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      Can Republicans come back from the extreme in 2023? Politics Weekly America podcast

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      As 2022 draws to a close, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Simon Rosenberg and Sarah Longwell about their predictions for how US politics will shake out in 2023. Can the Democrats capitalise on a weary electorate, can the Republicans finally get rid of the spectre of Donald Trump, and who will announce their intention to run in 2024?

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      The Guardian and Observer charity appeal for 2022 is the cost of living crisis, and you can donate here Send your questions and feedback to podcasts@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/supportpodcasts More

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      Senate passes $858bn defense bill that rescinds army Covid vaccine mandate

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      Senate passes $858bn defense bill that rescinds army Covid vaccine mandateDemocrats agreed to Republican demands to scrap vaccination requirement for service members to win support for the bill A bill to rescind the Covid-19 vaccine mandate for members of the US military and provide nearly $858bn for national defense passed the Senate on Thursday and now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.The bill provides for about $45bn more for defense programs than Biden requested and roughly 10% more than last year’s bill as lawmakers look to account for inflation and boost the nation’s military competitiveness with China and Russia. It includes a 4.6% pay raise for servicemembers and the defense department’s civilian workforce.Petraeus: US would destroy Russia’s troops if Putin uses nuclear weapons in UkraineRead moreThe Senate passed the defense policy bill by a vote of 83-11. The measure also received broad bipartisan support in the House last week.To win GOP support for the 4,408-page bill, Democrats agreed to Republican demands to scrap the requirement for service members to get a Covid-19 vaccination. The bill directs Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to rescind his August 2021 memorandum imposing the mandate.Before approving the measure, the Senate voted down a couple of efforts to amend it, including a proposal from West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, to speed the permitting process for energy projects. The effort had drawn fierce opposition from some environmental advocacy groups who worried it would accelerate fossil fuel projects such as gas pipelines and limit the public’s input on such projects.Manchin, who chairs the Senate energy committee, secured a commitment from Biden and Democratic leaders last summer to support the permitting package in return for his support of a landmark law to curb climate change.Machin’s legislation sets deadlines for completion of National Environmental Policy Act reviews for major energy and natural resource projects. It would require courts to consider litigation involving energy project permits on an expedited basis. It also directs federal agencies to permit the completion of a natural gas pipeline in his home state and Virginia “without further administrative or judicial delay or impediment”.“We’re on the verge of doing something unbelievable, but let me tell you, most of it will be for naught. Because without permitting reform, the United States of America is more litigious than any nation on earth,” Manchin told colleagues.Biden voiced his support for Manchin’s legislation a few hours before Thursday’s vote. He said far too many projects face delays and described Manchin’s amendment “as a way to cut Americans’ energy bills, promote US energy security and boost our ability to get energy projects built and connected to the grid”.Not only did some environmental advocacy groups bash Manchin’s proposal, but so did many Republicans. Minority leader Mitch McConnell said it didn’t go far enough, calling it “reform in name only”.The amendment fell short of the 60 votes needed for passage, 47-47.An amendment from senators Ron Johnson and Ted Cruz, also went down to defeat. It would have allowed for the reinstatement of those service members discharged for failing to obey an order to receive the Covid-19 vaccine and compensate them for any pay and benefits lost as a result of the separation.“People serving our military are the finest among us. Over 8,000 were terminated because they refused to get this experimental vaccine, and so I’m urging all of my colleagues to support Senator Cruz’s and my amendment,” Johnson said.But opponents worried about the precedent of rewarding members of the military who disobeyed an order. Rhode Island senator Jack Reed, the Democratic chairman of the Senate armed services committee, said orders are not suggestions, they are commands.“What message do we send if we pass this bill? It is a very dangerous one,” Reed said. “What we’re telling soldiers is, ‘if you disagree, don’t follow the order, and then just lobby Congress, and they’ll come along and they’ll restore your rank, or restore your benefits, or restore everything.’”The amendment failed, with 40 senators supporting it and 54 opposing it.The defense bill sets policy and provides a roadmap for future investments. Lawmakers will have to follow up with spending bills to bring many provisions to reality. It’s one of the final bills Congress is expected to approve before adjourning, so lawmakers were eager to attach their top priorities to it.The directive to rescind the vaccine mandate for service members proved to be among the most controversial provisions, but Democrats agreed to it to allow the bill to advance.As of early this month, about 99% of the active-duty troops in the navy, air force and marine corps had been vaccinated, and 98% of the army. Service members who are not vaccinated are not allowed to deploy, particularly sailors or marines on ships. There may be a few exceptions to that, based on religious or other exemptions and the duties of the service member.The vaccination numbers for the guard and reserve are lower, but generally all are more than 90%.TopicsUS politicsUS national securityJoe BidenDemocratsRepublicansReuse this content More

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      Nancy Pelosi tells of ‘proud’ record as speaker in likely final press conference – as it happened

