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      Aaron Bushnell was my friend. May he never be forgotten | Levi Pierpont

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      On Monday 26 February, at 3.43pm, I got a text from a friend.“Have you seen the news out of DC today about the air force member? Let me know if you need to talk tonight or later this week.” I replied and explained that I had seen the headlines, and that it saddened me. She texted: “Since he was based in San Antonio I wondered if he was someone you crossed paths with or had friends in common with.”I said: “Hmm. I’ll have to find his name.”The next moment, there was a text.“The name I’ve seen is Aaron Bushnell.”I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I walked out the front door, and looked up at the sky. I called my friend. I said: “That’s my friend. I went to basic with him. I saw him last month.” And I wept. I found my last text conversation with him; he had sent me a YouTube video he thought was funny and we had chatted back and forth about it.That was early February, and I never heard from him again. I googled his name, and only believed it was really him when I saw his face on the news. I found the post he had made talking about why he was going to do what he did.I am still in shock. Every time I see a headline, I remember it all over again. Every time I see his name written on a poster at a protest, or I meet someone who knows his name, it doesn’t feel real to me. There’s so much on my mind right now, but here’s what I know, at this moment.Aaron did not die in vain. He has already inspired so many to stand up for truth and justice. It breaks my heart that his life ended this way. I could never do what he did, and I don’t believe anyone should do what he did. But we’ll never get Aaron back. All we can do is hear the message he died to shine a spotlight on: the horrors of the genocide in Gaza, and the complicity we share as military members and taxpayers of a government deeply invested in violence.Aaron is by no means the only United States military member who has felt complicit in the military’s violence, powerless to change anything, and stuck waiting until the end of a four- or six-year contract. There are thousands of military members similarly distraught, having thoughts of taking extreme actions to escape something that feels inescapable.I got out of the air force as a conscientious objector in 2023, after going through the exhaustive process for over a year. I applied to be separated because I came to realize I did not support what the military was doing, I didn’t support its goals, and I didn’t want to earn my livelihood from something I believed was wrong.During the process, I had so many conversations with fellow military members, a great many of whom could relate to the way I felt. One member spoke frankly with me, admitting that she had serious concerns with supporting the military. However, faced with the high costs of medical care outside the military, she commented: “If I have to sell my soul to the devil to get my children healthcare, that’s what I have to do.” Others were considering taking their lives as the only way to escape, and had no hope that they could make it to the end of their contract.If you’re a civilian living in the United States, please, have compassion for military members. Understand that many of us joined before we knew all the evil committed by the military. Do what you can to support organizations helping military members separate as conscientious objectors before the end of their contracts, such as the Center on Conscience & War.If someone in your life is considering joining the military, work with them to find other ways to fulfill the needs and desires that are drawing them to it, whether that’s looking for affordable ways to attend college, or more ethical ways to become a part of something larger than oneself, that actually benefits the world.If you’re a service member, I want you to know that you have options. You do not have to be complicit in genocide. You can stand up for what you believe in. If you’re having thoughts of killing yourself, reach out to your chaplains or an anonymous hotline for help. You matter. I need you to stay alive.Please, don’t forget Aaron. Let his death inspire you to live, with your whole being committed to the cause of justice for oppressed people. If you are a praying person, please pray for Aaron’s family. Rest in peace, Aaron.
