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      US Senate passes $1.2tn spending package to avert government shutdown

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      The Senate has passed a $1.2tn package of spending bills, a long overdue action nearly six months into the budget year that will push any threats of a government shutdown to the fall. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.The vote was 74-24. It came after funding had expired for government agencies at midnight, but the White House sent out a notice shortly after the deadline announcing the Office of Management and Budget had ceased shutdown preparations because there was a high degree of confidence that Congress would pass the legislation and the president would sign it on Saturday.“Because obligations of federal funds are incurred and tracked on a daily basis, agencies will not shut down and may continue their normal operations,” the White House statement said.Prospects for a short-term government shutdown had appeared to grow Friday evening after Republicans and Democrats battled over proposed amendments to the bill. Any successful amendments to the bill would have sent the legislation back to the House, which had already left town for a two-week recess.But shortly before midnight Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announced a breakthrough.“It’s been a very long and difficult day, but we have just reached an agreement to complete the job of funding the government,” Schumer said. “It is good for the country that we have reached this bipartisan deal. It wasn’t easy, but tonight our persistence has been worth it.”The news came hours after the House voted 286 to 134 to pass the bill, which will fund the departments of state, defense, homeland security and others through September.Biden has already said he will sign the bill “immediately” once it reaches his desk. The president signed a spending bill covering the rest of the federal government earlier this month, so all agencies are now funded for the rest of the fiscal year, eliminating any threat of a shutdown until October.The bill’s approval brings an end to a tumultuous appropriations process that forced Congress to pass four stopgap funding bills, known as continuing resolutions, since the fiscal year began in October. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the Democratic chair of the Senate appropriations committee, praised the lawmakers who helped bring the process to a close but lamented the considerable delay in reaching a resolution.“It should never have taken us this long to get here,” Murray said in a floor speech on Friday. “We should not teeter on the verge of a shutdown and lurch from one CR to another.”The Senate vote came down to the wire. Members had to unanimously agree on fast-tracking the bill’s passage, and some Republicans raised objections to the expedited process, insisting on taking up amendments to the proposal.Senator Rand Paul, a Republican of Kentucky, attacked congressional leaders for releasing the lengthy bill in the early hours of Thursday morning and holding a final vote one day later.“Why are we up against a deadline? Because they didn’t give us the 1,000-page bill until 2.30 in the morning on Thursday,” Paul said in a floor speech. “You think we ought to read it? You think we ought to know what’s in it?”Paul warned the bill was “teeming with about $2bn worth of earmarks at a time when we can’t afford the additional debt”, calling on colleagues to block the proposal.Rejecting that line of criticism, the senator Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the Senate appropriations committee, reminded colleagues that members of both chambers spent months negotiating over funding levels.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“Every single bill – each and every one of them – was subject to robust debate and amendments. Many of them passed unanimously,” Collins said. “No one can say that they were not available for scrutiny, since we reported the last of them from committee way back in July.”Murray blamed hard-right Republicans for repeatedly jeopardizing the federal government’s functionality and urged her colleagues to “learn from the hard lessons of the past few months about how we do get things done in a divided government”.“The far-right elements who forced this dysfunction claim to care a lot about fiscal responsibility, but the constant chaos that they create is the opposite of fiscal responsibility,” Murray said. “Working together, focusing on solutions, solving problems for people back home: that is the responsible way to get things done.”With Associated Press More

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      Marjorie Taylor Greene files motion to remove House speaker Mike Johnson

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      The far-right Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor-Greene filed a motion to remove Mike Johnson as House speaker on Friday but did not pull the trigger on a move that would probably pitch Congress into a repeat of chaos seen last October, when the right ejected Kevin McCarthy.Speaking after Johnson relied on Democratic votes to pass a $1.2tn spending bill and avoid a government shutdown, Greene said her motion was meant as “more of a warning than a pink slip” because she did not want to “throw the House into chaos”.Claiming to be a Republican “member in good standing”, Greene said her motion was “filed, but it’s not voted on. It only gets voted on [when] I call it to the floor for a vote.”Speaking to a scrum of reporters on the Capitol steps, she said: “I’m not saying that it won’t happen in two weeks or it won’t happen in a month or who knows when. But I am saying the clock has started. It’s time for our conference to choose a new speaker.”Congress goes into recess on Friday and returns in two weeks’ time.Greene said she had not discussed her motion with the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump. But even without Trump’s involvement, it was the latest dramatic expression of House Republicans’ inability to govern themselves.McCarthy became speaker in January 2023, but only after 15 rounds of voting as the pro-Trump far right hauled him over the coals.In October, another far-right Republican, Matt Gaetz of Florida, used a concession won in that January battle by introducing a motion to vacate, ultimately gaining the support of seven colleagues (not including Greene) and achieving the first ever ejection of a speaker by his or her own party.The deeply religious Johnson succeeded McCarthy as a candidate acceptable to the far right, but only after more than three weeks as three members of Republican leadership – Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer – failed to gain sufficient support.Greene said on Friday there was “no time limit” on her new motion to vacate.“It doesn’t have to be forced, and throw the House into chaos. I don’t want to put any of our members in a difficult place like we were for three and a half weeks [in October]. We’re going to continue our committee work. We’re going to continue our investigations.”Greene has played a prominent role in one such investigation, an oversight committee attempt to impeach Joe Biden over alleged corruption involving his son – an effort that has descended into political farce.Johnson, meanwhile, must operate with a tiny majority – set to decrease yet further after Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin said he would quit in April – and a right wing as restive as ever. Friday’s shutdown-averting spending bill was the second the speaker has passed with Democratic support.Gaetz moved against McCarthy over the same issue but said on Friday he did not support Greene’s motion to remove Johnson.“If we vacated this speaker, we’d end up with a Democrat,” Gaetz said. “When I vacated the last one, I made a promise to the country that we would not end up with the Democrat speaker. And I was right. I couldn’t make that promise again.”Other rightwingers criticised Greene. Clay Higgins, from Louisiana, said: “I consider Marjorie Taylor Greene to be my friend. She’s still my friend. But she just made a big mistake … To think that one of our Republican colleagues would call for [Johnson’s] ouster right now … it’s abhorrent to me and I oppose it. I stand with Mike Johnson.”McCarthy lost the speaker’s gavel because Democrats chose not to come to his aid. Johnson appears more likely to keep Democrats onside.Tom Suozzi, a centrist Democrat from New York, told CNN: “It’s absurd [Johnson is] getting kicked for doing the right thing, keeping the government open. It has two-thirds support of the Congress and the idea that he would be kicked out by these jokers is absurd.”But Democratic support may come with a price. In alignment with Trump, Johnson has blocked aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia. On Friday, an unnamed Democrat told Politico: “If we get some Ukraine aid package, that might be part of a deal.”Raj Shah, a former Trump White House aide and Fox News executive now Johnson’s spokesperson, said: “Speaker Johnson always listens to the concerns of members, but is focused on governing.”Greene said Republican voters did not “want to see a Republican speaker that’s held in place by Democrats”. Asked if she thought a speakership fight was a good idea in an election year, she said: “Absolutely … because, dammit, I want to win that House, I want to win the White House, I want to win the Senate and I want to restore this country back to greatness again.”Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader, told reporters of Greene’s motion: “It’s a joke, she is an embarrassment. We will have a conversation about it soon.” More