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      Nancy Pelosi has given what she suggests will be her final press conference as House speaker, telling reporters this is “maybe the last time I see you in this way”.She’s been reflecting on some of the successes of her tenure, and paying tribute to Joe Biden and Barack Obama for most of them, from the passing of the Affordable Care Act to this week’s signing of the same-sex Respect for Marriage Act.Pelosi said she was “proud” to have her signature below Biden’s on that law:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}He has been a remarkable president. He has a record that is so outstanding, and for such a short period of time as well.
      People compare him to Lyndon Johnson, to Franklin Roosevelt, but I’d remind you all that Roosevelt had 319 Democrats in the House, President Biden 222, whatever it is, and even fewer now.She went on to list many of the items of legislation she was most proud of, under Biden’s leadership:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Passing the American rescue plan, getting vaccines at arms, money in pockets, children back to school and people safely back to work, the bipartisan infrastructure law, building roads, bridges, ports and water systems…
      Bringing people together, not projects that divide communities but bringing people together, and this such a source of pride, putting justice and equity front and center.Of her regrets, the inability to pass comprehensive gun reform saddened her, she said. Speaking one day after the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting that killed 20 elementary school children and six adults, she said:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}We won’t relent until the job is done, until we can have background checks, and have banned assault weapons.Pelosi doesn’t leave office until early next month, and didn’t rule out speaking with the media again, particularly if there’s a resolution to threat of a government shutdown. The speaker says she’s optimistic that a “bipartisan, bicameral” omnibus spending deal will pass next week to keep the government funded for a year.We’re closing our politics blog now. Thanks for joining us. So far there’s no sign of a deal in the Senate over a stopgap funding agreement that would keep the government running. The House passed the measure last night.Here’s what we’ve been following:
      Nancy Pelosi praised Joe Biden and Barack Obama as she reflected on their legislative accomplishments during her time a House speaker. Pelosi, who steps down next month, gave what could be her last press conference in the job.
      Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis indicated he was ready to sign the nation’s most restrictive abortion law, a Texas-style “heartbeat ban” that outlaws the procedure as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.
      The House voted 233-191 to allow Puerto Rico to hold a vote on becoming the 51st state, a largely symbolic measure because the Puerto Rico Status Act is unlikely to get a hearing in the Senate.
      Joe Biden said he’ll be heading to sub-Saharan Africa soon. He was speaking at the conclusion of a summit with African leaders in which he pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure, technology and free elections.
      First lady Jill Biden says she’s “all in” on her husband running again for the presidency in 2024, according to a report from CNN that says her position is a “tidal shift” from her reluctant feelings of just three months ago.
      Two conspirators convicted of terrorism last month in a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer were sentenced to prison sentences of 12 and 10 years respectively. A third convict is yet to be sentenced.
      The state department has announced a new round of sanctions against a number of Russian oligarchs, government officials and their families for enabling president Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
      An extreme “heartbeat” abortion ban looks to be coming to Florida after Republican governor Ron DeSantis announced his willingness Thursday to sign such a law.“I’m willing to sign great life legislation. That’s what I’ve always said I would do,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Fort Lauderdale, reported by the Florida Phoenix.A heartbeat ban outlaws an abortion once the presence of a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.A version of the law, the nation’s most restrictive abortion legislation, took effect in Texas in 2021 after the Supreme Court, which had yet to overturn federal abortion protections, declined to block it.Rightwinger DeSantis is seen as a likely contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, and leads in several recent polls of party members.Despite passing a raft of culture war legislation during his first term of office, including a 15-week abortion ban, DeSantis largely avoided the issue during campaigning ahead of his landslide reelection as Florida’s governor last month.The Republican supermajority in the Florida legislature means Democrats would be unable to block any new abortion law.Free-spirited Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema raised eyebrows last week when she announced she was leaving the Democratic party to sit as an independent. Now, it seems, she’s also become an independent trader.An extraordinary article published Thursday by Slate outs the enigmatic Sinema as a prolific seller of goods, especially shoes and clothes, on Facebook Marketplace, enough to rise to the level of a “side hustle”, the magazine says.Reporter Christina Cauterucci said she exchanged Facebook messages with the politician over the potential purchase of a pair of worn-only-once Badgley Mischka heels ($65, “in perfect condition”).Digging deeper, she found also for sale: a $215 cycling ensemble, a $25 trucker hat, and a $150 stainless steel watch with a silicone strap. Within the past six weeks, Cauterucci says, Sinema has “offloaded” a $150 fitness tracker ring, an $80 cycling jersey, and a $500 bicycle travel case. Longer ago, there were listings on Facebook for “several dozen personal items”, including a $100 pair of sunglasses (“Just too big for my tiny head!!”), two $50 puffer jackets, three $75 pairs of high-heeled boots, a $75 cycling bib, a $60 Lululemon raincoat, several mesh tanks at $55 a pop ($20 off the current retail price), and multiple bikinis, priced between $60 and $70, that ranged from “never worn” to “in great condition”.Slate is cautious and won’t state outright that it’s definitely Sinema who’s been selling off her worldly goods. “Would a sitting senator respond within seconds on a weekday morning to a message about her used heels?” Cauterucci wonders.“Would it be worth her time to photograph a pair of old shoes, write a sales listing, field inquiries from potential buyers, and arrange pickup logistics – all for just $65?”But as if to answer its own questions, Slate points out that it’s Sinema’s name on the Facebook Marketplace listing, it’s her in the profile photo, the seller’s biography says she lives in Phoenix, and she shares one mutual Facebook friend with the reporter who works for the Democratic party.The clincher, perhaps: The 4.5in, rhinestone-studded stilettoes “look as if they would fit pretty well in Sinema’s wardrobe”.It’s possible we’ll never know. According to Slate, Sinema’s staff would not confirm or deny the Facebook Marketplace account was hers, and did not respond to fact-checking queries.Here’s a video clip from Nancy Pelosi’s final press conference, definitely, maybe, as House speaker.Addressing the media on Thursday morning, Pelosi looked back on some of the main policy accomplishments that took place under her tenure, and praised presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden for getting them done.01:00“This may be the last time I see you in this way,” Pelosi said.She said she was particularly proud of the passage of the Affordable Care Act under Obama, which she said brought healthcare to tens of millions previously denied, and this week’s signing of the same-sex Respect for Marriage Act.Pelosi, a Democrat from California, became speaker in 2007. She will retire next month.Kevin McCarthy’s travails as he seeks to become House speaker when Republicans take over the majority in January are well documented, no more so than in this latest take by Politico.The California congressman has been scrambling to attract the 218 votes he needs to take the gavel, and making some pretty unsavory promises to rightwing extremists in his party to get there, if accounts are to be believed.Politico drills down on the fragile political game