      Levi Pierpont is a conscientious objector More

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      Cameron warns failure to supply arms to Ukraine will harm US security

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      David Cameron has said that the continued US failure to supply arms to Ukraine would undermine its own security, strengthen China and cast doubt on America’s reliability as an ally around the world.The UK foreign secretary, who attended the G20 meeting in Brazil earlier in the week, admitted that the effort to rally global support for the Ukrainian cause had been “damaged” by the fact that neither the US nor the UK had voted for a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. But he argued the damage had been mitigated by the UK’s clarification of its position.Cameron was speaking in New York on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine at a time when the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, is blocking a substantial package of military aid to Kyiv, leading to a severe ammunition shortage for Ukrainian troops.The foreign secretary was flanked by his German and Polish counterparts, Annalena Baerbock and Radek Sikorski, who made their own calls for US supplies to be resumed at a meeting organised in New York by the Wall Street Journal ahead of a UN security council meeting on Ukraine on Friday afternoon.Earlier in the day, Joe Biden had announced 500 new sanctions on Russia and a further 100 entities around the world for providing support to Russia, in an effort to squeeze Moscow’s revenues. But the foreign ministers made clear that arms supplies were the key in the struggle with Russia in Ukraine.Cameron sought to frame his argument in terms of competition with China, one of the few issues that unites Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress.“I know that lots of people in Congress are hugely concerned about the role of China and if you’re concerned about the role of China, you must make sure that Putin doesn’t win,” he said.He added that Beijing was enjoying “the fact that we’re, we’re not as united as we should be. I think that’s why the American package is so important.”In its relations with countries around the world, Cameron argued, China was saying “come have a relationship with us. America isn’t reliable.”The end of US military support to Ukraine, he added “would strengthen that argument they make in an enormous way”.Baerbock said the blockage of US aid “will be the biggest gift for Putin and will be the biggest gift for China”.“The Ukrainians are fighting like lions, but you cannot fight with bare hands,” Sikorski said. “They are running out of ammunition for anti-aircraft missiles that are protecting cities and when soldiers don’t have artillery shells, they have to do close combat fighting. That means that Ukrainian casualties are greater.”The European ministers face an uphill task persuading a Republican congressional leadership that is under the powerful sway of Donald Trump, an opponent of Ukrainian aid, and also resistant to allied pressure. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Republican congresswoman, responded to an earlier effort by Cameron to persuade Congress in Ukraine’s favour that the foreign secretary could “kiss my ass”.“I’m not trying to lecture or tell American congressmen what to do,” Cameron insisted on Friday. “I love my own country but I love America too. I think this is really important for America, for American security.”He admitted that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and western positions on the conflict had complicated efforts to build global solidarity against Russia. Earlier this week, the US vetoed a UN security council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire for the third time, and the UK abstained.“The fact that we haven’t signed up for some of these resolutions and what have you, it does do some damage. There is no doubt about that,” Cameron said. “But I think when you explain how we really want to stop the fighting right now and have got a plan to do it, I think that helps to build some faith between the Arab world and what foreign ministers like myself and others say.”As European ministers sought to change minds in the Republican party, Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks with a US congressional delegation in Lviv. The group – led by the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer – said it wanted to show that the US had not abandoned “the Ukrainian people”, or its Nato allies in Europe.Schumer said he and his fellow Democrats would “not stop fighting” until $61bn in military funding for Ukraine was delivered. House Republicans are currently blocking the assistance package, despite a 64-19 Senate vote in favour.View image in fullscreen“We believe we are at an inflection point in history and we must make it clear to our friends and allies around the globe that the US does not back away from our responsibilities,” Schumer said. The consequences of walking away would be “severe”, he warned, saying he would “make this clear” to the Republican speaker and to others obstructing aid back in Washington.Schumer told the Associated Press opposition to the national security package “may be the view of Donald Trump and some of the hard-right zealots. But it is not the view of the American people, and I don’t think it’s the view of the majority of people in the House or Senate.”Ukrainian commanders say with no new US weapons deliveries they are facing serious problems on the battlefield. They say that Ukrainian soldiers were forced to withdraw from the eastern city of Avdiivka last week because of an acute shortage of shells and ammunition. Further Russian gains were likely if no more aid arrived, they admitted.Ukraine is also running out of western-supplied interceptor missiles. A Russian drone strike killed three people early on Friday in the Black Sea port of Odesa, the regional governor, Oleh Kiper, said. Ukrainian air defences were only able to shoot down 23 out of 31 drones – a significantly lower number than in attacks last year.Earlier in Lviv Zelenskiy met with Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen. The country has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest European allies. Frederiksen recently pledged to give all of Denmark’s artillery reserves to Ukraine and on Friday signed a long-term security agreement with Kyiv. It envisages giving €1.8bn ($1.9bn) in support.The two leaders visited Lviv’s Lychakiv cemetery and laid flowers at the grave of a Ukrainian soldier. Many hundreds of service personnel have been buried there since Russia’s full-scale invasion two years ago. More

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      Will Trump abandon Ukraine if he wins in November? – podcast

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      Two years ago this weekend, Russia invaded Ukraine. Two weeks ago, Donald Trump admitted that he would encourage Russia to ‘do whatever the hell they want’ to the US’s Nato allies, if they did not meet Trump’s demand to ‘pay their fair share’ of Nato funding. He also compared himself to the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny when discussing one of his many legal woes. All the while, the military aid package passed by the Senate last week, which includes $60bn for Ukraine, has stalled in the House of Representatives.
