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      Biden says US ‘building an economy where no one is left behind’ amid 2024 speculation – as it happened

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      Joe Biden is on a roll in Wisconsin this afternoon, touting the US economy and expanding on his theme at the state of the union address last night that, half way through his term, he wants to “finish the job.”Inflation is still high but most experts believe it’s peaked and the most recent jobs figures, the Democrats’ performance in last November’s midterm elections and the US president’s performance in his address last night were better than expected,“We are building an economy where no-one is left behind,” Biden said.He is pledging to “restore the dignity of work” the “pride and self esteem” that come with well-paid employment.It is now 4pm in DC. Here are the key events that happened across the country today:
      A top White House cybersecurity adviser is set to retire next week, according to reports. On Wednesday, CNN reported that Chris Inglis is expected to depart the White House on February 15. Inglis is currently the National Cyber Director. Inglis, who has over forty years of national security experience, currently heads an office which was created in 2021 by Congress to advise the president on cybersecurity matters and to track how federal agencies manage their cybersecurity.
      The accused Libyan man behind the deadly 1988 Lockerbie bombing which killed 190 Americans has pleaded not guilty to three federal criminal charges in Washington DC. On Wednesday, 71-year old Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud pleaded not guilty to two charges of an aircraft resulting in death and one charge of destruction of a vehicle used in foreign commerce, resulting in death. If found guilty, Mas’ud faces life imprisonment.
      Former senior staff at Twitter began testimony on Wednesday before the House oversight committee about the social media platform’s handling of reporting on Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden. The hearing has set the stage for the agenda of a newly Republican-controlled House, underscoring its intention to home in on longstanding and unsubstantiated allegations that big tech platforms have an anti-conservative bias.
      Joe Biden is drew pantomime-type laughs and boos from the crowd in DeForest, Wisconsin as he chuckles about sparring with “my Republican friends” during their heckling when he delivered the state of the union address last night. He spoke on the economy, already touting the low unemployment rate of 3.4%. Biden also talked about the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act, passed last year, and how funds from that going into infrastructure are going to refurbish crumbling bridges and other structures in Wisconsin and across the country, boosting jobs and middle class incomes.
      Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has been appointed by House speaker Kevin McCarthy to a select committee investigating the ‘weaponization’ of the government, NBC reports. Gaetz, who was one of the far-right Republicans that opposed McCarthy’s nomination as House speaker, replaced Texas Republican Chip Roy, according to the outlet.
      During a press conference on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden put the Republicans who heckled during his SOTU address last night “on the defense.” “He called members out on live television in front of millions of Americans and effectively put them on the defense… That’s what the president did is put them on the defense.”
      A new proposal in Missouri seeks to ban nearly all discussion of LGBTQ people, making it far more restrictive than Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law passed last year. Republican state senator Mike Moon’s bill would only allow licensed mental healthcare providers to talk to students about LGBTQ issues and gender identity in K-12 public schools, and only if guardians grant permission first.
      A tense exchange between Republican congressman George Santos and Republican senator Mitt Romney was caught on video last night as Biden was due to deliver his address. “You ought to be embarrassed,” Romney told Santos, who is expected to face an investigation by the House Ethics Committee following revelations that the freshman congressman falsified large portions of his biography.
      Joe Biden’s strong performance at the State of the Union address last night was a blow to critics on the right – and within his own party – and seemed a certain boost to the chances of him running for a second term in the White House in the 2024 election. And amid questions over his age as the oldest US president in history, at 80, vice president Kamala Harris praised him as bold and vibrant in an interview this morning, while he boosted her in a celebratory tweet.
      That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as we wrap up the blog for today. We will be back tomorrow with the latest developments in US politics. Thank you.The US Navy has released dramatic photos of the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down on Saturday.In a Facebook post, the US Fleet Forces Command wrote:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023.
      EODGRU 2 is a critical part of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Force that clears explosive hazards to provide access to denied areas; secures the undersea domain for freedom of movement; builds and fosters relationships with trusted partners, and protects the homeland.
      At the direction of the President of the United States and with the full support of the Government of Canada, U.S. fighter aircraft under U.S. Northern Command authority engaged and brought down a high altitude surveillance balloon within sovereign U.S. airspace and over U.S. territorial waters Feb. 4, 2023.
      Active duty, Reserve, National Guard, and civilian personnel planned and executed the operation, and partners from the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Aviation Administration, and Federal Bureau of Investigation ensured public safety throughout the operation and recovery efforts.”A top White House cybersecurity adviser is set to retire next week, according to reports.On Wednesday, CNN reported that Chris Inglis is expected to depart the White House on February 15. Inglis is currently the National Cyber Director.Sworn into office in July 2021, Inglis, who has over forty years of national security experience, currently heads an office which was created in 2021 by Congress to advise the president on cybersecurity matters and to track how federal agencies manage their cybersecurity.In a statement to CNN, Inglis said that the office is “is viable and valuable – in its capabilities, its people, and its influence on issues that matter: protecting our Nation’s critical infrastructure, strengthening and safeguarding our technology supply chain, expanding pathways to good-paying cyber jobs, and so many more.”The accused Libyan man behind the deadly 1988 Lockerbie bombing which killed 190 Americans has pleaded not guilty to three federal criminal charges in Washington DC. On Wednesday, 71-year old Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud pleaded not guilty to two charges of an aircraft resulting in death and one charge of destruction of a vehicle used in foreign commerce, resulting in death.If found guilty, Mas’ud, who is believed by US prosecutors to have built the bomb, faces life imprisonment.The bombing, which occurred on Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988 above Lockerbie, Scotland, killed 259 people aboard the Boeing 747 and another 11 people on the ground. The flight was traveling from London to New York. It is considered one of the deadliest terror attacks in American history.Last month, Scotland and US authorities announced that Mas’ud was in American custody.A detention hearing has been set for later this month.Former senior staff at Twitter began testimony on Wednesday before the House oversight committee about the social media platform’s handling of reporting on Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.The hearing has set the stage for the agenda of a newly Republican-controlled House, underscoring its intention to home in on longstanding and unsubstantiated allegations that big tech platforms have an anti-conservative bias.Recently departed Twitter employees speaking include Vijaya Gadde, the social network’s former chief legal officer, former deputy general counsel James Baker, former head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth and former safety leader Anika Collier Navaroli.The hearing centers on a question that has long dogged Republicans – why Twitter decided to temporarily restrict the sharing of a story about Hunter Biden in the New York Post, released in October 2020.The Post said it received a copy of a laptop hard drive from Donald Trump’s then-personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, that Hunter Biden had dropped off 18 months earlier at a Delaware computer repair shop and never retrieved. Twitter initially blocked people from sharing links to the article for several days, citing concerns over misinformation and spreading a report based on potentially hacked materials.