behind McCarthy’s maneuvering, the pledges he has had to make, and particularly something called the “motion to vacate the chair”, a potentially hazardous procedure in which any House member would be able to force a vote on deposing a sitting speaker.There’s horse trading going on between the pro and anti-McCarthy camps among House Republicans over setting a threshold of votes that would be needed for such a motion in exchange for support.One of McCarthy’s fears is that Democrats could use a motion to vacate in retaliation for his threats to remove prominent opposition congress members Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar from committees.Politico likens the haggling to an episode of the TV gameshow The Price is Right. You can read their report here.In what was largely a symbolic gesture, the House has voted to allow Puerto Rico to decide whether it wants to pursue becoming the 51st state.The Puerto Rico Status Act passed 233-191 in the chamber, requiring the US territory to hold a vote of its residents on three options, statehood, independence or sovereignty in free association with the US.But with little to no time left on the Senate calendar, the measure, hailed by outgoing Democratic House majority leader Steny Hoyer, is unlikely to be heard there, sounding its death knell in this current Congress at least.Statehood for Puerto Rico was supported by the Biden administration. 16 Republicans voted for the bill in a free vote.A joint statement from bipartisan negotiators of the act said: “Many of us disagree on what that future should look like, but we all accept that the decision must belong to the people of Puerto Rico and to them alone. The Puerto Rico Status Act will grant them that choice.”Read more:Statehood or independence? Puerto Rico’s status at forefront of political debateRead moreCharlie Baker, the Republican governor of Massachusetts who will soon step down after choosing not to run for a third term – or for president or any other office as a GOP candidate despite (or perhaps because of) leading a Democratic-dominated state for so long – will be the next president of the NCAA, the largest governing body in US college sports.“The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges but I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many students is more than worth the challenge,” Baker said on Thursday, about the job he will start in March, replacing Mark Emmert.“And for the fans that faithfully fill stadiums, stands and gyms from coast to coast, I am eager to ensure the competitions we all love to follow are there for generations to come.”As the Associated Press has it, the NCAA has recently been “battered by losses in court and attacks by politicians” and is “going through a sweeping reform, trying to decentralize the way college sports is run”.“College sports leaders, including Emmert, have repeatedly asked for help from Congress to regulate name, image and likeness compensation since the NCAA lifted its ban in 2021 on athletes being paid endorsers. Now the association will be led by a politician for the first time.”Baker, the AP says, “graduated from Harvard, where he played on the junior varsity basketball team. That’s the extent of his personal experience in college sports”.Linda Livingstone, president of Baylor in Texas and chair of the NCAA board, said Baker had “shown a remarkable ability to bridge divides and build bipartisan consensus, taking on complex challenges in innovative and effective ways. These skills and perspective will be invaluable as we work with policymakers to build a sustainable model for the future of college athletics.”Futher reading:Andrew Cooper, from college star to activist: ‘The NCAA does not exist to protect athletes’ Read moreIn something close to a policy announcement – a scarce feature of a 2024 presidential run that has so far featured little of anything, particularly polling success – Donald Trump has promised to stop government “impeding the lawful speech of American citizens”, should he retake the White House. In a video shared with the New York Post (a Murdoch-owned tabloid though not the source of support it used to be), the former president said: “I will sign an executive order banning any federal department or agency from colluding with any organization, business or person to censor, limit, categorize or impede the lawful speech of American citizens. I will then ban federal money from being used to label domestic speech as mis- or disinformation.”As the Post put it: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The 76-year-old Trump made the pledge as part of a broader ‘free speech’ platform … vowing also to impose a seven-year ban on former FBI and CIA workers handling private-sector US consumer records.Trump said he would fire bureaucrats deemed to have engaged in censorship, “directly or indirectly, whether they are the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, the DOJ, no matter who they are”.He also said: “If any US university is discovered to have engaged in censorship activities or election interferences in the past, such as flagging social media content for removal of blacklisting, those universities should lose federal research dollars and federal student loan support for a period of five years, and maybe more.”Free speech, or a particular rightwing version of it, is of course the much-discussed topic of the day at Twitter, where the site’s new owner, Elon Musk, is dedicated to the concept to the extent of reinstating Trump’s account – though Trump has not yet returned to tweeting.TechScape: I read Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ so you don’t have toRead moreTrump, the Post reports, thinks this month’s ‘Twitter Files’ releases have “confirmed that a sinister group of Deep State bureaucrats, Silicon Valley tyrants, leftwing activists, and depraved corporate news media have been conspiring to manipulate and silence the American People.”“The censorship cartel must be dismantled and destroyed – and it must happen immediately.”Meanwhile:‘Losing the plot’: Trump mocked after announcing superhero card collectionRead moreWe’ve reached lunchtime on a busy day in US politics, which includes ongoing discussions in the Senate on approving a short-term funding measure to keep the government open for at least another week.We’re hoping to learn more this afternoon.Also happening today:
      Nancy Pelosi has been speaking of her “pride” in a number of legislative achievements during what could be her final press conference as House speaker. She paid tribute to Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
      Biden says he’ll be heading to sub-Saharan Africa soon on the first visit there of his presidency. He was speaking at the conclusion of a summit with African leaders in which he pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure, technology and free elections.
      Two conspirators convicted of terrorism last month in a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer were sentenced to prison sentences of 12 and 10 years respectively. A third convict is yet to be sentenced.
      First lady Jill Biden says she’s “all in” on her husband running again for the presidency in 2024, according to a report from CNN that says her position is a “tidal shift” from her reluctant feelings of just three months ago.
      The state department has announced a new round of sanctions against a number of Russian oligarchs, government officials and their families for enabling president Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
      Joe Biden will soon visit sub-Saharan Africa, he announced on Thursday. It came at the conclusion of a three-day summit with African leaders in which he announced hundreds of millions of dollars in investment in the continent for infrastructure, technology initiatives and supporting free elections.A day earlier, the president said he was “all in” on strengthening US relations with African countries, which was why he had sent many of his top advisers there, including secretary of state Antony Blinken, treasury secretary Janet Yellin and commerce secretary Gina Raimondo.“I’m looking forward to seeing you in your home countries,” Biden told the leaders of 49 African countries on Thursday about what will be the first visit there of his presidency other than a brief stopover in Egypt last month, the Associated Press reported. He did state which countries he will visit or when the trip will happen.Biden on Thursday pledged $165m in US funding to support peaceful, credible elections in Africa next year as his administration looked to underscore the importance of fair voting in countries where it sometimes has been blighted by violence. More