      So how worried should the US’s allies be about a second Trump presidency? What happens if the Republican party’s isolationist streak becomes the policy of the entire US? And in the meantime, how can Biden protect Ukraine when Congress refuses to act?
      Jonathan Freedland discusses these questions with Susan Glasser of The New Yorker

      How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know More

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      Biden ‘privately defiant’ over chaotic 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, book says

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      Joe Biden is “privately defiant” that he made the right calls on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in summer 2021, a new book reportedly says, even as the chaos and carnage that unfolded continues to be investigated in Congress.“No one offered to resign” over the withdrawal, writes Alexander Ward, a Politico reporter, “in large part because the president didn’t believe anyone had made a mistake. Ending the war was always going to be messy.”Ward’s book, The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore Foreign Policy After Trump, will be published next week. Axios reported extracts on Friday.Ward adds: “Biden told his top aides, [national security adviser Jake] Sullivan included, that he stood by them and they had done their best during a tough situation.”Ward quotes an unnamed White House official as saying: “There wasn’t even a real possibility of a shake-up.”The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, a month after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. The Taliban, which had sheltered the leader of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, was soon ousted but fighting never ceased.Figures for the total US death toll in the country since 2001 vary. The United States Institute of Peace, an independent body established by Congress, says that 2,324 US military personnel, 3,917 US contractors and 1,144 allied troops were killed during the conflict. More than 20,000 Americans were wounded.“For Afghans,” the institute goes on, “the statistics are nearly unimaginable: 70,000 Afghan military and police deaths, 46,319 Afghan civilians (although that is likely a significant underestimation) and some 53,000 opposition fighters killed. Almost 67,000 other people were killed in Pakistan in relation to the Afghan war.”Hundreds of thousands were displaced. Furthermore, according to the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University, “four times as many [US] service members have died by suicide than in combat in the post-9/11 wars [including Iraq and other campaigns], signaling a widespread mental health crisis”.Biden entered office determined to withdraw, and in late summer 2021 US forces pulled out, leaving the defense of the country to US-trained Afghan national forces.The Taliban swiftly overran that opposition, and soon scenes of chaos at Kabul airport dominated world news. Tens of thousands of Afghans who sought to leave, fearing Taliban reprisals after a 20-year US occupation, were unable to get out. More than 800 US citizens were left behind, notwithstanding Biden’s promise on 18 August that troops would stay until every US citizen who wanted to leave had done so.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionWard, Axios said, quotes a senior White House official as saying: “There’s no one here who thinks we can meet that promise.”On 26 August, 13 US service members were killed in a suicide attack. Three days later, a US drone strike killed 10 Afghan civilians, seven of them children. No Americans faced disciplinary action over the strike, which a US air force inspector general called “an honest mistake”.According to Axios, Ward also details extensive infighting over the withdrawal between the Departments of State and Defense.Biden, Ward says, tended to favour the state department, having been chair of the Senate foreign affairs committee, and to be wary of the Pentagon, having been vice-president to Barack Obama through eight years of inconclusive war. More

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      Biden condemns Trump’s Nato comments as ‘dumb, shameful, dangerous and un-American’ – as it happened