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      Republican House majority goes from bad to worse as another lawmaker announces early leave – as it happened

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      Republican congressman Mike Gallagher announced he will resign his seat on 19 April, further winnowing down the GOP’s already slim control of the House.Gallagher had earlier this year announced plans not to seek re-election, but now says he will leave his seat early, dropping the Republicans’ slim majority to 217 seats, with Democrats holding 213 seats. That means Republicans can only lose one member on votes that Democrats oppose unanimously.“After conversations with my family, I have made the decision to resign my position as a member of the House of Representatives for Wisconsin’s Eighth Congressional District, effective April 19, 2024,” Gallagher said in a surprise statement.He noted that he “worked closely with House Republican leadership on this timeline” and “my office will continue to operate and provide constituent services to the Eighth District for the remainder of the term.”The good news for Republican House speaker Mike Johnson is that his chamber managed to pass legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown that is set to begin at midnight. The bad news is that the bill was supported by more Democrats than Republicans, and rightwing congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene subsequently introduced a motion to kick him out of the speaker’s chair. Greene took issue with his approach to government spending, and specifically his collaboration with Democrats, but noted she viewed the motion as “a warning”, and did not say when she would call it up for a vote. House lawmakers are now heading out for a two-week recess, and the saga will likely continue after they return. As for the government shutdown threat, it’s now up to the Democratic-led Senate to pass the House’s bill, which Joe Biden says he will sign. They are expected to do that later today.Here’s what else happened today:
      Republican congressman Mike Gallagher announced he would leave Congress next month, dropping the GOP’s House majority down to just one seat.
      At least two Democrats reportedly said they would not be on board with removing Johnson as speaker.
      Russia and China vetoed an attempt by the United States to win UN security council approval of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
      Donald Trump has reportedly unveiled a new funding strategy that will see donations channeled to a group that is paying his substantial legal bills.
      Trump’s social media firm is going public after a shareholder voter, meaning the ex-president will soon be $3b richer.
      Georgia Republican congressman Mike Collins won a reputation for tweeting his way through the chaotic weeks following Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as House speaker in October, and has maintained his sense of humor as the GOP majority shrinks to one seat:That is, of course, a reference to the troubles Boeing has had with some of its planes lately.Meanwhile, Politico reports that soon-to-be-former congressman Mike Gallagher was recently sending his fellow lawmakers a certain book and cryptic note, both of which make a lot more sense now:Meanwhile, the government funding saga is far from over. The Senate must now approve the bill that the House passed earlier today. Politico reports that the chamber’s Democratic leader has invoked cloture on the measure, but that would only allow a vote on Sunday, and the government would partially shutdown at midnight tonight:In a speech on the Senate floor earlier today before the House passed the bill Schumer made clear he does not want that to happen:
      Democrats and Republicans have about thirteen hours to work together to make sure the government stays open. That’s not going to be easy. We will have to work together – and avoid unnecessary delays.
      This morning, the House will move first on the funding package, and as soon as they send us a bill, the Senate will spring into action. To my colleagues on both sides: let’s finish the job today. Let’s avoid even a weekend shutdown. Let’s finish the job of funding the government for the remainder of the fiscal year.
      There is no reason to delay. There is no reason to drag out this process. If Senators cooperate on a time agreement, if we prioritize working together – just as we did two weeks ago – I am optimistic we can succeed.
      White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre offered well wishes to the Princess of Wales following her announcement that she has been diagnosed with cancer:We have a live blog covering that breaking story out of the UK, and you can read it here:Recall that Mike Johnson became House speaker after eight Republicans joined with every House Democrat to vote Kevin McCarthy out of the job.If Marjorie Taylor Greene could assemble a line up like that again, Johnson’s speakership would be at real risk. But CNN reports that at least two Democrats aren’t interested in playing along, perhaps signaling a broader shift in sentiment among the caucus.Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger indicates that if Johnson allowed a vote on aid to Israel and Ukraine, she’d be in favor of keeping him around:New York’s Tom Suozzi, who was not around in October, when McCarthy was booted, said he wouldn’t support the effort either:Asked at the ongoing White House press briefing about Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to remove Mike Johnson as speaker of the House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre managed to simultaneously say nothing, and everything.“We’re just not going to speak to what’s going on with the leadership,” she said, at the tail end of a lengthy reply that amounted to a recitation of Joe Biden’s accomplishments.But Jean-Pierre could not resist making light of the latest troubles Republicans are having hanging on to Congress’s lower chamber.“I guess … get your popcorn, sit tight,” she said, as she concluded her answer.The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s prosecution on charges of retaining classified documents disclosed that she had granted some requests by special counsel prosecutors to withhold discovery materials from the former president – but had reserved making a decision on others.In an eight-page order, US district judge Aileen Cannon wrote that she had allowed special counsel Jack Smith to substitute summaries or make redactions to two categories of classified documents that Trump was entitled to have access to through the discovery process.Cannon also disclosed that she had allowed prosecutors to entirely withhold a third category of documents neither “helpful nor relevant” to Trump’s defense theories – the legal standard to withhold discovery in national security cases – and reserved ruling on a fourth category of documents.Trump was indicted last year for retaining national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago club, under the Espionage Act, meaning the case is proceeding to trial under the complicated and sequential steps laid out in the Classified Information Procedures Act, or Cipa.To protect against unnecessary disclosure of national security cases, under section 4 of Cipa, prosecutors can request to withhold certain classified documents from defendants.Cannon granted prosecutors’ requests to give Trump summaries of category 3 documents (classified documents related to a potential trial witness) and to keep away from Trump all documents in category 4 (classified documents which Cannon did not identify but wrote were not helpful or relevant to Trump).Cannon disclosed in her order that she had reserved ruling on some of the documents because they were tied up in a separate motion filed by Trump requesting additional discovery materials about bias within the US intelligence community that would help his defense.The concession was significant because it indicated Cannon had still not decided what to do with Trump’s sweeping request for more discovery, which Trump’s lawyers filed more than two months ago, and appears to increasingly be contributing to major delays in the case.Republican congressman Mike Gallagher announced he will resign his seat on 19 April, further winnowing down the GOP’s already slim control of the House.Gallagher had earlier this year announced plans not to seek re-election, but now says he will leave his seat early, dropping the Republicans’ slim majority to 217 seats, with Democrats holding 213 seats. That means Republicans can only lose one member on votes that Democrats oppose unanimously.