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      Biden says he’s ‘all in’ on Africa’s future at leadership summit – as it happened

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      Joe Biden has committed to strengthening Africa’s food supplies, tackling the climate emergency and partnering with the continent’s nations to take on the rising global power in the region of China and Russia.In an address at the US Africa Business Leaders forum in Washington DC, the president says “the US is all in on Africa’s future”. He’s outlining a multi-prong approach to strengthen those ties, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding that Biden says will “unlock new opportunities for trade and investment between our countries and bring Africa and the US even closer than ever”:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}It’s an enormous opportunity for Africa’s future, and the US wants to help make those opportunities real.Included in the package are, he says, up to $370m from the US international development finance fund for new projects, including investing $100m for clean energy for sub-Saharan Africa.Entrepreneurship and innovation are at the top of Biden’s list, he says.And he wants $350bn from Congress for a “digital transformation” for Africa, which includes involving companies such as Microsoft to build networks and infrastructure to bring internet access to five million Africans who are currently not connected:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}When Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds and, quite frankly, the whole world succeeds as well,” Biden says.It’s time to close the blog on an eventful day in US politics. Joe Biden says he’s “all in” on Africa’s future after unveiling a package of investments and supports at a summit with the continent’s business leaders in Washington DC.The president says infrastructure and the climate emergency are among his top priorities for Africa, as he seeks to build closer ties and limit Russian and Chinese influence in the region.Here’s what else we’ve been watching:
      Survivors from mass shootings at gay nightclubs in Florida and Colorado gave harrowing testimony at a hearing of the House oversight committee looking into surging violence against the LGBTQ+ community. Democrats say Republicans have “stoked the flames of bigotry” with hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ laws nationwide.
      A new poll shows voters have little appetite for a presidential election rematch in 2024 between Biden and Donald Trump. Almost two thirds of registered Democrats and Republicans say they don’t want their 2020 nominees to run again.
      Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger said it was time to drop the general election runoff system that forced Democrat Raphael Warnock to beat Republican challenger Herschel Walker twice within weeks to retain his Senate seat.
      In a statement marking the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting that killed 20 children and six adults, Biden said the US should have “societal guilt” at taking so long to address the problem of gun crime.
      Thanks for being with us! Please join us again tomorrow.North Dakota has become the latest state to ban the popular social media app TikTok from devices owned by the state government’s executive branch, the Associated Press reports.Governor Doug Burgum signed an executive order Wednesday afternoon, joining Republican colleagues from other states, including South Dakota and Texas, to have previously done so over concerns about the platform’s Chinese ownership and perceived data sharing and national security worries.In addition to prohibiting downloads of TikTok on government-issued equipment or while connected to the state’s network, it bars visiting the TikTok website.“TikTok raises multiple flags in terms of the amount of data it collects and how that data may be shared with and used by the Chinese government,” Burgum said in a statement, according to the AP.In its own statement Wednesday, TikTok said it was “disappointed that so many states are jumping on the bandwagon to enact policies based on unfounded, politically charged falsehoods”.Read more:Texas bans TikTok on government devices amid China data-sharing fearsRead moreA hair-raising moment, literally, took place on the Senate floor at lunchtime when New Jersey senator Cory Booker rose to urge colleagues to progress the Crown Act, the acronym for a bill seeking to “create a respectful and open world for natural hair”.It might sound frivolous, but the bill seeks to enshrine in federal statute a measure already passed in 19 states to prevent racial discrimination on the grounds of hair style or color.“You go to my city right now and you’ll find hairstyles of different types, locks, cornrows with braids, Bantu knots, and of course what I once had, afros,” the famously bald Booker said.“[But] there’s a decades-long problematic practice of discrimination against natural hair in this country.”@Dove and the #CROWNCoalition applaud #Alaska — the 19th state to provide legal protections against hair discrimination.#hairdiscrimination #naturalhair #crownact #hairlove #equity #Alaska pic.twitter.com/ebvh2iC7bE— The CROWN Act (@thecrownact) September 12, 2022
      He cited the case of Andrew Johnson, an 18-year-old student in 2018 whose dreadlocks were cut off on the orders of a judge at a high school wrestling match before he was allowed to compete. The episode was caught on video.“You can see the deep hurt and pain on the face of this young man,” Booker said.“It’s the pain felt by many. Traumatic at times, hurtful experiences that make you question your very belonging in a community. “The beauty of your hair, its natural style, your immutable characteristics, your cultural beliefs, your connection to your heritage. No person in America should have to deal with this pain.”Opposing Booker’s plea to advance the bill, Kentucky Republican Rand Paul said it was not necessary. The bill, he said, might compromise the safety of workers who could have the legal right to refuse to wear a helmet in the workplace because of their hair.“Using hairstyle as a pretext for racial discrimination is already illegal,” Paul claimed.The state that prolonged November’s midterms until 6 December won’t be able to do it again, if a proposal by its top election official gets approved.Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, says it’s time to get rid of the runoff system that requires a revote any time that no candidate in a general election reaches 50% of the votes cast.It’s the reason incumbent Democratic senator Raphael Warnock had to beat Republican challenger Herschel Walker for the second time in a month after coming close to, but not quite reaching, the 50% threshold in November.“Georgia is one of the only states in country with a general election runoff. We’re also one of the only states that always seems to have a runoff,” Raffensperger said, according to Fox5 Atlanta.“I’m calling on the general assembly to visit the topic… and consider reforms.”He said the current system made it difficult for counties, especially those in rural areas with few staff, to handle two elections within weeks of each other, a period that includes Thanksgiving.“No one wants to be dealing with politics in the middle of their family holiday,” he said.Raffensperger was the recipient of an infamous telephone call from Donald Trump asking him to “find” enough votes in Georgia to reverse his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden. A huge part of the Biden administration’s just-announced investment in Africa’s future will be a half-billion dollar investment in infrastructure, specifically the building and maintaining of roads linking ports to interior countries.The money, Joe Biden says, will come from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent government foreign aid agency with a brief to reduce global poverty. The president said that MCC had made new investments of almost $1.2bn in Africa, and expected to commit an additional $2.5bn across the continent over the next four years:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}This compact will invest $500m to build and maintain roads, put in place policies that reduce transportation costs, make it easier and faster for ships to ship goods from the port of Cotonou [in Benin] into neighboring landlocked countries.The climate emergency, Biden stressed, will be another top focus, with work already under way, funded by $80m in public and private finance, to replace 12 coal-fired power plants in South Africa with renewable energy sources, and to develop “cutting edge energy solutions” such as clean hydrogen.He cited a $2bn deal to build solar energy projects in Angola, and a $600m high speed communications cable linking south Asia and Europe through Egypt, and $800m to help protect African countries against cyber threats..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}One of the most essential resources for many entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to participate in the global economy is reliable and affordable access to the internet.
      So today, I’m announcing a new initiative, the digital transformation with Africa. We’re here with Congress to invest $350bn, to facilitate more than almost a half a billion dollars in financing to make sure people across Africa participate in a digital economy.Biden brought his speech to a close just before the kick-off of the France v Morocco World Cup semi-final.Joe Biden has committed to strengthening Africa’s food supplies, tackling the climate emergency and partnering with the continent’s nations to take on the rising global power in the region of China and Russia.In an address at the US Africa Business Leaders forum in Washington DC, the president says “the US is all in on Africa’s future”. He’s outlining a multi-prong approach to strengthen those ties, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding that Biden says will “unlock new opportunities for trade and investment between our countries and bring Africa and the US even closer than ever”:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}It’s an enormous opportunity for Africa’s future, and the US wants to help make those opportunities real.Included in the package are, he says, up to $370m from the US international development finance fund for new projects, including investing $100m for clean energy for sub-Saharan Africa.Entrepreneurship and innovation are at the top of Biden’s list, he says.And he wants $350bn from Congress for a “digital transformation” for Africa, which includes involving companies such as Microsoft to build networks and infrastructure to bring internet access to five million Africans who are currently not connected:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}When Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds and, quite frankly, the whole world succeeds as well,” Biden says.Joe Biden is speaking now at the US-Africa leadership summit where he’s about to announce partnerships with African nations and a pathway