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      Here’s a fuller account of what Joe Biden just said about Donald Trump’s role in Republicans opposing the national security package approved today by the US Senate but set for an uncertain future in the US House, where the far right enjoys a modicum of control through the speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana.“The stakes were already high for American security before this bill was passed in the Senate last night,” Biden said. “But in recent days, those stakes have risen.“That’s because the former president has set a dangerous and shockingly, frankly, un-American signal to the world. Just a few days ago, Trump gave an invitation to Putin to invade some of our allies, Nato allies. He said if an ally didn’t spend enough money on defence, he would encourage Russia to quote, ‘Do whatever the hell they want’.“Can you imagine a former president of the United States saying that? The whole world heard it.“The worst thing is, he means it. No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Let me say this as clearly as I can: I never will. “For god’s sake it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous. It’s un-American. When America gives its word it means something, so when we make a commitment, we keep it. And Nato is a sacred commitment.“Donald Trump looks at this as if it’s a burden. When he looks at Nato, he doesn’t see the alliance that protects America and the world. He sees a protection racket. He doesn’t understand that Nato is built on a fundamental principles of freedom, security and national sovereignty. Because for Trump, principles never matter. Everything is transactional.“He doesn’t understand that the sacred commitment we’ve given works for us as well. In fact, I would remind Trump and all those who would walk away from Nato that Article Five” – which assures mutual defence if one alliance member is attacked – “has only been invoked once. Just once in Nato history. And it was done to stand with America after we were attacked on 9/11. We should never forget it.”That’s a wrap for us on the politics liveblog today. Here’s a recap of what happened:
      Joe Biden ripped into Trump for saying over the weekend that he would let Russia “do whatever the hell they want” and attack Nato countries. “No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator,” Biden said during remarks at the White House. “It’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American.” Biden also said: “No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Let me say this as clearly as I can: I never will.”
      The US Senate passed a $95bn national security bill early this morning. The bill includes $60bn in aid for Ukraine, $14bn for Israel, and around $5bn for Indo-Pacific allies.
      Biden urged the US House to “move with urgency” to pass the national security bill, but Mike Johnson, the US House speaker, has downplayed the bill’s chances in Congress’s lower chamber.
      Voting is under way in a special election on Long Island to replace George Santos, the disgraced former congressman and prolific fabulist. Democrat Tom Suozzi is trying to beat Republican Mazi Pilip. A Democratic win would be significant because it would narrow the already slim margin Republicans hold in the US House. Polls close at 9pm EST.
      Donald Trump will attend a preliminary court in New York in the criminal case related to hush-money payments he made to Stormy Daniels. Trump is choosing to attend that hearing over a different high-stakes hearing in Atlanta on Thursday over whether Fani Willis should be disqualified from handling the wide-ranging election interference against him there because of her relationship with another prosecutor on the case.
      Nikki Haley said Donald Trump’s efforts to install his daughter-in-law and other allies in leadership at the Republican National Committee was part of Trump’s effort to cement the nomination. “Think about what’s happening right now. Is that how you’re going to try and take an election?,” she said in remarks in Bamberg, South Carolina, her home town.
      That’s all for today. I’ll be back on the liveblog tomorrow morning with a new day of updates. See you then!Steve Scalise, the House majority leader, is back at the capitol after receiving treatment for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer.Scalise’s return to the capitol is significant because House Republicans are planning another impeachment vote of Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, according to the Hill. An impeachment vote last week failed by just one vote. Three Republicans voted against the measure.If Scalise supports impeachment, and no other votes change, it would narrowly pass the US House.Before I hand the controls to the great Sam Levine, a short summary of Joe Biden’s remarks from the White House just now about the $95bn national security package passed by the Senate, its uncertain future in the House and what that says about the hold Donald Trump continues to place on the American right.
      Johnson has said he doesn’t like the bill because it does not include anything to tackle the crisis at the southern border. Biden didn’t mention it, but Republicans will be hoping voters don’t remember what happened last week, when the Senate GOP tanked the border part of the package their own negotiators had worked hard to agree, because Trump (essentially) told them to do it.