“After conversations with my family, I have made the decision to resign my position as a member of the House of Representatives for Wisconsin’s Eighth Congressional District, effective April 19, 2024,” Gallagher said in a surprise statement.He noted that he “worked closely with House Republican leadership on this timeline” and “my office will continue to operate and provide constituent services to the Eighth District for the remainder of the term.”In the latest twist in the power struggle between the right-wing leaders of Texas and the federal government, a group of migrants got into a struggle with Texas National Guard troops under the control of the governor yesterday – while they were waiting to turn themselves in to federal border patrol agents to request asylum.In footage that dominated morning news TV in the US on Friday, ABC reported that border agents said that troops under state control were trying to corral and apprehend a group of migrants stuck behind one of Texas governor Greg Abbott’s razor wire fences in El Paso, which was installed as part of Abbott’s controversial Operation Lone Star program.The people were on US soil and the fence was on public land, ABC reported.Speaking to the El Paso Times, migrants said that Texas national guard soldiers were forcefully pushing them back behind the fencing in US territory. In a caption accompanying a video of the border unrest, Mexican journalist J Omar Ornelas wrote, “Hundreds of migrants were pushed south of the concertina wire in the middle of the night by Texas National Guard. Hours later they again breached the concertina and made a rush for the border wall in El Paso, Texas.”During the unrest, some migrants appeared to raise their hands in surrender while others ran to the federal border wall. Customs and Border Patrol later said the group had been moved elsewhere for processing.Earlier this week, Texas was thrust into a state of confusion after an appeals court blocked a controversial new state law that would allow local police to arrest anyone that they believe entered the US illegally – a jurisdiction typically granted to federal immigration authorities, not local police. The freeze came just hours after the US supreme court allowed the law to go into effect.The good news for Republican House speaker Mike Johnson is that his chamber managed to pass legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown that is set to begin at midnight. The bad news is that the bill was supported by more Democrats than Republicans, and rightwing congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene subsequently introduced a motion to kick him out of the speaker’s chair. Greene took issue with his approach to government spending, and specifically his collaboration with Democrats, but noted she viewed the motion as “a warning”, and did not say when she would call it up for a vote. House lawmakers are now heading out for a two-week recess, and the saga will likely continue after they return. As for the government shutdown threat, it’s now up to the Democratic-led Senate to pass the House’s bill, which Joe Biden says he will sign. They are expected to do that later today.Here’s what else is going on:
      Russia and China vetoed an attempt by the United States to win UN security council approval of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
      Donald Trump has reportedly unveiled a new funding strategy that will see donations channeled to a group that is paying his substantial legal bills.
      Trump’s social media firm is going public after a shareholder voter, meaning the ex-president will soon be $3b richer.
      Republican House speaker Mike Johnson has issued an upbeat statement on the government funding measure, saying it enacted some conservative policies and was the best-case scenario for the GOP, considering Democrats control the Senate and White House.“House Republicans achieved conservative policy wins, rejected extreme Democrat proposals, and imposed substantial cuts while significantly strengthening national defense. The process was also an important step in breaking the omnibus muscle memory and represents the best achievable outcome in a divided government,” the speaker said.He did not comment on the motion to remove him as the House’s leader, which was filed by rightwing lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene.Marjorie Taylor Greene has tweeted an image of her resolution to remove fellow Republican Mike Johnson as speaker:It does not appear to be privileged, meaning it does not have to be voted on before lawmakers depart for their two-week recess, which they are scheduled to do later today.Asked earlier about her timeline for the removal push, Greene said the motion is “filed but it’s not voted on. It only gets voted on until I call it to the floor for a vote.”She did not say when she will do that.Marjorie Taylor Greene listed a ream of grievances against Mike Johnson, much of which centered on his approach to funding the government.She noted that, since become speaker in late October, he allowed votes on short-term measures to keep the government open, and gave lawmakers less than 72 hours to consider the just-passed legislation to prevent a partial shutdown that would have begun at midnight.Greene did not like any of that:
      This is a betrayal of the American people. This is a betrayal of Republican voters. And the bill that we were forced to vote on forced Republicans to choose between funding to pay our soldiers and, in doing so, funding late-term abortion. This bill was basically a dream and a wish list for Democrats and for the White House. It was completely led by Chuck Schumer, not our Republican speaker of the House, not our conference, and we weren’t even allowed to put amendments to the floor to have a chance to make changes to the bill.
      Speaking to reporters outside the Capitol, rightwing Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene confirmed she has filed a motion to remove Mike Johnson as House speaker, but described it as “a warning” rather than an attempt to boot him.The Georgia lawmaker cited Johnson’s approach to funding the government, and criticized him for working with Democrats.“I filed a motion to vacate today, but it’s more of a warning and a pink slip,” she said. “I do not wish to inflict pain on our conference and to throw the House in chaos, but this is basically a warning and it’s time for us to go through the process, take our time and find a new speaker of the house that will stand with Republicans and our Republican majority instead of standing with the Democrats.”We have yet to hear rightwing Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene explain why she wants to remove Mike Johnson as speaker of the House.But it may have something to do with his cooperation with Democrats to prevent a partial government shutdown. More Democrats than Republicans supported the just-passed $1.2tn funding measure that authorizes spending in federal departments where it has not already been approved:Rightwing lawmakers have made clear that Republican leadership should not work with Democrats. In fact, it was a similar scenario that led to Kevin McCarthy’s removal as House speaker in October. He struck a deal with the Democratic minority to prevent a shutdown, and days later was out of the job:The House has approved a $1.2tn government funding bill that will prevent a partial shutdown, with 286 votes in favor against 134 opposed.The Senate is expected to vote on the bill later today, and Joe Biden has said he will sign it. More

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      Republican House majority to shrink as Mike Gallagher steps down

