigan, a Republican operative bragged about cramming “Dem garbage” into certain districts as they drew a congressional map that advantaged Republicans 9-5. In Ohio, GOP operatives worked secretly from a hotel room called “the bunker”, as they tweaked a congressional map that gave Republicans a 12-4 advantage. In North Carolina, a state lawmaker publicly said he was proposing a map that would elect 10 Republicans to Congress because he did not think it was possible to draw one that would elect 11.This manipulation, called gerrymandering, “debased and dishonored our democracy”, Justice Elena Kagan would write years later. It allowed Republicans to carefully pick their voters, insulating them from the accountability that lies at the foundation of America’s democratic system. Now, the once-a-decade process is set to begin again in just a few weeks and Republicans are once again poised to dominate it. And this time around things could be even worse than they were a decade ago.The redistricting cycle arrives at a moment when American democracy is already in peril. Republican lawmakers in states across the country, some of whom hold office because of gerrymandering, have enacted sweeping measures making it harder to vote. Republicans have blocked federal legislation that would outlaw partisan gerrymandering and strip state lawmakers of their authority to draw districts.Advances in mapmaking technology have also made it easier to produce highly detailed maps very quickly, giving lawmakers a bigger menu of possibilities to choose from when they carve up a state. It makes it easier to tweak lines and to test maps to ensure that their projected results will hold throughout the decade.“I’m very worried that we’ll have several states, important states, with among the worst gerrymanders in American history,” said Nicholas Stephanopoulos, a law professor at Harvard, who closely studies redistricting. “That’s not good for democracy in those states.”In 2019, the supreme court said for the first time there was nothing federal courts could do to stop even the most excessive partisan gerrymandering, giving lawmakers a green light to be even more aggressive. And because of the supreme court’s 2013 decision in the landmark Shelby County v Holder case, places with a history of voting discrimination will no longer have to get their maps approved by the federal government for the first time since 1965. It’s a lack of oversight that could embolden lawmakers to attempt to draw districts that could dilute the influence of minority voters. The gerrymandering clock is ticking. There is a consensus that Republicans could use the redistricting process to draw maps that will allow them to retake the House of Representatives in 2022. In state capitols where Republicans have control, there are already discussions about how aggressive lawmakers should be when they carve up districts for the next decade.Texas, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina are all states where Republicans have complete control over the redistricting process and where experts are on high alert for GOP efforts to gerrymander districts. And even though Democrats are at a severe redistricting disadvantage overall, there are a handful of states – Illinois, New York and Maryland – where Democrats hold control of state government and can use that control to draw maps to their advantage.Even though gerrymandering poses a uniquely dangerous threat to democracy, for decades, the process has largely gone under the radar. The mapmaking process is a complex, technical one, difficult to understand for average citizens. While some of the most egregiously gerrymandered districts are obviously contorted, it can be difficult to spot a gerrymander with the naked eye. And even if it were easy, lawmakers have largely taken the process behind closed doors, blocking the public from what they are seeing.That’s set to change this year too.Democrats and grassroots groups have spent the last few years educating citizens about the process and building up an army of volunteers across the country to closely monitor mapmaking. Part of that effort has been teaching people how to use publicly available technology to draw their own electoral maps.“It’s an entirely new world than 10 years ago in terms of public mapping software. The capacity for the wide public to draw their own maps and identify their own communities,” said Moon Duchin, a mathematician who leads the MGGG redistricting lab at Tufts University, which has built publicly available mapping tools.Empowered with those maps, members of the public can better challenge lawmakers on their justification for drawing strange-looking maps, said William Desmond, a redistricting expert who advised Arizona’s redistricting commission in 2010 and is working with California’s this year.“Members of the public and interested parties, there’s going to be a lot more avenues open to them if they want to try their hand at drawing their own districts,” he said. “If they want to test the claims, like, ‘OK you said you can only do this if you split these counties, let’s see if I can take a whack at it.’ There’s lots more ways you can do it this time, and a lot higher level of quality.”Technology aside, there’s also some hope that 2021 won’t be a repeat of 2011, when Republicans dominated redistricting. While Republicans do have a huge advantage in drawing the districts, it’s not as severe as it was in 2011. In Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two of the most gerrymandered states a decade ago, Republicans still control the state legislatures, but now have Democratic governors who will be able to veto egregiously extreme maps.Adam Kincaid, the director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, a GOP group focused on redistricting, downplayed the effects of Project Redmap. “Redmap has kind of taken on this mythos about what it was and what it was not. The reality was Redmap was a campaign to raise money to fund state legislative races around redistricting,” he said. “The best guardrails for gerrymandering have always been the American electorate. Shifting electorates break gerrymandering.”But critics argue that severe partisan gerrymandering prevents shifting electorates from being heard. In Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, Republicans have maintained a majority in the seats in the state legislature for the entire decade even as Democrats have won gubernatorial and other statewide races.Kincaid agreed there would be significantly more public interest in the process this year than there had been in years past.