“Americans deserve answers about this attack on the first amendment and why big tech and the swamp colluded to censor this information about the Biden family selling access for profit,” said the Republican committee chairman James Comer ahead of the hearing, referring to Trump’s characterization of the Democratic political establishment as a swamp. “Accountability is coming,” he added.In opening statements on Wednesday, the former Twitter staffers described the process by which the story was blocked, stating that it triggered Twitter’s rules against sharing hacked materials. The article had been greeted with skepticism due to questions about the laptop’s origins, and Twitter policy restricted the sharing of unlawfully accessed materials. While the company explicitly allowed “reporting on a hack, or sharing press coverage of hacking”, it blocked stories that shared “personal and private information – like email addresses and phone numbers” – which the Post story appeared to include. The platform amended these rules following the Biden controversy.Roth, the former head of safety and integrity, said Twitter had acknowledged that censoring the story was a mistake..css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“Defending free expression and maintaining the health of the platform required difficult judgment calls,” he said. “There is no easy way to run a global communications platform that satisfies business and revenue goals, individual customer expectations, local laws and cultural norms and get it right every time.”Full story here:Twitter: ex-executives begin testimony on handling of Hunter Biden laptop caseRead moreJoe Biden is drawing pantomime-type laughs and boos from the crowd in Wisconsin as he chuckles about sparring with “my Republican friends” during their heckling when he delivered the state of the union address last night.The US president is referring to the uproar that ensued among Republicans in the House last night when, as he said, “they sure didn’t like me calling them on it” when he referred to some Republican members who want to cut the long-standing benefits programs Social Security and Medicare, the popular retirement and health insurance programs for seniors.There is no doubt that Biden is feeling confident. The event just ended and he stepped gingerly off the platform at the gathering in DeForest. He noticeably walks like a relatively fit 80-year-old – rather slowly – but has had fire in his speech last night and this afternoon.Such are the signs that he is preparing to announce that he’ll run for president again in 2024, surely with vice president Kamala Harris on the ticket once again?Kamala Harris lauds ‘bold, vibrant’ Biden and attacks Republican ‘theatrics’Read moreHe’s now mingling with workers at the event, smiling, chuckling, taking selfies with them.Joe Biden is on a roll in Wisconsin this afternoon, touting the US economy and expanding on his theme at the state of the union address last night that, half way through his term, he wants to “finish the job.”Inflation is still high but most experts believe it’s peaked and the most recent jobs figures, the Democrats’ performance in last November’s midterm elections and the US president’s performance in his address last night were better than expected,“We are building an economy where no-one is left behind,” Biden said.He is pledging to “restore the dignity of work” the “pride and self esteem” that come with well-paid employment.Joe Biden is speaking now in DeForest, Wisconsin, on the outskirts of the state capital Madison.The US president is on a high after a strong performance at the state of the union address last night.He’s speaking on the economy, already touting the low unemployment rate of 3.4%.He’s also talking about the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act, passed last year, and how funds from that going into infrastructure are going to refurbish crumbling bridges and other structures in Wisconsin and across the country, boosting jobs and middle class incomes.Hello again, it’s been a lively day so far in US politics news as the ripples from Joe Biden’s state of the union address, and the Republicans’ response, continue across the reflecting pools of Washington and the sensibilities of the nation.The US president is due to make a fresh speech in Wisconsin at the top of the hour, where he will talk about the economy. We’ll have that for you live so stick with us.Here’s where things stand:
      Right-wing Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has been appointed by House speaker Kevin McCarthy to a new select committee created since the GOP won a slim majority in the House, investigating the ‘weaponization’ of the government.
      White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden put the Republicans who heckled during his SOTU address last night “on the defense.”
      A new proposal by Missouri Republicans seeks to ban nearly all discussion of LGBTQ people, making it far more restrictive than Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law passed last year.
      A tense exchange between Republican congressman George Santos and Republican senator Mitt Romney was caught on video last night as Biden was due to deliver his address. The Utah senator thinks con artist Santos should be tossed out of congress.
      Joe Biden’s strong performance at the State of the Union address last night was a blow to critics on the right – and within his own party – and seemed a certain boost to the chances of him running for a second term in the White House in the 2024 election – with vice president Kamala Harris on the ticket, too.
      Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has been appointed by House speaker Kevin McCarthy to a select committee investigating the ‘weaponization’ of the government, NBC reports.Gaetz, who was one of the far-right Republicans that opposed McCarthy’s nomination as House speaker, replaced Texas Republican Chip Roy, according to the outlet.Roy said that he spoke with McCarthy last night after Biden’s State of the Union address.“We had a conversation. I thought it made sense for me to balance my life and to do what I need to do,” Roy said, NBC reports.“I would like to be on it but I’ve got just way too much going on… I decided it would be better for everybody and for the cause to free that up,” he said.Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Gaetz told NBC that he “is honored to serve on the Weaponization Subcommittee and will be working very hard.”During a press conference on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden put the Republicans who heckled during his SOTU address last night “on the defense.”“He called members out on live television in front of millions of Americans and effectively put them on the defense… That’s what the president did is put them on the defense,” Jean-Pierre said, referring to several Republicans who jeered at Biden’s assertions that Republicans want to slash social security and Medicare costs.“They keep saying they want to cut Medicare and social security. They want to put it on the chopping block. And so he’s going to defend it with them on the defense again,” she said.In response to criticisms from public health advocates who felt that Biden did not thoroughly address the opioid crisis and threat of fentanyl in his address, Jean-Pierre said:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“You heard last night a powerful call to action…for members of both parties to step up, come together and fight the flow of fentanyl…which is something that you’ve seen from this president…
      He understands we have homework to do…but this cannot be a political issue. It’s a matter really, truly, as we’re seeing in communities, a matter of life or death. So that includes additional actions to go after traffickers, tougher penalties, expanding access to life-saving treatments…
      But what we saw from Republicans was jeers and casting blame and Republicans…should come together to find solutions to can to tackle the same exact issues the president wants to tackle.”A new proposal in Missouri seeks to ban nearly all discussion of LGBTQ people, making it far more restrictive than Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law passed last year.Republican state senator Mike Moon’s bill would only allow licensed mental healthcare providers to talk to students about LGBTQ issues and gender identity in K-12 public schools, and only if guardians grant permission first.“This is protecting vulnerable children and attempting to protect them from conversations that need to be had with the approval of the parent and potentially at home,” Moon told a Senate education committee, the Associated Press reports.Meanwhile, North Carolina senators on Tuesday passed their own limits on LGBTQ education in schools. Under the new bill, public school teachers would be required in most circumstances to notify parents before they address a student by a different name or pronoun.Georgia Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene who heckled at Biden last night pushed back against claims that far-right Republicans took the apparent bait from Biden whose calls for political unity was met with boos.“I didn’t take any bait… As a matter of fact, I got so many messages from people in my district and people across the country, it was like I won my election again. You know what, people are pissed off,” she told CNN this morning.During Biden’s SOTU address last night, Greene booed Biden and called him a “liar” following his assertion that some Republicans have proposed to cut social security and Medicare.“I didn’t take any bait,” MTG told me of heckling and calling Biden a liar during SOTU. “As a matter of fact, I got so many messages from people in my district and people across the country, it was like I won my election again. You know what, people are pissed off” pic.twitter.com/orCq4kkmag— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 8, 2023
      During her interview with GMA on Wednesday morning, vice president Kamala Harris defended Biden’s actions towards China’s high-altitude balloon, which has been criticized by numerous Republicans..css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“We invite competition with China, but we do not seek conflict. We do not seek confrontation. What the president did…it’s consistent with our perspective and our commitment, which is we are prepared to compete, but at the same time, if there’s any violation of our sovereignty, we’re going to act. And that’s what the president did,” she said.Republicans have fired at the Biden administration over its wait to shoot down the Chinese balloon, arguing that the delay jeopardized US security and could have potentially endangered American citizens.In response to a question about the prospect of bipartisanship amid tense relations with the GOP, Harris said, “The president, it’s his nature and it’s his commitment to the American people to work across the aisle. That’s not going to stop even if some people are cynical about it.”Following Biden’s SOTU address last night where he called for universal preschool and teacher raises, the president tweeted on Wednesday, “Let’s give public school teachers a raise.”Let’s give public school teachers a raise.— President Biden (@POTUS) February 8, 2023
      During his address last night, Biden said:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}“Restoring the dignity of work also means making education an affordable ticket to the middle class.