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      The Republican majority in the US House of Representatives is set to dwindle further with the early exit of Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, once a rising star of the party.A former US marine who twice deployed to Iraq, Gallagher, 40, is a relatively moderate voice in party at the mercy of the far right.He had already announced his decision to retire but in a statement on Friday he said: “After conversations with my family, I have made the decision to resign my position … effective 19 April. I’ve worked closely with House Republican leadership on this timeline.”The announcement came shortly after Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, an extremist even in a party held hostage by its far right, responded to the passage of a Democrat-backed funding bill by filing a motion to remove Mike Johnson, the speaker from Louisiana.Allies said Gallagher was pushed to the exit by such behaviour, according to Politico, particularly the right’s ejection of Johnson’s predecessor as speaker, Kevin McCarthy, last October.Friday was also the last day in Congress for Ken Buck of Colorado, a rightwinger nonetheless disillusioned by intra-party chaos who also chose to bring forward his intended retirement.After Buck’s departure, Republicans will control the House 218-213. Once Gallagher is gone, Johnson will only be able to afford to lose one vote if Democrats hold together.Under Wisconsin elections law, Gallagher’s seat will not be contested until November.On Friday, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the majority leader, told reporters: “It’s tough, but it’s tough with a five-seat majority, it’s tough with a two-seat majority, one is going to be the same. We all have to work together. We’re all going to have to unite if we’re going get some things done.”In a caucus dominated from without by Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, that seems highly unlikely.Last month, Gallagher was one of three House Republicans who voted against the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, an effort widely seen not to meet the threshold for charges of high crimes and misdemeanours but meant to boost Republican messaging on immigration in an election year.Mayorkas will almost certainly escape conviction and removal by the Democratic-held Senate.Soon after voting against the Mayorkas impeachment, Gallagher announced his plan to retire.“Electoral politics was never supposed to be a career and, trust me, Congress is no place to grow old,” he said. “And so, with a heavy heart, I have decided not to run for re-election.”On Friday, Gallagher cited his work chairing a select committee on China and said “four terms serving north-east Wisconsin in Congress has been the honour of a lifetime and strengthened my conviction that America is the greatest country in the history of the world”. More

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      US House passes $1.2tn spending bill hours before shutdown deadline

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      The House voted on Friday to pass a $1.2tn spending package that would fund much of the federal government through September, with just hours left to avert a partial shutdown. The bill now advances to the Senate, which will have to act quickly to keep the government open.The House vote was 286 to 134, with 101 Republicans and 185 Democrats supporting the funding bill. Twenty-two Democrats and 112 Republicans opposed the proposal.The House speaker, the Republican Mike Johnson, introduced the bill under suspension of the rules, meaning that he needed the support of two-thirds of members to pass the proposal. The bill barely crossed that threshold, and Johnson did not win the the support of the majority of his conference as he had hoped, but the speaker voiced optimism after the successful vote.“House Republicans achieved conservative policy wins, rejected extreme Democrat proposals, and imposed substantial cuts while significantly strengthening national defense,” Johnson said in a statement. “The process was also an important step in breaking the omnibus muscle memory and represents the best achievable outcome in a divided government.”On the government funding front, the spending package now advances to the Senate, where members will have to unanimously agree on fast-tracking the bill’s passage to prevent a shutdown. If the Senate can pass the bill, Joe Biden has already said he will “immediately” sign it once it reaches his desk.The bill would fund about 70% of the federal government – including the defense, state, education and homeland security departments – for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on 30 September. Earlier this month, Biden signed a separate spending bill that funded the rest of the federal government through September, so the bill’s passage would eliminate the threat of a shutdown until October.Although the bill passed the House, Johnson had to mostly rely on Democratic votes to get it across the finish line. The widespread opposition among House Republicans raised questions about the future of Johnson’s speakership, which began only five months ago.Just before the funding bill passed, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right Republican of Georgia, was seen giving a resolution to the House parliamentarian. Greene later confirmed the resolution was a motion to vacate Johnson from the speakership, but it remains unclear whether she would have the votes to remove him.Speaking to reporters after the vote, Greene described the resolution as “more of a warning than a pink slip” to Johnson, indicating she would not move immediately to oust the speaker.“I do not wish to inflict pain on our conference and throw the House in chaos,” Greene said. “But this is basically a warning, and it’s time for us to go through the process, take our time and find a new speaker of the House that will stand with Republicans and our Republican majority instead of standing with Democrats.”A number of hard-right Republicans had indicated before the final vote that they would oppose the bill, arguing the legislation does not go far enough in restricting immigration. Members of the hard-right House Freedom caucus expressed alarm over the bill’s price tag and the timing of its release on early Thursday morning, complaining that lawmakers were unable to sufficiently review the 1,000-page proposal.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionHouse Republican leaders typically give members 72 hours to review bills before a vote, but they ignored that guideline in this case because of the shutdown deadline. At a press conference held on Friday morning, House Freedom caucus members accused leadership of rushing through a massive spending package that is “chock full of crap”, in the words of Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona.At least one freedom caucus member appeared to raise the idea of removing Johnson over the bill’s passage. The Louisiana congressman assumed the top job after the former speaker, the Republican Kevin McCarthy, was ousted over his decision to work with Democrats to prevent a government shutdown – just as Johnson did on Friday.“There’s some who will say that the Republicans are in the majority in the House, but it’s clear that the Democrats own the speaker’s gavel,” said Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee. “This bill, if it passes, will likely determine who controls the House of Representatives, and this bill will most certainly determine who the next speaker is.”If a vote is held on removing Johnson, he will only be able to afford a handful of defections within his conference and still keep the speaker’s gavel, assuming Democrats do not come to his aid. In the event that Johnson is removed, the House will be unable to conduct business until a new speaker is elected, plunging the lower chamber into chaos yet again. More

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      Judge confirms monitor to oversee Trump business empire’s finances – as it happened