      Biden did say that if Johnson allowed the border-free deal a free vote in the House, it would pass. Would it? Maybe. There are plenty of House Republicans who would back the national security package, sure – but there are plenty of House Democrats who, like three senators on their side, for sure do not like the parts of the bill which funds continuing Israeli strikes in the Palestinian territories. Biden emphasised provisions in the spending package for more aid to the besieged Palestinian people.
      Unsurprisingly, Biden therefore focused his remarks on what the Senate package would do for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. “We’ve all seen the terrible stories of recent weeks,” Biden said, citing “Ukrainian soldiers out of artillery shells, Ukrainian units rationing rounds of ammunition to defend themselves, Ukrainian families worried that the next Russian strike will permanently plunge them into darkness, or worse.”
      Providing such aid to Ukraine – and to Israel and allies in the Pacific including Taiwan, threatened by China – would Biden said mean work for Americans, in generating new materials to replenish Pentagon stockpiles.
      Biden also focused on what support for Ukraine would say to the world as Trump homes in on the Republican presidential nomination: “This bipartisan bill sends a clear message to the Ukrainians and to our partners, and to our allies around the world: America can be trusted, America can be relied upon, and America stands up for freedom. We stand strong for our allies. We never bow down to anyone and certainly not to Vladimir Putin.”
      Biden aimed squarely at Trump on that front, accusing him of “bowing down to a Russian dictator” and excoriating him for threatening to encourage Russia to attack Nato allies he considers financially delinquent.
      A response from Trump, one suspects, will be along sooner rather than later.In his brief remarks at the White House just now, Joe Biden continued to target Donald Trump over the former president’s marshaling of House Republicans to oppose the $95bn national security package passed by the Senate today, a bill including money for Israel and Taiwan as well as Ukraine, in its fight against the Russian invasion.“Our adversaries have long sought to create cracks” in Nato, Biden said. “The greatest hope of all those who wish Americans harm is for Nato to fall apart. You can be sure that they all cheered when they heard Donald Trump and heard what he said” last week, about encouraging Russia to attack Nato allies who he thinks do not pay enough into the pot.“I will not walk away,” Biden said. “I can’t imagine any other president walking away. As long as I’m president, if [Vladimir] Putin attacks a Nato ally, the United States will defend every inch of Nato territory.”In remarks notably heavy on Russia-Ukraine and light on Israel-Gaza – a divisive issue among Democrats – Biden then pivoted towards his re-election message, regarding the almost certain rematch with Trump this November.“Let me close with this. You heard me say this before. Our nation stands at an inflection point, an inflection point in history, where the decisions we make now are gonna determine the course of our future for decades to come. This is one of those moments.“And I say to House Republicans: you got to decide. Are you going to stand up for freedom? Or are you going to side with tyranny? Are you going to stand with Ukraine? Are you gonna stand with Putin? Are you going to stand with America or Trump?“Republicans and Democrats in the Senate came together to send a message of unity to the world [by passing the national security package]. It’s time for the House Republicans do the same thing. Pass this bill immediately. Stand for decency, stand for democracy, stand up to a so-called leader hell-bent on weakening American security.“And I mean this sincerely: history is watching. History is watching. In moments like this, we have to remember who we are. The United States of America. The world is looking to us. Nothing is beyond our capacity when we act together. In this case, acting together includes acting with our Nato allies.“God bless you all … and I promise I’ll come back and answer questions later.”While reporters shouted questions, Biden left the room.Here’s a fuller account of what Joe Biden just said about Donald Trump’s role in Republicans opposing the national security package approved today by the US Senate but set for an uncertain future in the US House, where the far right enjoys a modicum of control through the speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana.“The stakes were already high for American security before this bill was passed in the Senate last night,” Biden said. “But in recent days, those stakes have risen.“That’s because the former president has set a dangerous and shockingly, frankly, un-American signal to the world. Just a few days ago, Trump gave an invitation to Putin to invade some of our allies, Nato allies. He said if an ally didn’t spend enough money on defence, he would encourage Russia to quote, ‘Do whatever the hell they want’.“Can you imagine a former president of the United States saying that? The whole world heard it.