      When we made 12 years of public education universal in the last century, it made us the best-educated, best-prepared nation in the world.
      But the world has caught up.”The country is currently facing a teacher shortage as a result of low wages, high stress and an increasingly divided educational culture war following conservative pushback against topics such as American history, racism, gender and sexuality, among others.A tense exchange between Republican congressman George Santos and Republican senator Mitt Romney was caught on video last night as Biden was due to deliver his address.“You ought to be embarrassed,” Romney told Santos, who is expected to face an investigation by the House Ethics Committee following revelations that the freshman congressman falsified large portions of his biography.’You ought to be embarrassed’: Mitt Romney exchanges heated words with George Santos – video https://t.co/kizX9eFh3y— The Guardian (@guardian) February 8, 2023
      Romney later told reporters that Santos “shouldn’t have been there…”“Given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and being quiet instead of parading in front of the president,” he said.Asked Mitt Romney if he’s disappointed that Speaker McCarthy hasn’t called on George Santos to resign.“Yes,” he said. Santos “should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the President and people coming into the room,” Romney said. pic.twitter.com/obpaYD8v1x— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 8, 2023
      Joe Biden’s strong performance at the State of the Union address last night was a blow to critics on the right – and within his own party – and seemed a certain boost to the chances of him running for a second term in the White House in the 2024 election.And amid questions over his age as the oldest US president in history, at 80, vice president Kamala Harris praised him as bold and vibrant in an interview this morning, while he boosted her in a celebratory tweet.The whole show appeared to amplify the steady drumbeat that Biden will run again – and put Harris on the ticket with him as he did in 2020.The president presented his administration’s achievements at last night’s speech including record job growth. He also called on Republicans to help him “finish the job” of ensuring economic recovery and healing sociopolitical divides across the country.“To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress,” said Biden, adding, “Pride is coming back because of the choices we made in the last two years.”Biden also addressed other major issues including US-China relations, threats to social security and Medicare, police violence, gun control, reproductive rights, and political violence.Notable guests at the address included Tyre Nichols’ family, Monterey Park shooting hero Brandon Tsay, U2 singer Bono, Paul Pelosi and Ukraine’s ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova.Harris praised Biden, saying that he “did a great job.”Good morning, US politics readers. We are coming off the back of Joe Biden’s State of the Union address last night where he presented his administration’s achievements since taking office in 2021 and condemned Republicans seeking to cut social security and Medicare – to which a few responded with boos and heckling.During what some saw as a “soft launch for his 2024 campaign,” Biden also addressed the US being in the “strongest position in decades” to challenge China, called for the need of meaningful policing as Tyre Nichols’ family watched on from the audience, and condemned rightwing threats to democracy.In response to Biden’s address, Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered her own speech, calling the president “crazy” and “unfit to serve.” The former president Donald Trump’s White House press secretary also condemned his Democratic supporters, calling them the “woke mob” and “radical left”.As we bring you the latest on today’s US politics, here’s what we can expect today:
      Biden will deliver remarks on the economy later this afternoon in Madison, Wisconsin.
      Vice-president Kamala Harris will travel to Atlanta, Georgia to participate in a conversation on climate change.
      Three former Twitter executives will testify at the House oversight committee over the social media platform’s handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
      ‘Pride is coming back’: Biden touts victories on jobs and climate in State of the Union addressRead more More

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      Mississippi Republicans pass bill to create separate, unelected court in majority-Black city

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      Mississippi Republicans pass bill to create separate, unelected court in majority-Black cityMayor of Jackson, Mississippi, calls proposed law ‘some of the most oppressive legislation in our city’s history’ The Republican-dominated Mississippi house of representatives has passed a bill to create a separate, unelected court system in the city of Jackson that would fall outside the purview of the city’s voters, the majority of whom are Black.The bill, which local leaders have likened to apartheid-era laws and described as unconstitutional, would also expand a separate capitol police force, overseen by state authorities. The force would expand into all of the city’s white majority neighborhoods, according to Mississippi Today. Jackson’s population is over 80% Black.‘This is no way to live’: Mississippians struggle with another water crisisRead moreSpeaking after House Bill 1020 passed on Tuesday evening, Jackson’s mayor Chokwe Lumumba branded the proposed law “some of the most oppressive legislation in our city’s history”.“It’s oppressive because it strips the right of Black folks to vote. It’s oppressive because it puts a military force over people that has no accountability to them. It’s oppressive because there will be judges who will determine sentences over people’s lives. It’s oppressive because it redirects their tax dollars to something they don’t endorse nor believe in,” Lumumba said.The bill passed largely along party lines in a 76-38 vote and will now travel to the state senate, where Republicans also hold a significant majority. The passage was preceded by an intense, four-hour floor debate in which members of the state’s Black caucus made impassioned pleas to reject the legislation and compared the bill to the state’s Jim Crow-era constitution of 1890.The legislation was proposed by house Republican Trey Lamar, who is white and represents a district in the state’s north-west, which is majority white.Lamar, who does not live in Jackson, has cited county court backlogs and crime rates in the city as his motivation for the proposed law. During floor debate, Lamar was asked if any of his constituents had asked for the bill. He replied: “I don’t live in Jackson … but you know what I like to do … I like to come to Jackson because it’s my capital city.”The bill, which is over 1,000 pages long, would expand Jackson’s existing capitol complex improvement district, which is patrolled by the state’s capitol police and currently covers parts of the city’s downtown that house state government buildings. The district’s expansion would cover areas in the city’s north, which, according to local press, include entertainment and shopping neighborhoods.The new court district would feature two judges directly appointed by Mississippi’s supreme court chief justice, Michael K Randolph, who is white. There would be two prosecutors, appointed by the state attorney general, Lynn Fitch, a white Republican. And two public defenders appointed by the state defender’s office.Proposed amendments offered on Tuesday included calls to make the judges residents of the Jackson area and to compel elections for the positions. Both amendments failed.The proposed bill is the latest in a line of extreme legislation in the state, which last year introduced a sweeping anti-critical race theory law, which met vocal opposition from the state’s Black caucus.Jackson has also suffered from a series of water outages due to ailing infrastructure, which has been chronically underfunded by the state for years. Black residents in the poorest parts of the city have been disproportionately affected.In November last year, the city’s water system was taken under federal government oversight after the Environmental Protection Agency found the city in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act.TopicsMississippiRepublicansUS politicsRacenewsReuse this content More

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      Twitter probably fumbled the Hunter Biden story. But don’t expect a sane investigation | Margaret Sullivan