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      Retired federal judge Barbara Jones, who has been monitoring the finances of Donald Trump’s business empire, the Trump Organization, for over a year, has been confirmed to stay in that role for three more years, a judge decided today.Judge Arthur Engoron, in New York, who presided in Trump’s civil fraud trial in recent months, made the announcement on Thursday. The former US president has so far been unable to raise a massive bond of $454m to cover the fine imposed by Engoron for the fraudulent conduct, ABC news reported.As part of his judgment, he also announced that a monitor would oversee the Trump Organization and Jones will now have the power to crawl all over the family business empire’s books and also suggest changes to how it operates.Engoron issued his financial punishment to Trump and co-defendants, including his two adult sons, Don Jr and Eric, last month. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, sued Trump for inflating the value of his assets on government financial statements.Congress appears on course to avert a partial government shutdown that would have begun over the weekend, after Republican and Democratic leaders agreed to a compromise funding the departments where spending has not yet been authorized. Both parties touted wins in the deal, with Republicans pointing to its cuts to Unrwa, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, and the White House cheering its funding for the homeland security department, while warning more was needed. But as with all things in Congress, nothing is sure until it passes, and the House and Senate have until Friday if they want to prevent several federal departments from closing.Here’s what else happened today:
      Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said no further delays in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial were necessary. We’ll see if a judge agrees.
      Barbara Jones, a retired federal judge, had her term monitoring Trump’s finances extended for another three years.
      The Republican Study Committee released its conservative budget proposal, which is meant to signal GOP priorities. Joe Biden seized on it to argue Republicans want to cut social security and ban abortion nationwide.
      Top House Republicans called on Hamas to release hostages taken on 7 October, and Qatar and Egypt to pressure the group.
      Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Trump asked. The Biden campaign answered.
      An air force intelligence analyst is alleged to have shared classified information with supporters of a group that predicts a second civil war in the United States, the Washington Post reports, citing a newly unsealed FBI affidavit.The incident is similar to that of Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts air national guard member who has pleaded guilty to charges related to sharing troves of classified information with gamers on the platform Discord. In the newly revealed case, air force intelligence analyst Jason Gray used Discord to share a smaller amount of classified material, and is currently jailed after being found with child pornography.Here’s more on that, from the Post:
      Investigators said that Jason Gray shared information that he “likely obtained” from his access to National Security Agency intelligence while he served at a base in Alaska, according to the affidavit, which was dated November 2022 and accompanied a search warrant for a Discord account that Gray said he operated.
      At the time the FBI sought the warrant, Gray had already admitted to Air Force investigators that he had created a Facebook group for supporters of the loosely-organized, anti-government Boogaloo movement, whose followers anticipate a second U.S. civil war. Gray, whom investigators described as unhappy with his military career, participated in several pro-Boogaloo Discord channels and shared the classified NSA intelligence with seven other individuals possibly “in furtherance of the Boogaloo ideology,” the affidavit stated.
      …
      It wasn’t immediately clear if investigators initially suspected Gray of sharing classified information on Discord when he consented to let them examine his account. But given that he had been discovered months before Teixeira was arrested, the incident raises questions about what the Defense Department knew about personnel who were able to share highly guarded government secrets on a chat platform.
      Progressive lawmakers, led by independent senator Bernie Sanders and Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, today unveiled another proposal for a “green New Deal” for public housing.In a speech at the Capitol, Ocasio-Cortez cast the policy as a way both to lower housing costs and to fight the climate crisis, while providing well-paid union jobs:Here’s more on the progressive push, from the Guardian’s Dharna Noor:Donald Trump may have been indicted four times, but each of his criminal trials is facing delays of various sorts that could leave them unresolved before the 5 November presidential election. In his prosecution in Florida for allegedly hiding classified documents, the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports that the judge overseeing the case appears sympathetic to some of his most far-fetched arguments, which have slowed the proceedings:The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s prosecution on charges of retaining classified documents appears to be entertaining his most brazen defenses that could ultimately result in ensuring the acquittal of the former president.The issue revolves around an order from the US district judge Aileen Cannon on Monday asking Trump and prosecutors in the office of the special counsel Jack Smith to draft jury instructions for two scenarios that gave extraordinary credit to Trump’s defense theories.The two jury instruction scenarios, as conceived by Cannon, were so beneficial to Trump and so potentially incorrect on the law of the Espionage Act that it would bring into serious doubt whether it made sense for prosecutors to take the case to trial.In her two-page order, Cannon asked for both parties to draft jury instructions supposing it was true that Trump had the power under the Presidential Records Act to turn any White House document – classified or not – into personal records: records he was authorized to retain.The authorization issue is key to the case because Trump was indicted for unlawfully retaining national security materials under the Espionage Act. If Trump could show that he was somehow authorized to keep the documents at Mar-a-Lago, it would preclude his prosecution.Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg told a judge today that after reviewing recently obtained documents, he does not believe any further delays are necessary in Donald Trump’s case over alleged hush-money payments.Bragg’s case was to be the first of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial, with jury selections set to begin Monday. But Bragg last week asked for a delay of 30 days so lawyers could reviews documents received from federal prosecutors, who had previously investigated whether Trump paid an adult film star not to speak out about a sexual encounter.A judge agreed with that request, but in a filing today, Bragg said there was no need to delay the case further, arguing there has been “more than enough time for the parties to review what the people now have good reason to believe is the limited number of relevant records in the [federal prosecutors’] recent productions. This court should accordingly deny defendant’s request for more extreme sanctions.”Speaking of Donald Trump’s finances, the former president may get a lifeline on Friday if shareholders allow him to float his media company. But a clause in the deal means it’s unlikely to resolve his issues paying a massive civil fraud judgment. Here’s more on that, from the Guardian’s Dan Milmo:Donald Trump’s wealth is set to increase by about $3.4bn (£2.7bn) if a shareholder vote on Friday paves the way for the float of his Trump Media business.The former US president is preparing to list Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the Truth Social tech platform, via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or Spac.The Spac, called Digital World Acquisition, has scheduled a vote on the merger with Trump Media for Friday. However, there are complications around the planned vote after Digital World sued sponsor ARC Global Investments, which is trying to delay the deal, to back the merger.If the merger goes ahead and Trump Media goes public as soon as next week, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee would not be able to cash in any of his potential paper wealth immediately. The merger document contains a provision that blocks major shareholders from selling stock for six months.Trump’s finances are under pressure as he prepares to contest the US presidency with the incumbent, Joe Biden, for a second time. Last month Trump was formally ordered by a New York judge to pay $454m following a civil fraud case, in which the former president was found to have manipulated the value of his properties to obtain advantageous loan and insurance rates.Retired federal judge Barbara Jones, who has been monitoring the finances of Donald Trump’s business empire, the Trump Organization, for over a year, has been confirmed to stay in that role for three more years, a judge decided today.Judge Arthur Engoron, in New York, who presided in Trump’s civil fraud trial in recent months, made the announcement on Thursday. The former US president has so far been unable to raise a massive bond of $454m to cover the fine imposed by Engoron for the fraudulent conduct, ABC news reported.As part of his judgment, he also announced that a monitor would oversee the Trump Organization and Jones will now have the power to crawl all over the family business empire’s books and also suggest changes to how it operates.Engoron issued his financial punishment to Trump and co-defendants, including his two adult sons, Don Jr and Eric, last month. The New York attorney general, Letitia James, sued Trump for inflating the value of his assets on government financial statements.The draft US security council resolution on Gaza marks a shift in the American position, but it is a nuanced shift, retaining the linkage between a ceasefire and hostage release while loosening that linkage and emphasising that an immediate end to hostilities is the priority.The primary focus for now is the hostage negotiations underway in Qatar which are moving into high gear again, with CIA and Mossad chiefs, William Burns and David Barnea expected to fly into Doha on Friday.The US draft resolution is designed to provide a sense of urgency to those talks. It also represents an attempt by the Biden administration to keep pressure on Hamas while seeking to regain some international credibility and mend ties with allies