“A decade ago … the number of press calls I got could be counted on one hand. Really on one finger,” he said. Some states are also choosing to strip lawmakers of their ability to draw districts altogether. In Michigan, a group of novice organizers successfully passed a constitutional amendment in 2018 to put redistricting in the hands of an independent commission composed of four Democrats, four Republicans and five independents. The commission has strict partisan fairness requirements it must follow as it draws maps. Colorado and Virginia will also use commissions to draw districts this year, after voters approved ballot initiatives.“The gerrymandering last decade was so extreme that I think it has created this backlash. You see it in the reforms that have passed in a number of states. And you also see it in greater public awareness about gerrymandering,” said Michael Li, a redistricting expert at the Brennan Center for Justice.At the same time, he added, “I think for Republicans they also learned that this actually does work. They actually can do this with micro-precision.”TopicsUS voting rightsThe fight to voteRepublicansDemocratsUS politicsfeaturesReuse this content More
US Capitol attackHouse begins Capitol attack inquiry as Republicans set to boycott proceedingsCommittee established by Pelosi features two Republicans, Cheney and Kinzinger, after McCarthy withdrew his nominees Tue 27 Jul 2021 03.00 EDTLast modified on Tue 27 Jul 2021 03.02 EDTThe much-anticipated House investigation into the January attack on the US Capitol begins on Tuesday, with Republicans set to boycott proceedings in an attempt to undermine any findings.A special committee established by the Democratic House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, will convene to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deadly insurrection in Washington DC, when hundreds of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to interrupt the certification of Joe Biden as president.Capitol attack committee chair vows to investigate Trump: ‘Nothing is off limits’Read moreThe committee, which will feature just two Republicans after the GOP leadership refused to participate, will hear this week from police officers who battled rioters during the attack.The investigation into the 6 January attack has become a fiercely partisan issue in Washington. The House voted in May for an independent investigation that would have been evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, but the Senate blocked the move.That left Pelosi to create a select committee to conduct the investigation. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House minority leader, picked five Republicans to sit on the committee, but Pelosi rejected Jim Jordan and Jim Banks’ nominations, prompting McCarthy to withdraw all five nominees. Both Jordan and Banks are staunch Trump allies who deny his role in the attack and objected to the certification of Biden’s win.Liz Cheney, a Republican congresswoman from Wyoming, had already been named to the panel by Pelosi, and on Sunday Pelosi went around McCarthy again to appoint Representative Adam Kinzinger, who like Cheney is a critic of Trump, to the committee.Pelosi said Kinzinger “and other Republicans have expressed an interest to serve on the select committee. And I wanted to appoint three of them that Leader McCarthy suggested. But he withdrew their names. The two that I would not appoint are people who would jeopardise the integrity of the investigation, and there’s no way I would tolerate their antics as we seek the truth.”Kinzinger and Cheney were among the 10 House Republicans who voted for Trump’s second impeachment, and the pair were the only Republicans who voted to form the special committee. Both have cited Trump’s false claims of election fraud as a factor in the insurrection.“For months, lies and conspiracy theories have been spread, threatening our self-governance,” Kinzinger said on Sunday.“For months, I have said that the American people deserve transparency and truth on how and why thousands showed up to attack our democracy. I will work diligently to ensure we get to the truth and hold those responsible for the attack fully accountable.”Democrat Bennie Thompson will chair the committee, which on Tuesday will hear from four police officers who were on duty on 6 January. They are expected to testify about their experiences that day, including the physical and verbal abuse they were subjected to as hundreds of people swarmed the Capitol.“We have to get it right,” Thompson said on Monday. He said if the committee could find ways to prevent anything like it from happening again, “then I would have made what I think is the most valuable contribution to this great democracy”.Last week a Florida man became the first person to be sentenced to prison for his role in the January attack. More than 570 people have been charged with taking part in the riot, during and after which seven people died.TopicsUS Capitol attackHouse of RepresentativesNancy PelosiUS politicsDemocratsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More
Democrats‘We use what tools we have’: Democrats take drastic action in bid to resist Republican rule Across the US, in Republican-controlled states Democrats are being forced to get creative to oppose a conservative agendaJoan E Greve in Washington@ More