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      Twitter probably fumbled the Hunter Biden story. But don’t expect a sane investigationMargaret SullivanWhy I’m not hopeful that the Republican-led House investigation will stay grounded in reality You can’t get Americans to agree on much these days – not on gas stoves, not on Chinese spy balloons, not on the books allowed in school libraries.But one thing they apparently can bond over is whether the Republicans in the House of Representatives are likely to spend the next two years responsibly serving as the loyal opposition to President Biden and the Democrats who control the Senate.Checks, balances and all that good stuff.The consensus: fat chance.Most Americans, in an NBC poll, think Republicans will spend too much time on investigations; a CNN poll showed three out of four respondents agreeing that House Republicans haven’t been paying enough attention to things that matter; a Pew Research poll finds two-thirds of Americans are concerned that they will focus too much on investigating the Biden administration.In other words, the public has seen enough grandstanding to know exactly what’s coming.“The GOP’s investigations are going to be drawn from a grab bag of rightwing grievances,” as Hayes Brown, an MSNBC editor, recently predicted.Things kick off in earnest on Wednesday morning with the House oversight committee taking up how Twitter handled a controversial New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, back in the fall of 2020.Will this committee stay grounded in reality as members explore legitimate questions?I’m not hopeful, especially after hearing committee chairman James Comer, Republican of Kentucky, speculating on Fox News a few days ago about the Chinese spy balloon. Comer suggested that the balloon might be loaded with bioweapons, and then went full Trump: “Did that balloon take off from Wuhan?”Comer is the same guy who suggested back in December, again preaching to the Fox News faithful, that the Brittney Griner prisoner swap may had some tie to Hunter Biden. (Well, yes, of course, because in the Republican conspiracy world, everything must have that same diabolical connection.)Then there’s the oversight committee’s Republican membership, which includes Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Jim Jordan of Ohio and Lauren Boebert of Colorado. Not exactly a Mount Rushmore of governmental statesmanship.Get out your tin-foil hats and, while you’re at it, your earplugs.It’s too bad, because Congress’s oversight role is a crucial one.What’s more, the way Twitter handled the New York Post story really was dubious, as Jack Dorsey, then the CEO, has acknowledged.The Murdoch-owned paper reported in the fall of 2020 that it had received a copy of a hard drive of a laptop that Hunter Biden had left many months before at a Delaware repair shop and never retrieved, and that it included emails that showed attempted influence peddling by then vice-president Joe Biden’s wayward son.For several days, Twitter blocked users from sharing links to the story.To be sure, skepticism and caution were in order. Was there reason to wonder whether such a laptop even belonged to Hunter Biden? Was there reason on Twitter’s part to fear that the whole thing was part of a Russian disinformation campaign and thus to be wary of spreading it weeks before a presidential election?Again, legitimate questions.“We want to make sure that our national security is not compromised” is Comer’s explanation for bringing the former Twitter executives in for a grilling. (They are the former chief legal officer, Vijaya Gadde, former deputy general counsel James Baker, and former global head of trust and safety Yoel Roth.)Dorsey himself later called his company’s decision to block the story without communicating the reasons “unacceptable”.Major news organizations, meanwhile – considering the dubious source and unable to verify the facts in real time – held the New York Post’s article at arm’s length, while not entirely ignoring it.One reason for caution: as the Washington Post wrote in an October 2020 analysis, the article repeated the debunked claim, spread by then president Trump, that Joe Biden, vice-president at the time of the alleged influence peddling, had pressured government officials in Ukraine into firing a prosecutor at his son’s behest.But the media’s hesitancy to play up the story brought howls of partisan censorship from the right – especially because the presidential election was right around the corner.Speaking to the National Press Club recently, committee chairman Comer talked a good game about how he wants to lead his committee with transparency and bipartisanship, hewing closely to the mission of rooting out government fraud and mismanagement. He unveiled a long list of targets to investigate, from prescription drug pricing to the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and of course, the inappropriate involvements of family members, which never seemed to trouble Republicans about the Trump clan.Comer claimed the high ground: “I want [it] to be a substantive committee.”I would love to believe that. But since what’s past is prologue, I will not be holding my breath.
      Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture
      TopicsRepublicansOpinionHunter BidenUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS politicscommentReuse this content More

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      Ex-Twitter execs to testify in Congress on handling of Hunter Biden laptop reporting

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      Ex-Twitter execs to testify in Congress on handling of Hunter Biden laptop reportingCompany temporarily restricted New York Post article in 2020 about contents of the abandoned computer of Joe Biden’s son Former senior staff at Twitter will testify on Wednesday before the House oversight committee about the social media platform’s handling of reporting on Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.The hearing has set the stage for the agenda of a newly Republican-controlled House, underscoring its intention to home in on longstanding and unsubstantiated allegations that big tech has an anti-conservative bias.Republican targeting Hunter Biden says: ‘I don’t target individuals’Read moreThe recently departed Twitter employees set to testify include Vijaya Gadde, the social network’s former chief legal officer, former deputy general counsel James Baker and former head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth.The hearing will center on a question that has long dogged Republicans – why Twitter decided to temporarily restrict the sharing of a story about Hunter Biden in the New York Post, released in October 2020. The Post said it had received a copy of a laptop hard drive from Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, that Hunter Biden had dropped off 18 months earlier at a Delaware computer repair shop and never retrieved. Twitter initially blocked people from sharing links to the article for several days, citing concerns over misinformation and spreading a report based on potentially hacked materials.“Americans deserve answers about this attack on the first amendment and why big tech and the Swamp colluded to censor this information about the Biden family selling access for profit,” said the Republican committee chairman James Comer. “Accountability is coming.”At the time, the article was greeted with skepticism due to questions about the laptop’s origins, including Giuliani’s involvement. Twitter initially said the article had been blocked in keeping with its “hacked materials” policy, which restricted the sharing of unlawfully accessed materials. While it explicitly allowed “reporting on a hack, or sharing press coverage of hacking”, it blocked stories that included “personal and private information – like email addresses and phone numbers”. The platform amended these rules following the Biden controversy.Months later, Twitter’s then CEO, Jack Dorsey, called the company’s communications around the Post article “not great”. He added that blocking the article’s URL with “zero context” around why it was blocked was “unacceptable”.Elon Musk, who purchased the company last year, has since shared a series of internal records showing how the company initially blocked the story from being shared, citing pressure from the Biden administration, among other factors. Republican theories that Democrats are colluding with big tech to suppress conservative speech have become a hot button issue in Washington, with Congress members using various tech hearings to grill executives. But experts say claims of anti-conservative bias have been disproven by independent researchers.“What we’ve seen time and again is that companies are deplatforming people who are spreading racism and conspiracy theories in violation of the company’s rule,” said Jessica J González, co-chief executive officer of the civil rights group Free Press.“The fact that those people are disproportionately Republicans has nothing to do with it,” she added. “This is about right or wrong, not left or right.”Musk’s decision to release information about the laptop story comes after he allowed the return of high-profile figures banned for spreading misinformation and engaging in hate speech, including the former president. The executive has shared and engaged with conspiracy theories on his personal account.The White House has sought to discredit the Republican investigation into Hunter Biden, calling them “divorced-from-reality political stunts”. Nonetheless, Republicans now hold subpoena power in the House, giving them the authority to compel testimony and conduct an aggressive investigation.Online advocacy groups and big tech watchdogs have said the focus on alleged anti-conservative bias from social media firms has served as a distraction from legitimate concerns, delaying the chance for useful legislation to address issues like misinformation, antitrust concerns and online hate speech.“The fact that this is the very first tech hearing of this Congress says something,” González said. “There are real problems facing people across the political spectrum because of big tech, and lack of regulation. But instead we are getting a big waste of time, and a political stunt. The focus of Congress ought to be serving the people who elected them to office.”The Associated Press contributed to this articleTopicsHouse of RepresentativesTwitterHunter BidenRepublicansUS CongressUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      ‘Hot air’: Marjorie Taylor Greene in State of the Union balloon stunt