after three vetoes of UN ceasefire resolutions.The latest veto was cast on 20 February, on an Algerian ceasefire resolution. At the time the US envoy to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, insisted that an unconditional ceasefire could derail the talks on a hostage deal, which Washington portrayed as the best way to a sustainable truce. The US mission at the UN circulated an alternative text which the security council “underscores its support for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as practicable, based on the formula of all hostages being released.”A month has passed since then, however. There has been no hostage deal and Gaza has slipped much further towards absolute catastrophe, with a UN panel of experts warning that a famine is imminent. The US is struggling to avoid the accusation of complicity in that disaster, and February’s version of the text now looks all the more complacent.The new version of the draft resolution circulated on Thursday morning represents stronger language.The full article of which the above is an extract will be launched online by the Guardian very soon. All eyes are on the United Nations headquarters in New York to see what happens next.Congress appears on course to avert a partial government shutdown that will begin over the weekend, after Republican and Democratic leaders agreed to a compromise funding the departments where spending has not yet been authorized. Both parties touted wins in the deal, with Republicans pointing to its cuts to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, and the White House cheering its funding for the homeland security department, while warning more was needed. But as with all things in Congress, nothing is sure until it passes, and the House and Senate have until Friday to do that if they want to prevent several federal departments from closing.Here’s what else is going on today:
      The Republican Study Committee released its conservative budget proposal, which is meant to signal GOP priorities. Joe Biden seized on it to argue Republicans want to cut Social Security and ban abortion nationwide.
      Top House Republicans called on Hamas to release hostages taken on 7 October, and Qatar and Egypt to pressure the group.
      Are you better off now than you were four years ago, Donald Trump asked. The Biden campaign answered.
      Yesterday, at the conclusion of their latest hearing in their troubled impeachment investigation into Joe Biden, oversight committee chair James Comer proposed having the president himself testify. The White House’s reaction? “LOL”. Here’s more, from the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly:A White House spokesperson poured cold water on Republicans’ stated intention to invite Joe Biden to testify in public in his own impeachment hearings, lamenting “a sad stunt” and telling the rightwing congressman steering the effort: “Call it a day, pal.”James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chair of the House oversight committee, has led attempts to impeach the president over alleged corruption involving the business dealings of his son Hunter Biden.At the end of a long hearing on Wednesday, Comer said: “In the coming days I will invite President Biden to the oversight committee to provide his testimony and explain why his family received tens of millions of dollars … We need to hear from the president himself.”Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, responded swiftly and brutally.“LOL,” Sams wrote, adding a face-palm emoji.He added: “Comer knows 20-plus witnesses have testified that [Joe Biden] did nothing wrong. He knows that the hundreds of thousands of pages of records he’s received have refuted his false allegations. This is a sad stunt at the end of a dead impeachment. Call it a day, pal.”On his Truth Social network, Donald Trump recently asked a question presidential candidates have posed to voters for more than 40 years: are you better off now than you were four years ago?On X, Joe Biden’s campaign seized on the post to remind Americans that the last ten months of Trump’s presidency were catastrophic, as Covid-19 devastated the economy upended daily life, and killed hundreds of thousands of people:The White House said it “strongly supports” passage of the bill to fund the remaining federal departments that have not yet had spending authorized for the 2024 fiscal year, calling it “a compromise between Republicans and Democrats” that would invest “in key priorities for the American people”.But in their statement, the Office of Management and Budget has one quibble. It notes that the Biden administration “fought for and secured additional resources in H.R. 2882 so that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can maintain its current capacity to manage the border”, which is seeing a surge in migrant arrivals, but that funding won’t be sufficient:
      However, DHS funding levels are still inadequate and the Administration reiterates its call to the Congress to take up and pass the bipartisan border security agreement, which would provide DHS with policy changes and resources it needs to better secure our border and protect the homeland.
      The bipartisan border security agreement they are referring to appears to be dead, killed by Republicans who felt it did not go far enough – even though their lawmakers were involved in negotiating it.Congress is in the midst of passing a consensus budget that will avert a government shutdown set to begin over the weekend. But, as it does every year, the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) yesterday released a budget proposal that would enact a number of rightwing policies on everything from immigration to abortion to taxation.The RSC is the largest caucus among House Republicans, and its budget is meant to show where lawmakers stand on various issues. It’s also fodder for Democrats, as they seek to convince voters that Republican intend to enact extreme policies. Here’s what Joe Biden has to say about it, in a statement:
      My dad had an expression, “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.” The Republican Study Committee budget shows what Republicans value. This extreme budget will cut Medicare, Social Security, and the Affordable Care Act. It endorses a national abortion ban. The Republican budget will raise housing costs and prescription drugs costs for families. And it will shower giveaways on the wealthy and biggest corporations. Let me be clear: I will stop them.
      A summary of the RSC’s budget can be found here.The Biden administration’s plans to at the United Nations call for a ceasefire in Gaza may mark a significant shift in its policy towards Israel, the Guardian’s Julian Borger and Peter Beaumont report:The US has drafted a new UN security council resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” and hostage deal in Gaza, amid mounting pressure on Israel to halt its military campaign and allow the delivery of substantial amounts of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, presented the resolution as calling for “an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages”.The US has consistently argued that the route to a ceasefire has to be through a hostage deal, but the new draft resolution presented on Thursday, seen by the Guardian, is more ambiguous about the linkage.The draft says the UN security council “determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides, allow for the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance, and alleviate humanitarian suffering, and towards that end unequivocally supports ongoing international diplomatic efforts to secure such a ceasefire in connection with the release of all remaining hostages”.A European diplomat at the UN said the stress on an “immediate” ceasefire and the phrase “towards that end” showed significant movement in the US position. “I think it is a shift in saying that a ceasefire is not contingent on a specific deal,” the diplomat said.Three top-ranking Republicans in the House, speaker Mike Johnson, majority leader Steve Scalise and foreign affairs committee chair Michael McCaul, have called on Hamas to release the remaining hostages taken in the 7 October attack, and on Qatar and Egypt to use their leverage to get the group to accept a deal:
      It is despicable that Hamas continues to hold over 130 innocent civilians hostage, including American citizens, nearly half a year later. As negotiations to secure their release resume, we urge Qatar and Egypt to use all of their leverage to immediately secure the release of the hostages on reasonable terms. There must be tangible, severe consequences for delaying or impeding negotiations, and Hamas should understand that delays or further harm to these civilians will come at a cost. Lives are at stake and time is of the essence. Continued negotiations should carry a vital sense of urgency.
      Donald Trump’s campaign and his Save America Pac reported raising a combined $15.9m in February and ended the month with more than $37m on hand, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission last night.That is up from January, when the committees raised only $13.8m, but it is still lagging behind Joe Biden’s campaign, which said he and the Democratic National Committee raised $53m last month and ended February with $155 on hand.In a statement, Trump’s campaign communications director, Steven Cheung, said:
      Americans know that they were better off with President Trump four years ago than with Crooked Joe Biden and his disastrous policies. We need a return to America First policies that successfully kept our country safe and supercharged the economy for all Americans.
      “If Donald Trump put up these kinds of numbers on The Apprentice, he’d fire himself,” Biden’s campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, said in a statement.The US government on Thursday filed a sprawling antitrust case against Apple, alleging that the tech giant has illegally prevented competition by restricting access to its software and hardware.The case is a direct challenge to the company’s core products and practices, including its iMessage service and how devices such as the iPhone and Apple Watch connect with one another.The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, alleges that Apple has monopoly power in the smartphone market and uses its control over the iPhone to “engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct”, the Associated Press reported.The US Department of Justice’s suit against Apple is a landmark case targeting the most valuable publicly traded company in the world and follows a raft of antitrust suits aimed at big tech. Amazon, Apple, Meta and Google have all faced investigations from regulators in recent years, both in the United States and Europe, over allegations that they have consolidated power while illegally stifling competition. All have market capitalizations above a trillion dollars. More