to better ties and business relations.But the president said he was aware of people knowing the France v Morocco World Cup game was starting at the top of the hour, and were thinking: “Make it short Biden. There’s a semi-final game coming up”.We’ll bring you the best of Biden’s comments.Earlier this month, the Guardian’s Joan E Greve travelled to Newtown, Connecticut to speak with Nicole Hockley and Mark Barden of Sandy Hook Promise, the parents of Dylan and Daniel, who were killed 10 years ago today. For the Guardian’s Politics Weekly America podcast, Joan also met teenagers from the Junior Newtown Action Alliance, who now go through terrifying lockdown drills as preparation for another shooting and who want to see more change in gun legislation, and spoke to Senator Chris Murphy, who helped draft the first significant gun control policy in the US in 30 years this year.10 years since Sandy Hook – what’s changed? Politics Weekly America special – podcastRead moreThe Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren is pressing Congress to adopt bipartisan legislation which would force crypto firms to abide by the same regulations as banks and corporations, in an attempt to crack down on money laundering through digital assets. Ed Pilkington reports…Warren is pushing for the new controls on the crypto industry in the wake of the spectacular collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. On Tuesday its founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was charged with eight criminal counts including conspiracy to commit money laundering.Warren’s bill is being co-sponsored by the Republican senator from Kansas Roger Marshall. The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act would essentially subject the world of crypto to the same global financial regulations to which more conventional money markets must conform.Under current systems, crypto exchanges are able to skirt around restrictions designed to stop money laundering and impose sanctions. Should the bill be enacted into law it would authorize the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) to reclassify crypto entities as “money service businesses” which would bring them under basic regulations laid out in the Bank Secrecy Act.In a statement to CNN, Warren said “commonsense crypto legislation” would protect US national security. “I’ve been ringing the alarm bell in the Senate on the dangers of these digital asset loopholes,” she said, adding that crypto was “under serious scrutiny across the political spectrum”.Bankman-Fried, 30, was indicted by prosecutors at the southern district of New York and is being held in custody in the Bahamas. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also brought civil charges against him, accusing him of creating a firm that was a “house of cards”Five things we know about the collapse of FTX and Sam Bankman-FriedRead moreSome news out of Oregon that came later yesterday, which we wanted to record: the outgoing Democratic governor Kate Brown has commuted the sentences of all 17 of the state’s death row prisoners to life without parole.“I have long believed that justice is not advanced by taking a life, and the state should not be in the business of executing people – even if a terrible crime placed them in prison,” Brown said in a statement released by her office.“Since taking office in 2015, I have continued Oregon’s moratorium on executions because the death penalty is both dysfunctional and immoral.“Today I am commuting Oregon’s death row so that we will no longer have anyone serving a sentence of death and facing execution in this state. This is a value that many Oregonians share.”Brown’s order will also see the closure of the state’s execution chamber. Oregon’s most recent execution was in 1997, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.Governor John Kitzhaber first declared a moratorium on executions in 2011, which Brown has kept in place ever since.Full story:Oregon governor commutes sentences of everyone on death row in stateRead moreVoters have little appetite for a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump for the presidency in 2024, a poll released Wednesday lunchtime has found.Roughly six in 10 Republicans, and the same margin in the Democratic party, don’t want their respective 2020 nominees to run again, according to the CNN poll conducted by SSRS.Support from registered Republicans for Trump, especially, has plummeted, a reflection of the former president’s burgeoning legal troubles and, perhaps, the rising star of rightwing Florida governor Ron DeSantis.In January, CNN found, 50% said they hoped Trump would be the nominee and 49% wanted someone else. By July, 44% wanted Trump to be the party’s nominee, and now, only 38% say the same.Trump announced last month his third run at the White House as a Republican.There’s slightly better news for Biden. 40% of registered Democrats want the president to run again in 2024, the poll says, up from only 25% in the summer. But both figures are a drop from the 45% support he received in January.You can read about the poll here.The former Trump campaign chair and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has repeatedly praised the Republican National Committee on Fox News while failing to disclose that it has paid her firm more than $800,000 since last year, Media Matters reports.Eric Hananoki, an investigative reporter for the liberal media watchdog, writes: “The lack of disclosure about Conway’s financial ties goes against the ethics-challenged network’s purported policy”. He adds: .css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}A Fox News spokesperson told the Washington Post in 2019 regarding work Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer did with the RNC that ‘Fox News requires contributors to disclose ties related to any topic he or she discusses on the air in which the contributor may have a financial interest.’ The spokesperson added that such a rule would apply when talking about ‘the RNC on air.’ Elsewhere, the Daily Beast adds that “Karl Rove, another Fox News contributor with deep ties to the GOP, was allowed to keep his paid network gig while overseeing Senate Republicans’ fundraising efforts in 2020”.As Hananoki notes, the RNC and its chair, Ronna McDaniel, have faced fierce criticism since the midterm elections, in which Republicans took back the House but by a slim majority and failed to win back the Senate – a disappointing performance widely blamed on former president Donald Trump, who endorsed a string of defeated candidates.Conway, Hananoki writes, “has used her Fox News platform to praise the RNC and play defense for McDaniel”. According to Media Matters, the RNC “has paid KAConsulting $829,969.38 since 2021 for a variety of expenses. The RNC’s most recent payment was on 4 November for ‘political strategy services’. The organisation recently announced that Conway would serve on a Republican Party Advisory Council ‘to inform the Republican Party’s 2024 vision and beyond’.” Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The final witness testimony before a Q and A session at today’s House hearing into anti-LGBTQ violence was a chilling account of inside Orlando’s Pulse nightclub as a gunman murdered 49 mostly gay and transgender patrons in 2016.“There were gunshots, endless gunshots; the hair standing up on the back of my neck; the stench of blood and smoke burning the inside of my nose,” said Brandon Wolf, a survivor who lost his two best friends in the massacre, and who has now become a prominent gun control and LBGTQ+ advocate.“A nervous huddle against a wall; a girl trying desperately so hard not to scream. I could feel her trembling on the tiles underneath us. “There was a sprint to the exit, all atop this bang, bang, bang, from an assault weapon. A man filled with hate an armed with a Sig Sauer MCX charged into Pulse, an LGBTQ safe space, and murdered 49 of those we loved.”On hand and ready to testify on anti-LGBTQ hate alongside the Club Q community.Tune in live: https://t.co/4bLU0X0ZWq pic.twitter.com/eSDKZiiROD— Brandon Wolf (@bjoewolf) December 14, 2022
      Wolf called out the bigotry and hatred of extremists who have fomented violence against the LBGTQ+ community, and spread hateful narratives that have resulted in attacks, threats and clampdowns on everything from drag shows, to donut shops to school libraries.“For years cynical politicians and greedy Grifters have joined forces with right wing extremists to pour gasoline on anti LGBTQ hysteria and terrorize our community,” he said.“My own governor Ron DeSantis has trafficked in that bigotry to feed his insatiable political ambition and propel himself toward the White House. “We have been smeared and defamed. Hundreds of bills have been filed in order to erase us; powerful figures have insisted that the greatest threats this country face are a teacher with they-them pronouns, or someone in a wig reading Red Fish, Blue Fish.” Barack Obama has called the Sandy Hook massacre “the single darkest day of my presidency”.In his own statement marking the 10th anniversary of the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the former president also said he believed “the tide is turning” on gun violence.I consider December 14th, 2012 the single darkest day of my presidency. The news from Sandy Hook Elementary was devastating, a visceral blow, and like so many others, I felt not just sorrow but anger at a world that could allow such things to happen. pic.twitter.com/Y2log7FBaH— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 14, 2022
      His administration was unable to renew a nationwide assault weapons ban, lamenting that inaction on gun safety laws was the “biggest regret” of his time in office.Here’s Obama’s statement today:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The news from Sandy Hook Elementary was devastating, a visceral blow, and like so many others, I felt not just sorrow but anger at a world that could allow such things to happen.Even then we understood that mere words could only do so much to ease the burden of the families who were suffering. But in the years since, each of them has borne that weight with strength and with grace. And they’ve drawn purpose from tragedy – doing everything in their power to make sure other children and families never have to experience what they and their loved ones did.The journey hasn’t always been easy – and in a year when there hasn’t been a single week without a mass shooting somewhere in America, it’s clear our work is far from over. But of late, I’ve sensed that slowly, steadily, the tide is turning; that real change is possible. And I feel that way in no small part because of the families of Sandy Hook Elementary.Ten years ago, we all would have understood if those families had simply asked for privacy and closed themselves off from the world. But instead, they took unimaginable sorrow and channeled it into a righteous cause – setting an example of strength and resolve.They’ve made us proud. And if they were here today, I know the children and educators we lost a decade ago would be proud, too. More