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      ‘Hot air’: Marjorie Taylor Greene in State of the Union balloon stuntRepublican extremist appears to reference Chinese surveillance dirigible by parading halls of Congress with white balloon Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared to tee up a State of the Union stunt on Tuesday, patrolling the halls of Congress with a large white balloon in reference to Republican criticism of Joe Biden over his handling of a flight over US territory by a Chinese surveillance dirigible.Now the Chinese ‘spy balloon’ is down, the question is: what was it for?Read more“Just an innocent white balloon everybody,” the Georgia extremist said, hours before Biden’s address to Congress, attempting to keep aloft the balloon saga which ended when it was shot down off the Carolinas on Saturday.Greene did not discuss the Pentagon disclosure that three Chinese balloons passed over the US during the presidency of Donald Trump, only for the Trump administration to fail to spot them.Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters earlier improvements to surveillance under Biden “enhanced our capacity to be able to detect things that the Trump administration was unable to detect”.Greene’s promenade with a balloon prompted widespread criticism.Bonnie Watson Coleman, a New Jersey Democrat, said: “She has to do something with all that hot air.”But Greene is nothing if not a dedicated conspiracy theorist and controversialist. Elected in 2020, she was ejected from committees for threatening behaviour in 2021 but last month restored to key panels as an ally of Kevin McCarthy, the new Republican speaker.President Biden: “Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I’m not saying it’s the majority.”Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Liar!” pic.twitter.com/OFUglFuBxC— CSPAN (@cspan) February 8, 2023
      US officials have explained that Biden wanted to shoot the balloon down three days before it was eventually popped with a missile, but was persuaded not to order the operation while it was over land, and might cause injury or destruction on the ground when brought down.China claims the balloon was for civilian meteorological research. Its downing stoked a confrontation with Beijing, as Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, cancelled a trip for talks.McCarthy – who has recently praised Greene – reportedly told Republicans not to plan any stunts in response to Biden’s speech.Greene did not have her balloon with her in the chamber. But she did make her mark when Biden accused Republicans of threatening social security and Medicare.“Liar!” Greene was seen to shout.TopicsState of the Union addressJoe BidenBiden administrationUS politicsUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      Black lawmakers urge Biden to address police brutality in State of the Union speech – as it happened

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      The Congressional Black Caucus is pushing Joe Biden to address police brutality at his State of the Union address Tuesday night.Over a dozen members of the caucus are inviting as their guests families of Black Americans who have been killed by the police.Guests will include the mother of Eric Garner, brother of George Floyd, mother of Tamir Rice and father of Michael Brown – all high-profile cases of police killings over the last 10 years. Joe Biden invited the parents of Tyre Nichols to the address. They will be sitting with the White House’s special guests.More than a dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus will be bringing families of Black people killed by police to the State of the Union tonight in an effort to show the visual impact of police brutality and Congress’ inaction. pic.twitter.com/I8zixpucrl— Farnoush Amiri (@FarnoushAmiri) February 7, 2023
      Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democratic representative from New Jersey, made a pin for her and other Democrats to wear that say “1870”, referring to the year of the first known police killing of an unarmed Black man in the US.On the day of the #StateOfTheUnionAddress, my @TheBlackCaucus colleagues and I are calling for an end to the police brutality that disproportionately devastates Black and brown communities.We demand reform and accountability from those sworn to serve and protect. pic.twitter.com/nJEGb5sPiN— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) February 7, 2023
      Here’s a quick summary of what’s happened so far today.
      House speaker Kevin McCarthy implied that George Santos is under a House ethics committee investigation, but then he backtracked to clarify that the committee has received complaints. A group of Santos’ constituents travelled to DC to call for his resignation, and though Santos has stepped down from his committee assignments, he has so far insisted that he will not step down.
      Washington is prepping for tonight’s State of the Union address, a crucial speech for Joe Biden as the 2024 election starts to loom on the horizon. The White House released a guest list of attendees, who will likely get a shout out from Biden. Tyre Nichols’ family will be there, along with Ukraine’s ambassador to the US and Bono.
      The Congressional Black Caucus is putting pressure on Biden to make police brutality one of the key issues of his address. A slate of Congress members have invited the families of victims of police brutality to the address, including the families of George Floyd, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice.
      Republicans are already bracing for an attack on Biden and Democrats in response to the State of the Union address. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, once Trump’s press secretary and now governor of Arkansas, is set to deliver the Republican’s main rebuttal to the address. Her speech will preview what criticism Republicans will throw at Democrats in the 2024 election.
      We will be closing this blog now but will be back tonight for live coverage of the State of the Union address, which starts at 9 pm ET. Thanks for reading.Joe Biden is planning to propose a 3% tax on stock buybacks – when a company buys shares of its own stock on the open market – in his State of the Union address Tuesday nights, according to the Wall Street Journal.Democrats have been doubling down on calls for new taxes that target wealthy individuals and corporations. Stock buybacks benefit shareholders of a company as it reduces the number of shares on the market and increases the price of shares. Democrats included a 1% tax on stock buybacks as part of the Inflation Reduction Act over the summer. Now, Biden will propose tripling the tax. Democrats estimate the current stock buyback tax will raise $74bn over the next decade. Now that Republicans control the House, it is unclear if such a proposal can be passed.“Republicans in Congress aren’t serious about national debt. If they were, Speaker McCarthy would support making billionaires pay their fair share and increasing taxes on corporate stock buybacks,” Elizabeth Warren said in a tweet. “This plan would raise billions in much-needed revenue.”A bus of George Santos’ constituents arrived in Washington DC to demand his resignation. The group is also delivering a petition to McCarthy calling for Santos’ expulsion from Congress.Constituents of Congressman George Santos traveled to Capitol Hill to demand his resignation and deliver a petition to Speaker McCarthy calling for a vote to expel Santos from Congress pic.twitter.com/XrOcHGfO2k— Kate Santaliz (@kate_santaliz) February 7, 2023
      A rally outside of the Capitol saw speakers denouncing Santos for his various lies – which range from where he went to college to his places of employment. Speakers at the rally included other US representatives from New York. Santos’ district encompasses part of Westchester County and Long Island, close to New York City.Rep. Dan Goldman joins people who traveled from NY’s 3rd district at the House Triangle calling for a vote to expel Santos from Congress. The group will deliver to Santos’ office and other Republicans a petition signed by more than 1,000 constituents calling for his expulsion. pic.twitter.com/VvbBuaBL5g— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) February 7, 2023
      Representative Ritchie Torres called Santos “the greatest fiction writer in the history of Congress”.“It is obvious that Kevin McCarthy forced him out of his committees, and it’s time for McCarthy to force him out of the US Congress,” Torres said. “Every day he brings new embarrassment.”Among the many falsities that Santos has campaigned on, one includes telling voters that his mother was a survivor of 9/11 – a claim which proved to be false. One constituent, a Republican, said he recalls the approximately 60 funerals that occurred in Long Island’s Manhasset neighborhood after 9/11 in a span of two weeks.“That’s not funny. To say that your mother was a part of that, you have to be really psychologically impaired to throw that around like it’s nickels.”A Republican constituent of Santos recalls all of the funerals that occurred in Manhasset in the wake of 9/11, citing that lie as particularly egregious given the sensitivity to the tragedy in the district. #NY03 pic.twitter.com/wZ702na3xn— Eva McKend (@evamckend) February 7, 2023
      Seems like House speaker Kevin McCarthy is stepping back on him saying that Republican representative George Santos is under an ethics committee investigation. McCarthy apparently meant that there have been complaints to the ethics committee against him, not that an investigation is underway – yet.“There are questions. I expect them to get answered,” he told CNN when asked if he expects an investigation from the ethics committee.Earlier, McCarthy told reporters that “ethics is moving through, and if ethics finds something, we’ll take action.”MCCARTHY CLARIFIES — ethics is not investigating santos. There have been complaints.— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 7, 2023