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      Republican House speaker says he’ll invite Netanyahu to address Congress

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      Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, said on Thursday that he plans to invite Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, to speak before Congress.The comments come a week after Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate leader, called for elections in Israel which could oust Netanyahu, claiming the prime minister has “has lost his way”.Republican support for Netanyahu has remained staunch, despite the death toll in Gaza rising to more than 30,000 in the face of Israel’s continued military action.“I would love to have him come in and address a joint session of Congress,” Johnson said on Thursday morning, in an interview with CNBC. “We’ll certainly extend that invitation.”Johnson said it would be “a great honor of mine” to invite the Israeli leader. He added: “We’re just trying to work out schedules on all this”.Netanyahu addressed Republican senators virtually at a closed door event on Wednesday. Earlier in the week Israel’s prime minister said he was “determined” to carry out a ground invasion of Rafah, the city in the south of Gaza, despite opposition from Joe Biden. An estimated 1.5 million Palestinians have taken shelter in Rafah after fleeing violence elsewhere in the country.Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the United States, was criticized by Republicans and by Israel’s ruling Likud party after he said Netanyahu “has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel” in a speech in the Senate.The Senate leader pointed out that Netanyahu had included far-right figures in his government, and said the prime minister “has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.”On Thursday, Schumer said he would welcome Netanyahu to speak before Congress.“Israel has no stronger ally than the United States and our relationship transcends any one president or any one prime minister,” Schumer said in a statement.“I will always welcome the opportunity for the prime minister of Israel to speak to Congress in a bipartisan way.”Johnson’s invitation comes after Reuters reported on Wednesday that a bill being worked on by the House, Senate and the Biden administration would continue a ban on funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (Unrwa), the main UN agency for Palestinians, until March 2025.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe White House said in January it was temporarily pausing new funding to Unrwa after Israel accused 12 of the agency’s 13,000 employees in Gaza of participating in the 7 October Hamas attack.Australia, Sweden, the European Commission and Canada recently reinstated funding to Unrwa, having paused funding while the allegations were investigated.In announcing the resumption of funding Penny Wong, the Australian foreign minister, said: “The best available current advice from agencies and the Australian government lawyers is that Unrwa is not a terrorist organization.”In 2015, Netanyahu infuriated the Obama administration by accepting an invitation from John Boehner, then the Republican speaker, to address a joint sitting of Congress about the threat of a nuclear Iran.That speech was interpreted as a partisan intervention in US politics, and an attempt to wreck western negotiations with Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme. The White House was particularly incensed that Boehner and Ron Dermer, then the Israeli ambassador to Washington, conspired to arrange the speech without consulting the administration. More

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      White House warns Texas immigration law will ‘sow chaos and confusion at our southern border’ – as it happened