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      Republican who urged Trump to declare ‘Marshall’ law only regrets misspelling

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      Republican who urged Trump to declare ‘Marshall’ law only regrets misspellingText from Ralph Norman to Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s final chief of staff, urged president to declare martial law A Republican who urged the Trump White House to declare martial law to stop Joe Biden taking office has only one regret: that he misspelled “martial”.Ron DeSantis leads Donald Trump by 23 points in Republican pollRead moreThe text from Ralph Norman of South Carolina to Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s final chief of staff, was given to the January 6 committee by Meadows and revealed by Talking Points Memo.On 17 January 2021, 11 days after the deadly Capitol attack and three days before Biden’s inauguration, Norman wrote: “Mark, in seeing what’s happening so quickly, and reading about the Dominion law suits attempting to stop any meaningful investigation we are at a point of no return in saving our Republic !! Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall Law!! PLEASE URGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!”No response from Meadows was revealed.On Tuesday, a HuffPost reporter asked Norman about the message.Norman said: “Well, I misspelled ‘martial’.”He added: “I was very frustrated then, I’m frustrated now. I was frustrated then by what was going on in the Capitol. President Biden was in his basement the whole year. Dominion was raising all kinda questions.”The reference to Biden’s basement was to the then Democratic candidate’s decision largely to stay off the campaign trail in 2020, the year of the Covid pandemic.Dominion Voting Systems has filed major lawsuits, notably against Fox News, regarding claims its machines were involved in voter fraud.Trump insists his defeat by Biden – by more than 7m votes and by 306-232 in the electoral college – was the result of electoral fraud. It was not.Norman was among 147 Republicans in the House and Senate who objected to results in key states even after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, a riot now linked to nine deaths.Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection, proceedings which were ongoing when Norman texted Meadows.According to CNN, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right Georgia congresswoman, also texted Meadows on 17 January, writing: “In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law.”This week, Greene said that if she and Steve Bannon, Trump’s former strategist, had organised the Capitol riot, “we would have won”. She also said rioters “would’ve been armed”.According to the Congressional Research Service, “crises in public order, both real and potential, often evoke comments concerning a resort to martial law.“While some ambiguity exists regarding the conditions of a martial law setting, such a prospect, nonetheless, is disturbing to many Americans who cherish their liberties, expect civilian law enforcement to prevail, and support civilian control of military authority.”The CRS also says that since the second world war, “martial law has not been presidentially directed or approved for any area of the United States. Federal troops have been dispatched to domestic locales experiencing unrest or riot, but in these situations the military has remained subordinate to federal civilian management.”Marjorie Taylor Greene: Capitol attack ‘would’ve been armed’ if I was in chargeRead moreOn Tuesday, Norman told HuffPost: “I was frustrated at the time with everything that was happening. It was a private text between a friend and myself, nothing more, nothing less.”On Wednesday, the White House issued a rebuke.“Plotting against the rule of law and to subvert the will of the people is a disgusting affront to our deepest principles as a country,” the deputy press secretary, Andrew Bates, said.Referring to Trump’s slogan, Make America Great Again, Bates added: “We all, regardless of party, need to stand up for mainstream values and the constitution, against dangerous, ultra-Maga conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric.”TopicsRepublicansUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS elections 2020US Capitol attackUS politicsUS militarynewsReuse this content More