      Signs that Florida governor Ron DeSantis is eyeing the White House in 2024 keeps adding up.Politico reported today that the Republican-controlled Florida legislature is holding a 12-day special session, seemingly to help sweep up some legal challenges DeSantis faced for issues that have gotten the governor a lot of attention, like formally giving DeSantis the authority to transport migrants (he sent 50 migrants from Texas to Massachusetts last year) and placing Disney’s special district under the control of governor appointees.“Presidential campaigns aside, I have every interest in helping the governor,” Tom Leek, a Republican state representative told Politico. “What the governor is doing is helping the people of Florida.”DeSantis’ autobiography is coming out at the end of this month, and he is expected to make appearances before Republican groups in Texas, California and Alabama – a schedule ripe for a campaign. Reports also say that respected Republicans are gathering up staff, supposedly for a super PAC that would support a DeSantis campaign.Of course if DeSantis decides to run for president, he will face Trump, who helped the governor raise his national profile. Trump has already said that if DeSantis decides to run “I consider that very disloyal”.The Congressional Black Caucus is pushing Joe Biden to address police brutality at his State of the Union address Tuesday night.Over a dozen members of the caucus are inviting as their guests families of Black Americans who have been killed by the police.Guests will include the mother of Eric Garner, brother of George Floyd, mother of Tamir Rice and father of Michael Brown – all high-profile cases of police killings over the last 10 years. Joe Biden invited the parents of Tyre Nichols to the address. They will be sitting with the White House’s special guests.More than a dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus will be bringing families of Black people killed by police to the State of the Union tonight in an effort to show the visual impact of police brutality and Congress’ inaction. pic.twitter.com/I8zixpucrl— Farnoush Amiri (@FarnoushAmiri) February 7, 2023
      Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democratic representative from New Jersey, made a pin for her and other Democrats to wear that say “1870”, referring to the year of the first known police killing of an unarmed Black man in the US.On the day of the #StateOfTheUnionAddress, my @TheBlackCaucus colleagues and I are calling for an end to the police brutality that disproportionately devastates Black and brown communities.We demand reform and accountability from those sworn to serve and protect. pic.twitter.com/nJEGb5sPiN— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) February 7, 2023
      House speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed that the chamber’s ethics committee is investigating Republican representative George Santos.“Ethics is moving through, and if ethics finds something, we’ll take action,” McCarthy told reporters. “Right now we’re not allowing him to be on committees from the standpoint of the questions that have arisen.”Santos told reporters that he is not concerned about the investigation and said that he will not let the “freedom of speech” of his constituents distract him from his work. A recent Siena College poll found that 78% of Santos’ constituents in New York’s 3rd Congressional district.“You’re saying that the freedom of speech of my constituents is a distraction to my work?” Santos said. “Do you think people are a distraction to the work I’m doing here?”Santos faces local, state, federal and international investigations over professional and personal behavior, including a largely made up resume he touted during his campaign. Last week, a former Santos aid accused Santos of sexual harassment.As State of the Union tradition goes, the president and vice president, along with their spouses, invite guests to attend the address, usually so they can receive some sort of shout out during the president’s speech.This year’s guests give insight into the topics Biden will likely delve into during his address. RowVaugh and Rodney wells, the mother and stepfather of Tyre Nichols, who was killed by Memphis police in January, will be present at the speech. Other guests include Brandon Tsay, the 26-year-old who disarmed the gunman who killed 11 people and injured 10 other in Monterey Park, California and Paul Pelos, husband of former House speaker Nancy Pelosi who was attacked by a home intruder in the fall.Amanda and Josh Zurawski, a couple from Austin, Texas, will be present at the speech and will likely be mentioned as Biden criticizes the overturning of Roe v Wade. Amanda Zurawski experienced severe pregnancy complications because doctors waited to perform an abortion on her, fearing that her life was technically not at risk.Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, will be present at the speech for the second year in a row. Singer Bono will also be with the group for his philanthropic work around HIV/Aids and poverty.Joe Biden will outline an optimistic vision for the future of America in his second State of the Union address on Tuesday, White House officials said, hoping to combat the widespread sense of pessimism that surveys and polls have captured across the country.As he marks the halfway point of his first term, Biden is expected to tout his legislative accomplishments from his first two years in office – including the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Chips Act.“This president is focused on delivering results for the American people, and we’ve seen him do that over and over and over again,” Kate Bedingfield, White House communications director, said. “We look forward to continuing to talk to the American people about the work that we are doing and the results that we’re delivering.”But polls show most Americans have not yet felt the impact of Biden’s policies in their everyday lives, particularly when it comes to their personal finances. Although inflation has started to cool after peaking at an alarming rate of 9.1% last summer, only 21% of Americans rate current economic conditions as positive, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.Even the jobs market, which has been a bright spot for the US economy in recent months, does not inspire much confidence among the American public. The country’s unemployment rate hit a 53-year low of 3.4% last month, but just 34% of Americans say Biden has made progress on creating more good jobs for their communities, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll found.Brian Deese, the outgoing director of the National Economic Council, said Biden would acknowledge these ongoing challenges in his State of the Union speech.“The core message is: we have to make more progress, but people should feel optimism that because of what we have seen and because of the progress that we’ve made, that we know how to keep making progress going forward,” Deese said Monday.Biden to outline optimistic vision for US’s future in State of Union addressRead moreSarah Huckabee Sanders is set to deliver the Republican’s rebuttal to the State of the Union address, a heavy handed endorsement from the Republican party of a Trump ally and one of the most successful people who came out of his administration.Sanders won the governorship in Arkansas, a post held by her father Mike Huckabee from 1996 to 2007, last year. She is the first woman elected to the state’s gubernatorial office.She was Trump’s press secretary from 2017 to 2019 and was one of his key vocal defenders during his presidency. During her campaign, Sanders took on much of Trump’s talking points, taking hits on critical race theory and national news outlets.While she has declined to outright endorse Trump’s 2024 campaign bid – many Republicans have been mum on endorsements as they consider their own bid – she told Fox News in January that “our country would infinitely be better off if he was in office right now instead of Joe Biden”.The rebuttal speech is seen as a key stepping stone for those who have national political ambitions, particularly this year’s speech as the 2024 election looms on the horizon. House speaker Kevin McCarthy praised Sanders, saying that she is “fighting on behalf of parents, small business and ordinary taxpayers.”“I’m thrilled Sarah will share her extraordinary story and bold vision for a better America on Tuesday. Everyone, including President Biden, should listen carefully,” McCarthy added.Sanders said in a statement that she is looking forward to her opportunity “to address the nation and contrast the GOP’s optimistic vision for the future against the failures of President Biden and the Democrats”.Sanders’ speech will take place at the conclusion of Biden’s 9 pm State of the Union address tonight.How Republicans are responding to the State of the Union address will offer a preview into what message the party will sell to voters in the 2024 presidential election. Republicans are already making media appearances on their chosen conservative news networks.House Republicans have a media row set up ahead of the State of the Union today, with outlets including Breitbart, Newsmax, Epoch Times, NTD, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Daily Signal, OAN. In a bit of irony, it’s set up in the newly-named Pelosi Caucus Room— Emily Brooks (@emilybrooksnews) February 7, 2023
      Elise Stefanik, House Republican Conference chair and rising GOP star from New York state whose staunch defense of Donald Trump helped her get a House seat, set up over 300 House Republican interviews with local media outlets, according to this morning’s Politico Playbook.On Sunday, Stefanik praised the upcoming appearances of Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and House Republican Juan Ciscomani as rebuttal Republican speakers, saying that “the Republican Party embodies the American dream”.On Tuesday, the first female Governor in Arkansas history and youngest Governor in America will deliver the Republican response, and a first-generation Hispanic American Republican will deliver the Spanish language response.The Republican Party embodies the American dream.— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) February 5, 2023