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      The supreme court has allowed a law passed by Texas’s Republican-dominated state government that gives police the power to arrest people suspected of crossing the border illegally to go into effect.The court’s six conservative justices turned down an appeal from the Biden administration, which wanted the law blocked while it challenged it in lower courts. The court’s three liberals dissented.The measure had been on hold due to a stay authorized by conservative justice Samuel Alito, who was among the group that allowed it to go into effect. Alito extended it yesterday:The White House expressed outrage after Donald Trump said in an interview that Jews who vote for Democrats “hate” Israel and their religion, with a spokesman for Joe Biden decrying Trump’s “vile and unhinged antisemitic rhetoric”, and the Democratic National Committee saying the former president “should be ashamed of himself”. Meanwhile, the leaders of Congress announced a government funding deal to avert a partial shutdown that would have begun this coming weekend, though it still needs to be approved by lawmakers. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was “deeply concerned” about reports of an imminent famine in northern Gaza, while again calling on Republican House speaker Mike Johnson to allow a vote on aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.Here’s what else happened today:
      The supreme court allowed a Texas law granting police powers to arrest people suspected of crossing the border illegally to go into effect, drawing objections from the White House.
      Peter Navarro, a former Trump White House adviser, reported to federal prison to begin serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress, but not without railing against his conviction one last time.
      Republican senator Lindsey Graham took up a proposal, championed by Trump, to turn Ukraine aid into a loan. The White House declined to comment.
      It’s primary day in five states, with most of the drama occurring in down-ballot elections.
      The Biden campaign launched an effort to win the support of Latino voters in the November elections.
      White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blasted Texas’s SB4 immigration law, saying in a statement that allowing state police to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally will upend border security:
      We fundamentally disagree with the Supreme Court’s order allowing Texas’ harmful and unconstitutional law to go into effect. S.B. 4 will not only make communities in Texas less safe, it will also burden law enforcement, and sow chaos and confusion at our southern border. S.B. 4 is just another example of Republican officials politicizing the border while blocking real solutions. We remained focused on delivering the significant policy changes and resources we need to secure the border – that is why we continue to call on Congressional Republicans to pass the bipartisan border security agreement, the toughest and fairest set of border reforms in decades.
      Some thoughts on the implications of the supreme court allowing Texas’s SB4 to go into effect and give police the power to arrest people suspected of crossing the border illegally, from Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council:However, the law is still being litigated at the appeals level, and depending on how that plays out, Reichlin-Melnick predicts the supreme court may have to weigh in on it again soon:In a dissent, liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor writes that allowing the Texas immigration law to go into effect “invites further chaos and crisis in immigration enforcement”.“Texas passed a law that directly regulates the entry and removal of noncitizens and explicitly instructs its state courts to disregard any ongoing federal immigration proceedings. That law upends the federal-state balance of power that has existed for over a century, in which the National Government has had exclusive authority over entry and removal of noncitizen,” writes Sotomayor, who is joined by fellow liberal justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.“Texas can now immediately enforce its own law imposing criminal liability on thousands of noncitizens and requiring their removal to Mexico. This law will disrupt sensitive foreign relations, frustrate the protection of individuals fleeing persecution, hamper active federal enforcement efforts, undermine federal agencies’ ability to detect and monitor imminent security threats, and deter noncitizens from reporting abuse or trafficking.”Texas’s Republican governor Greg Abbott called the supreme court’s decision a “positive development”, but notes it is still being challenged at the appeals court level:The Texas law allowing police to arrest suspected undocumented border crossers comes amid a wider confrontation with the Biden administration over border security. Here’s more on that, and the supreme court’s decision to allow the law to go into effect, from Reuters:The US supreme court on Tuesday declined to block a Republican-backed Texas law allowing state law enforcement authorities to arrest people suspected of crossing the US-Mexico border illegally, rejecting a request by President Joe Biden’s administration.The administration had asked the justices to freeze a judicial order allowing the Texas law to take effect while the US government’s challenge to the statute proceeds in the lower courts. The administration has argued that the law violates the US constitution and federal law by interfering with the US government’s power to regulate immigration.Governor Greg Abbott last December signed the law, known as SB 4, authorizing Texas law enforcement officers to arrest people suspected of entering the United States illegally, giving local officers powers long delegated to the US government.Abbott said the law was needed due to Biden’s failure to enforce federal laws criminalizing illegal entry or re-entry, telling a press conference on 18 December that “Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself.“The supreme court has allowed a law passed by Texas’s Republican-dominated state government that gives police the power to arrest people suspected of crossing the border illegally to go into effect.The court’s six conservative justices turned down an appeal from the Biden administration, which wanted the law blocked while it challenged it in lower courts. The court’s three liberals dissented.The measure had been on hold due to a stay authorized by conservative justice Samuel Alito, who was among the group that allowed it to go into effect. Alito extended it yesterday:An Arizona lawmaker announced on Monday on the state senate floor that she plans to have an abortion after learning that her pregnancy is not viable, the Associated Press writes.State senator Eva Burch, a registered nurse known for her reproductive rights activism, was surrounded by fellow Democratic senators as she made the announcement, the Arizona Republic reported and the AP brings us via news wire.Burch said that she found out a few weeks ago that “against all odds”, she was pregnant. The mother of two living children from west Mesa who is running for re-election said she has had “a rough journey” with fertility. She experienced her first miscarriage 13 years ago, was pregnant many times and terminated a nonviable pregnancy as she campaigned for her senate seat two years ago, she said.Now, Burch said that her current pregnancy was not progressing and not viable and she had made an appointment to terminate.
      I don’t think people should have to justify their abortions. But I’m choosing to talk about why I made this decision because I want us to be able to have meaningful conversations about the reality of how the work that we do in this body impacts people in the real world.”
      Burch said the state’s laws have “interfered” with her decision. Arizona law required an “invasive” transvaginal ultrasound that her doctor didn’t order and she was then read “factually false” information about alternatives that was required by law, she said.
      I’m a perfect example of why this relationship should be between patients and providers,” not state lawmakers,” Burch said.
      Burch called on the legislature to pass laws that make sure every Arizonan has the opportunity to make decisions that are right for them. She also said she hoped voters have a chance to weigh in on the topic of abortion rights on the November ballot.Joe Biden is onboard Air Force One en route to Nevada and expects to touch down shortly in Reno, for a campaign event, then head on to Las Vegas and, later, Arizona and its state capital, Phoenix.The US president and his vice-president, Kamala Harris, are today launching a special push to retain and win over teetering Hispanic voters who might be leaning towards the Republicans.Donald Trump was ahead of Biden in a recent New York Times/Siena College poll of Latino voters by six points. Many respond to Trump’s conservative economic message and hardline approach to migration and future immigration.Biden and Harris have devised the “Latinos con Biden/Harris” [Latinos with Biden/Harris] campaign. Harris has posted about it on X/Twitter, with Biden reposting/tweeting. There’s a clip of her on a bilingual radio show in Phoenix, Arizona, and giving speeches and making statements, talking up the US as a nation of immigrants.“Generation after generation, immigrants have made our nation stronger,” she said. There’s also a clip of her saying the US immigration system has been “broken for years”, which in the fourth year of the Biden administration is a tough message to push, despite intransigence in Congress and unprecedented forces driving migration, from extremism to the climate crisis.The White House expressed outrage after Donald Trump said in an interview that Jews who vote for Democrats “hate” Israel and their religion, with a spokesman for Joe Biden decrying Trump’s “vile and unhinged antisemitic rhetoric”, and the Democratic National Committee saying the former president “should be ashamed of himself”. Meanwhile, in Congress, the top Democrats and Republicans announced a government funding deal to avert a partial shutdown that would have begun this coming weekend, though it still needs to be approved by lawmakers. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was “deeply concerned” about reports of an imminent famine in northern Gaza, while again calling on Republican House speaker Mike Johnson to allow a vote on aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.Here’s what else has happened today so far:
      Peter Navarro, a former Trump White House adviser, reported to federal prison to begin serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress, but not without railing against his conviction one last time.
      Republican senator Lindsey Graham took up a proposal, championed by Trump, to turn Ukraine aid into a loan. The White House declined to comment.
      It’s primary day in five states, with most of the drama occurring in down-ballot elections.
      White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was also asked if the Biden administration had looked into making its aid to Ukraine a loan, as Donald Trump has proposed.She didn’t answer the question, only restating their position that Republican House speaker Mike Johnson must allow a vote on legislation approved by the Senate to provide military assistance to Ukraine along with Taiwan and Israel.“To give Ukraine what they need is to get that national [security] supplemental passed,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.“We know for a fact that there are multiple Republican congressional members in the House who have said that they would vote for it if it goes to the floor. We know where Democrats are on this,” she continued. “The speaker has to put it to the floor and not … let politics get in the way.”Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre just told reporters that the White House is “deeply concerned” over aid groups’ warning that famine in northern Gaza is imminent.“We certainly are deeply concerned about the report yesterday … about the imminent famine in Gaza,” Jean-Pierre said. “As the report makes clear, despite ongoing and tireless efforts, including by this administration, the amount of aid reaching people in Gaza, and particularly those most in need, remains insufficient. “So, we have been clear that there is more that needs to be done and this report is a stark and devastating reminder of this.”The United States has been airdropping food and other aid into the enclave, and Joe Biden announced earlier this month that the US military would build a floating pier to allow deliveries by sea.“Everyone needs to do more,” said Jean-Pierre, who called on Israel “to provide sustained and unimpeded for assistance to enter both northern and southern Gaza.” More