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      Republican who wanted Trump to declare ‘Marshall’ law only regrets the misspelling

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      Republican who wanted Trump to declare ‘Marshall’ law only regrets the misspellingText from Ralph Norman to Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s final chief of staff, urged president to declare martial law A Republican who urged the Trump White House to declare martial law to stop Joe Biden taking office has only one regret: that he misspelled “martial”.Ron DeSantis leads Donald Trump by 23 points in Republican pollRead moreThe text from Ralph Norman of South Carolina to Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s final chief of staff, was given to the January 6 committee by Meadows and revealed by Talking Points Memo this week.On 17 January 2021, 11 days after the deadly Capitol attack and three days before Biden’s inauguration, Norman wrote: “Mark, in seeing what’s happening so quickly, and reading about the Dominion law suits attempting to stop any meaningful investigation we are at a point of no return in saving our Republic !! Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall Law!! PLEASE URGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!”No response from Meadows was revealed. On Tuesday, a HuffPo reporter asked Norman about the message.Norman said: “Well, I misspelled ‘martial’.”He added: “I was very frustrated then, I’m frustrated now. I was frustrated then by what was going on in the Capitol. President Biden was in his basement the whole year. Dominion was raising all kinda questions.”The reference to Biden’s basement was to the then Democratic candidate’s decision largely to stay off the campaign trail in 2020, the year of the Covid pandemic.Dominion Voting Systems has filed major lawsuits, notably against Fox News, regarding claims its machines were involved in voter fraud.Trump insists his defeat by Biden – by more than 7m votes and by 306-232 in the electoral college – was the result of electoral fraud. It was not.Norman was among 147 Republicans in the House and Senate who voted to object to results in key states, even after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, a riot now linked to nine deaths including suicides among law enforcement.Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection, proceedings which were ongoing when Norman texted Meadows.According to CNN, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right Georgia congresswoman, also asked Meadows about “Marshall law” on 17 January, writing: “In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law.”This week, Greene said that if she and Steve Bannon, Trump’s former strategist, had organised the Capitol riot, “we would have won”. She also said rioters “would’ve been armed”.Marjorie Taylor Greene: Capitol attack ‘would’ve been armed’ if I was in chargeRead moreAccording to the Congressional Research Service, “crises in public order, both real and potential, often evoke comments concerning a resort to martial law. “While some ambiguity exists regarding the conditions of a martial law setting, such a prospect, nonetheless, is disturbing to many Americans who cherish their liberties, expect civilian law enforcement to prevail, and support civilian control of military authority.”The CRS also says that since the conclusion of the second world war, “martial law has not been presidentially directed or approved for any area of the United States. Federal troops have been dispatched to domestic locales experiencing unrest or riot, but in these situations the military has remained subordinate to federal civilian management.”On Tuesday, Norman told HuffPost: “I was frustrated at the time with everything that was happening. It was a private text between a friend and myself, nothing more, nothing less.”TopicsRepublicansUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS elections 2020US Capitol attackUS politicsUS militarynewsReuse this content More

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      Ron DeSantis leads Donald Trump by 23 points in Republican poll

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      Ron DeSantis leads Donald Trump by 23 points in Republican pollFlorida governor takes enormous lead over embattled ex-president for 2024 race as Mike Pence nears a run of his own In a new poll regarding potential Republican nominees for president in 2024, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, led Donald Trump by a whopping 23 points.Republican and Republican-leaning voters dealt the significant blow to the former president’s ego in a survey carried out by USA Today and Suffolk University and released on Tuesday.There was good news for Trump in another poll covering the same time period, by Morning Consult, which gave him an 18-point lead over DeSantis. Furthermore, the polling website FiveThirtyEight still shows Trump in the lead in most surveys.Nonetheless, David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told USA Today: “Republicans and conservative independents increasingly want Trumpism without Trump.”That much has been clear in the rise of DeSantis, a former US military lawyer and hard-right congressman who has pursued distinctly Trumpist hardline, theatrically cruel policies as governor of Florida, in particular on immigration and education.Last month, DeSantis marked a crushing re-election victory with a confidant speech, declaring his state “where woke goes to die” to chants of “two more years”.Trump declared his third consecutive run for the Republican nomination shortly after the midterm elections.But he has shown precious little momentum, particularly after elections in which most of his endorsed candidates for key state posts and in Congress went down to defeat, contributing to a disappointing Republican performance.Trump is also in extensive legal jeopardy, over his attempted election subversion, the retention of White House records and his business affairs.USA Today said its poll showed that among Republican and Republican-leaning voters, enthusiasm for another Trump run is receding.“In July, 60% of Republicans wanted Trump to run again. In October, that number had dipped to 56%. Now it has fallen to 47%, an almost-even split with the 45% who don’t want him to run for a third time.”The poll put Joe Biden, the president, up 47%-40% in a notional rematch with Trump.Biden is 80, Trump 76. Biden has said he will decide on whether to run again over the Christmas holidays.The new poll put DeSantis, 44, ahead of Biden in a notional match-up, 47%-43%.Paleologos sounded a familiar note of caution, saying a big primary field could divide Republican opposition to Trump and hand him the nomination again.“Add in a number of other Republican presidential candidates who would divide the anti-Trump vote and you have a recipe for a repeat of the 2016 Republican caucuses and primaries, when Trump outlasted the rest of the divided field.”Another likely candidate, the former vice-president Mike Pence, is edging closer to announcing a run.Speaking in New Hampshire, an early voting state, on Tuesday, the former vice-president told Fox News the reception accorded his recent memoir “has been a great source of encouragement as we think about the way forward and what our calling might be in the future”.Pence said he and his wife, Karen, would make a decision on whether to mount a run next year, after “prayerful consideration” over the holiday period.“We’ll continue to travel, we’ll continue to listen,” he said.TopicsUS elections 2024US politicsRepublicansRon DeSantisDonald TrumpMike PencenewsReuse this content More