      It’s been less than a year since Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address on March 2 of last year, but a lot has changed over the last year. Top of mind for many Americans has been the economy, with inflation rising to decades-high level over the summer. Republicans gained a slim majority in the House during the midterm election. One thing has not changed: The war in Ukraine is still rattling on.In last year’s 62-minute speech, Congress was largely unified in support of Ukraine, with the invasion having taken place just a week prior. Both Democrats and Republicans were wearing yellow and blue in solidarity with Ukraine, and some held small Ukrainian flags.This year, First Lady Jill Biden has invited Ukraine’s ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova to be her guest to the address for the second year. Markarova received a standing ovation when she was introduced during Biden’s speech last year.Biden is expected to ask for bipartisan support in sending more aid to Ukraine as the anniversary of the invasion approaches. Yesterday, NBC News reported that Biden is expected to travel to Poland later this month for the anniversary, though the trip has not been confirmed.State of the Union addresses are usually a pretty big deal – it’s a major opportunity for the president to set the tone for the year in front of the most important people in Washington. This year, the stakes for Joe Biden are even higher. The 2024 presidential election is already looming on the horizon, and while Biden has yet to officially launch a reelection campaign, he is expected to do so in the next few weeks.Biden has been prepping for his speech for weeks and is expected to lay out an underlying theme of unity, angling for stable leadership over one drenched in partisan disarray. He is expected to speak at length about the achievements of the last two years, including the passage of the $1.2tn Bipartisan Infrastructure bill that was passed in 2021 and invests in repairing America’s roads and bridges, among other investments. He will also touch on recent good news around the economy, including a low unemployment rate and the decreasing inflation rate.Republicans are already readying up their punches in response to tonight’s address as the party tries to make their own case to Americans that Democrats have failed while in power.“The state of the union is weaker and American families are suffering because of Joe Biden,” Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement this morning. “There is a reason Republicans took back the House, and that’s because of speeches like tonight where Biden will ignore and deflect blame for inflation, rising crime, and a border crisis he created. Americans deserve solutions, but all they’ll hear from Biden are excuses.”Good morning, and welcome to the politics live blog.Washington is gearing up for Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, what many are seeing as a “soft launch” to a likely 2024 re-election campaign. The president will touch on the economy, touting the economic measures that have been passed under his tenure so far, especially the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill and Inflation Reduction Act. He will also likely point to recent job figures and declining inflation as signs that the economy is heading in a good direction.The speech comes at a pivotal moment for Biden as the 2024 presidential election, while nearly two years away, is starting to roll in. This is the first year in Biden’s tenure that he will be addressing a divided Congress, with a Republican-controlled House. Republicans are starting to zero in on attacks against Biden, whose approval ratingshave been fluctuating just above 40% in the last few months. The address gives Biden an opportunity not only to set the tone for the year ahead, but to try to reframe how voters see his presidency so far.Here’s what else we’re watching today:
      Republicans are gearing up for a widespread rebuttal of tonight’s address – as the party not in power always does. Arkansas governor and former Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is poised to give a key speech tonight in response to Biden’s address.
      Revelations on the failure of US air defenses to spot the Chinese air balloon were revealed yesterday. Republicans have been doubling down on criticism toward Biden over the mishandling, though reports show the balloon was in the air during Donald Trump’s presidency too.
      Stay tuned for more live updates. More

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      Texas lawyer shot by Dick Cheney on 2006 hunting trip dies aged 95

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      Texas lawyer shot by Dick Cheney on 2006 hunting trip dies aged 95Harry Whittington spent week in intensive care after being inadvertently shot by then vice-president on quail-hunting trip A Texas attorney who was inadvertently shot by US vice-president Dick Cheney during a 2006 hunting trip – and then apologized to him for the attention the accident drew – has died.Harry Whittington was 95.George Santos accused of sexual harassment by congressional aideRead moreWhittington died on Saturday morning after a short illness, the Texas Tribune reported.Whittington was known in his state as an avid supporter of the Republican party, helping build the state’s GOP on a national level, the Associated Press reported. Whittington also worked for George W Bush and George HW Bush during their years in Texas politics before both men became US president.Whittington made international headlines after Cheney, George W Bush’s vice-president, shot him while quail hunting. Whittington, Cheney and others were hunting on the sprawling 50,000-acre Armstrong ranch after sunset.Cheney had aimed at a bird but mistakenly hit Whittington in the face, neck and body.Whittington was rushed to the hospital with several birdshot wounds after the shooting, which was deemed an accident. He suffered a collapsed lung as well as a mild heart attack due to a piece of birdshot near his heart, and he spent a week recovering in an intensive care unit, the Tribune reported.The accident did not go public until 14 hours after it occurred. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times broke the story after the ranch owner called the newspaper. The White House later confirmed the shooting.Whittington was largely blamed for the accident. A White House spokesperson said that Whittington had stepped into Cheney’s line of fire.The host of the hunting group, Katharine Armstrong, noted that Whittington did not make his presence known when he approached a group of hunters after shooting a quail.Whittington later apologized to Cheney and his family for having been shot. His apology said: “My family and I are deeply sorry for all that vice-president Cheney and his family have had to go through this past week.”Whittington spoke publicly about the shooting years after it happened. He discussed the shooting and its portrayal in the movie Vice, about Cheney’s role in the Bush administration, in a 2018 Austin American-Statesman interview.“The script doesn’t attempt to discuss how it happened other than a picture of [Cheney] having a gun,” Whittington said, emphasizing that the shooting was an accident.“Quail hunting is a fast-moving procedure. The birds fly and you swing on them and shoot the best you can. I had been hunting for 50 years before this accident. I wasn’t exactly an inexperienced hunter, and I’d never seen an accident.”TopicsUS politicsDick CheneyTexasRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      Biden prepares for State of the Union as US collects Chinese balloon debris – as it happened

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      The White House press briefing has concluded, which brings us to the close of the politics liveblog. We’ll be back tomorrow morning with the latest ahead of the president’s State of the Union address. Here’s a look back at what happened today.
      White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended the president’s decision to shoot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, which Republicans say should have happened immediately after the orb was discovered in US airspace and Beijing has called an overreaction. “What China did was unacceptable. We protected civilians and we gained more intel while protecting our own sensitive information.”
      Previewing Biden’s speech tomorrow, Jean-Pierre said Biden has been “heavily engaged” in the writing process. He spent the weekend huddled with advisors and speechwriters fine-tuning the remarks, which she said he saw as an important opportunity to speak directly with the American people about his agenda. “There’ll be no question that this is a Joe Biden State of the Union speech,” she said.
      She also reiterated that the Biden administration was willing to brief former Trump officials on intelligence discovered after they left office that China had sent at least three spy balloons into US airspace when they were in charge.
      Brian Deese, the outgoing director of the National Economic Council, said the president intended to outline his economic agenda to the American people – touting his accomplishments while also making the case that more work needed to be done. He said the president would directly address the standoff with Republicans over raising the federal debt-limit. Echoing the president, Deese said the state of the US economy was “strong.”
      The US is sending assistance to Turkey and Syria, including personnel to help with the search and rescue mission, after a devastating earthquake left thousands dead. The White House said Biden would speak directly to the president of Turkey on Monday.
      Biden is en route back to the White House, after a delay that Jean-Pierre suggested was due to State of the Union prep.
      Jean-Pierre indicated that the president would address the US’s relationship with China in his address tomorrow, noting that foreign policy is always an important part of the speech, but she would not give specifics.She said the US will keep “open lines of communication” with China. Asked how damaging the incident was to the US-China relationship, Jean-Pierre said it was “up to China to figure out what kind of relationship they want”.She also said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken would reschedule his planned visit to China, which was scrapped after the country’s balloon intruded into US airspace.“When the time permits, we’ll see that trip back on the books,” she said.She also defended the president’s decision to shoot down the balloon amid Republican criticism that he waited too long to take action: “What China did was unacceptable. We protected civilians and we got to gain more intel while protecting our own sensitive information.”Back at the White House, Deese has left the briefing room and Jean-Pierre is taking over.The first question was about Biden’s delayed returned from Camp David. He was due to return to the White House at midday but has not arrived yet. Jean-Pierre said she had no updated ETA for the president, but suggested he was hunkered down working on Tuesday’s address.Next she was asked about the aforementioned polling that suggests Democrats – and Americans broadly – are not eager from him to run again in 2024. Jean-Pierre, barred by the Hatch Act from discussing certain political activities, said she believes the midterms validated Biden’s vision for the country and repeated the president’s retort to naysayers: “watch me”.Meanwhile at the state department, spokesperson Ned Price has been talking about the Chinese balloon affair. He noted that the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, had warned his counterpart, Wang Yi, on Friday that the US would take “appropriate actions to protect our interests”.“It should not have come as a complete surprise” to Beijing when the balloon was shot down the following day, Price said. If it had been a US airship over China, “you can only imagine the response from Beijing”, he added.Price said that the US and allies were reviewing the extent of the military threat from high-altitude balloon at the edge of the atmosphere, especially in light of the revelation that there had been several previous incursions by Chinese balloons which were not spotted at the time.“We’re discussing this with our allies and partners, we’re comparing notes about what has happened to us in recent days, what has happened to us within recent years as well,” Price said. “We want to learn as much as we can about, not only what’s happened recently, but in recent years, and we’re going to take steps to protect our interests as appropriate.”Previewing more of Biden’s remarks in his state of the union address on Tuesday, Deese said Biden will speak about his values and principles for Social Security and Medicare. The White House has assailed Republicans who have proposed – or failed to rule out – cuts to the programs.He said many of the specific policy proposals would be contained in the White House’s 2024 budget request to Congress.At the briefing, Deese repeated Biden’s assessment from last week: “I will just say what [Biden] said on Friday, which is that ‘the state of the economy is strong.’”But he was pressed on the disconnect between Americans’ pessimism about their financial circumstances and the administration’s assessment that the economy is improving. “Is there a perception gap on inflation here,” one reporter asked Deese.He said there wasn’t, and said lowering inflation and bringing down every day costs were the president’s top priority. He added that American’s fears about the economy were understandable given the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.This has been a very challenging period,” he said. “Even as personal household circumstances for the majority of people have improved, the economic anxiety is real.”Reporters are now hearing from Brian Deese, the outgoing director of the National Economic Council, who is touting the economic progress made over the past two years.He emphasized that there is still “more work to do” but pointed to indicators – like easing inflation and gas prices – as signs that the administration’s policies were working.“I think the core message is we have to make more progress but people should feel optimism that because of what have seen, because of the progress that we have made, we know how to make progress going forward,” he said.He added that as part of that mission, Congress will need to keep lowering everyday costs for Americans, through initiatives that would bring down prescription drug prices and the cost of childcare and eldercare.On the debt limit, Deese said Biden would make the explicit case in his State of the Union address that the “full faith and credit of the United States … isn’t something that anybody should use as a bargaining chip”“The economic consequences of even questioning that bedrock principle can be quite severe – so you’ll hear that clearly from the president,” he continued, adding that Biden would demonstrate an “openness” and an “eagerness” to discuss with Republicans “the fiscal and economic priorities of the country, and where we can find common ground”.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre begins the briefing by extending condolences to Turkey and Syria after a once-in-a-century earthquake left at least 2,300 people dead and cities devastated.She said US is in the process of sending additional personnel to support the Turkish search and rescue effort as well to assist in Syria. She said Biden would speak shortly with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.Since the midterms, Democrats have largely rallied around Biden as their inevitable standard-bearer in 2024. But concerns remain about the president’s age and his hardiness for political battle, possibly in a re-match against Donald Trump or against a younger, rising Republican star.To that end, new polling showing Trump leading Biden by three percentage points in a hypothetical 2024 matchup has rattled some Democrats.Julián Castro, the former Secretary of Health and Human Services under Barack Obama who challenged Biden for the party’s nomination in 2020, called the poll “worrisome” in a tweet.It’s the general consensus that Dems are content with Biden in a Trump rematch. But this poll undermines Biden’s central argument for re-nomination. Two years is forever and it’s just one poll, but if he’s faring this poorly after a string of wins, that should be worrisome. https://t.co/n57XDeGtIe— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) February 6, 2023
      Trump’s lead is within the margin of error, and two years is a lifetime in presidential politics, as Castro notes. But it was enough to prompt a prominent Democrat to reopen publicly the debate over whether Biden is the party’s best chance at winning the White House in two years.New York representative George Santos has invited a former firefighter who was on the ground in NYC during 9/11 to tomorrow’s State of the Union, despite Santos’ own false claims about having family who died during to 9/11.Santos has invited Michael Weinstock, a Democrat who once ran in Santos’ district and former volunteer, to attend the address.Weinstock told the New York Times that he hopes to raise awareness about health conditions still facing 9/11 rescue workers.“I’m cautiously optimistic that I’ll be able to stay focused enough on the issue of 9/11 responders receiving the health care that they need without being sullied by George Santos,” said Weinstock to the Times.Santos is under investigation for several lies told during his campaign, including his claim that his mother died during 9/11.It was later discovered that Santos’ mother passed in 2016, more than 10 years after the terrorist attack.Read the full article here (paywall).Senior US officials said today that that the Biden administration is working to collect the debris of the Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot over the Atlantic Ocean.General Glen David VanHerck of the United States Northern Command said that Navy ships are working to collect debris from the surveillance balloon and mapping out the ocean’s surface, reported ABC News.NEW on Chinese balloon recovery: Gen. VanHerck of NORTHCOM says Navy ships are now collecting debris and mapping the ocean’s surface — they expect the debris field is around 1,500 square meters. EOD are out in a RHIB boat to pilot unmanned subs to scan for hazardous debris.— Matt Seyler (@MattSeyler) February 6, 2023
      VanHerck called the lack of early detection on the balloon an “awareness gap,” reported Politico.Just in: NORTHCOM commander, on the previous incidents of Chinese spy balloons overflying the US, says: “We did not detect those threats and that’s a domain awareness gap.”— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) February 6, 2023
      The intel community, after the fact, assessed those threats through “additional means of collection,” he said.— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) February 6, 2023
      Joe Biden returns to the White House today from a weekend trip to Camp David, ahead of the State of the Union address tomorrow night. At 2.15pm today, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is due to brief the media in the west wing. It’s been a fairly tranquil start to the day in US politics news but stick with us for developments as they happen.Here’s where things stand:
      Former vice president Mike Pence postponed a visit to the key primary state of South Carolina today after his daughter went into labor in California. Speculation is rising that Pence, who’s essentially fallen out with Donald Trump, will run for the presidency in the 2024 election.
      Federal investigators from the FBI are preparing to search Pence’s Indiana home, looking for additional classified materials, within the coming days, a fresh report today said, seeming to confirm last week’s initial report on this.
      There’s a decline in the percentage of Americans who think the state of the USA is “strong,” according to the latest opinion poll, which shows predictable partisan splits.
      Joe Biden is preparing to deliver his second state of the union address tomorrow evening, ready to tout his administration’s achievements so far and the relatively good state of the US economy right now, despite the event being clouded by rows over the Chinese spy balloon and the gaping hole in Biden’s legislative achievements on policing reform, especially embarrassing following the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis last month after a brutal beating by police. More