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      Biden signs bill protecting same-sex and interracial marriage rights – as it happened

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      Joe Biden has signed the legislation into law, in a joy-filled ceremony on the south lawn at the White House.In attendance were the first lady, Jill Biden, as well as the vice-president, Kamala Harris, the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, and hundreds of LGBTQ+ couples, senior members of Congress, including the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and gay lawmakers looking on.Here’s the Guardian’s Washington Bureau chief, David Smith, who has witnessed the event:Joe Biden: “Today is a good day!… Marriage is a simple proposition. Who do you love and will you be loyal to that person you love? It’s not more complicated than that.” pic.twitter.com/ZsL2PEkLri— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) December 13, 2022
      Biden made a short but spirited speech.Biden: “Now the law requires that interracial marriage and same sex marriage be recognised in every state in the nation.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) December 13, 2022
      Biden pays tribute to many of those activists and campaigners gathered.Biden: “Those who believe in equality and justice, you never gave up… You put your relationships on the line, you put your jobs on the line, you put your lives on the line. From me and the entire nation, thank you, thank you, thank you.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) December 13, 2022
      Here’s the president on Twitter:Today is a good day. Today, America takes another step toward equality. Toward liberty and justice not just for some, but for all. Because today, I sign the Respect for Marriage Act into law.— President Biden (@POTUS) December 13, 2022
      It’s been a lively though unusual day in US politics. We’re ending this live blog now and we’ll be back on Wednesday morning to bring you all the day’s developments as they happen.Here’s where things stand:
      Joe Biden signed the Respect For Marriage Act into law, in a joy-filled ceremony on the south lawn at the White House.
      The US president noted that: “Racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia – they are all connected. But the antidote is love.”
      The January 6 House select committee will on 19 December vote on referring people they believe broke the law to the justice department, Politico reports, citing committee chair Bennie Thompson.
      Carolyn Maloney, chair of the oversight committee in the House wrote to the National Archives asking for a review of what’s been discovered at a storage unit at Donald Trump’s Florida residence, the Washington Post reported.
      Government energy officials announced that the US has taken “the first tentative steps towards a clean energy source that could revolutionize the world” through a successful fusion experiment.
      Biden cheered government data released today that showed inflation declining by a greater amount than expected in November, calling it proof that his economic policies were delivering Americans relief from the price increase wave battering the economy.
      Samuel Bankman-Fried is not testifying before Congress, because he was arrested in the Bahamas yesterday. Instead, the newly appointed CEO of FTX, the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Bankman-Fried founded, is being grilled by lawmakers alone.
      Reforms to the Electoral Count Act intended to stop another January 6 may end up being included in year-end spending legislation Congress is negotiating.
      It’s official: rightwing lawmaker Lauren Boebert has been re-elected, after winning her unexpectedly close House race.
      Under sunny skies, the ceremony for Joe Biden to sign the Respect for Marriage Act was a lively one, just wrapping up now.The bill’s primary driver, Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, can be seen smiling broadly, just behind a beaming Nancy Pelosi.Joe Biden has signed the legislation into law, in a joy-filled ceremony on the south lawn at the White House.In attendance were the first lady, Jill Biden, as well as the vice-president, Kamala Harris, the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, and hundreds of LGBTQ+ couples, senior members of Congress, including the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and gay lawmakers looking on.Here’s the Guardian’s Washington Bureau chief, David Smith, who has witnessed the event:Joe Biden: “Today is a good day!… Marriage is a simple proposition. Who do you love and will you be loyal to that person you love? It’s not more complicated than that.” pic.twitter.com/ZsL2PEkLri— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) December 13, 2022
      Biden made a short but spirited speech.Biden: “Now the law requires that interracial marriage and same sex marriage be recognised in every state in the nation.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) December 13, 2022
      Biden pays tribute to many of those activists and campaigners gathered.Biden: “Those who believe in equality and justice, you never gave up… You put your relationships on the line, you put your jobs on the line, you put your lives on the line. From me and the entire nation, thank you, thank you, thank you.”— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) December 13, 2022
      Here’s the president on Twitter:Today is a good day. Today, America takes another step toward equality. Toward liberty and justice not just for some, but for all. Because today, I sign the Respect for Marriage Act into law.— President Biden (@POTUS) December 13, 2022
      Joe Biden says love is the antidote to discrimination.“Racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, they are all connected. But the antidote is love,” Biden just said at the White House, as he prepares to sign the Respect for Marriage Act into law.Biden reminds those gathered that the legislation was spurred by the signal made by supreme court justice Clarence Thomas that, having overturned Roe v Wade, access to contraception and the right to same sex marriage could be next on the conservative bench’s agenda.Joe Biden is now speaking and thanking the lawmakers who drove the legislation that he is about to sign into law as the Respect for Marriage Act.He thanks, to a huge cheer from those gathered, Wisconsin’s Democratic senator Tammy Baldwin, the first out gay person ever to serve in the US Senate, who introduced the legislation and helped steer it to victory.The US president thanked Maine Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, who joined Baldwin in pushing the bill forward and garnering bipartisan support.Biden is celebrating the new law that protects not just same sex marriage but also interracial marriage, which have federal protections via the US Supreme Court but are not codified in US legislation.As the nation saw when the right-wing supermajority on the supreme court in June ditched the federal abortion legalization afforded by Roe v Wade in 1973, without congressional support in the form of legislation, rights can be taken away overnight by the court.Biden just quoted the great Edie Windsor’s words about gay marriage: “Don’t postpone joy.”“The road to this moment has been long,” Biden said. He tips his hat to those who “put their jobs on the line” to fight for the rights “I’m about to sign into law.”Goodbye, Edie Windsor. Thank you for never giving up | Steven W ThrasherRead moreKamala Harris is speaking at the White House ceremony, and she recalls Valentine’s Day, 2004, when she performed some of the US’s first same sex marriages, in San Francisco city hall, when she was the district attorney in that city.She quotes the late Harvey Milk in saying: “Rights are won by those who make their voices heard.”The vice president talks of marrying friends, the tears of joy, and also recalls the victory, ultimately, over the ban on marriage equality in California that had been passed in 2008, known as Proposition 8. More