“The worst thing is, he means it. No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Let me say this as clearly as I can: I never will. “For god’s sake it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous. It’s un-American. When America gives its word it means something, so when we make a commitment, we keep it. And Nato is a sacred commitment.“Donald Trump looks at this as if it’s a burden. When he looks at Nato, he doesn’t see the alliance that protects America and the world. He sees a protection racket. He doesn’t understand that Nato is built on a fundamental principles of freedom, security and national sovereignty. Because for Trump, principles never matter. Everything is transactional.“He doesn’t understand that the sacred commitment we’ve given works for us as well. In fact, I would remind Trump and all those who would walk away from Nato that Article Five” – which assures mutual defence if one alliance member is attacked – “has only been invoked once. Just once in Nato history. And it was done to stand with America after we were attacked on 9/11. We should never forget it.”“Supporting this bill is standing up to Putin,” Biden says. “Opposing it is playing into Putin’s hands.”He’s casting, of course, the House Republicans who oppose the national security package, as allies of the Russian president in his invasion of Ukraine.Biden also stresses, as aides did earlier, that this bill worth $95bn of foreign aid means work for American workers, who will produce the materials to replenish American stockpiles.The argument: in an election year, this is good for the American worker.Biden also hits a note hit by aides earlier, stressing the part of the package passed by the Senate that “provides Israel with what it needs to protect his people against the terrorist group like Hamas and Hezbollah and others, and it will provide life-saving humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people desperately need food, water and shelter. They need help.”That’s a message to his own party: three senators voted no, citing support for Israel’s military strikes in the Palestinian territories.Moving onto Trump, Biden excoriates the former president for his recent remarks about encouraging Russia to attack Nato allies who did not pay what Trump would call their fair share.“No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator,” Biden says, his voice rising.“It’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American.”Biden accuses Trump of seeing Nato as “a protection racket” rather than an alliance and accuses his rival of “bowing down” to the Russian president.No questions taken.Here’s Joe.“I urge Speaker Johnson to bring it to the floor immediately,” Biden says, adding that the package will pass the House if it is put on the floor.“I call on the speaker to let the full House speak its mind and not allow a minority of the most extreme voices in the House to block this bill even from being voted on. Even from being voted on. This is a critical act, for the House to move this bill.”And the wait for Joe Biden to speak goes on.Wondering what’s in the national security package the Senate passed around dawn and everyone has been talking about since, particularly regarding the vanishingly small chances of it getting past the Trump-aligned Republicans who control the House?If yes, read this:While we wait and wait for Joe Biden to speak at the White House, here’s what Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the US House, has to say about the national security bill’s prospects therein, in a “Dear Colleague” letter to his caucus.Jeffries, from New York, has strong words directed at those in his party who are unhappy about military aid for Israel in its war with Hamas – three Democratic or Democratic-aligned senators voted no to the bill earlier – as well as for “pro-Putin extremist” Republicans in the House who he says “apparently want Russia to win” its war in Ukraine.“The Senate bill addresses America’s national security interests in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the Indo-Pacific region and its advancement represents a critically important step forward,” Jeffries writes.“The House must now work on a bipartisan basis to advance legislation that supports our democratic ally Israel as it fights an existential war against Hamas and seeks to free the remaining hostages. A just and lasting peace for Israel and the Palestinian people is only possible if Hamas is decisively defeated.“At the same time, we must surge humanitarian assistance like food, water and shelter to Palestinian civilians in Gaza and in other theaters of war throughout the world who are in harm’s way through no fault of their own. This imperative is met in the bipartisan national security bill passed in the Senate.“It is critical that we continue our support for the Ukrainian people who have courageously fought for democracy, the free world and America’s national security interests. If Vladimir Putin is allowed to win in Ukraine and proceeds to attack any of our Nato allies in Eastern Europe, the logical consequence is a brutal war between the US and Russia. Inaction by House Republicans who remain beholden to Maga extremists threatens the lives of American service women and men. The stakes are high and failure in Ukraine is not an option.“Traditional Republicans must now put America first, and stand up to Pro-Putin extremists in the House who apparently want Russia to win. The American people deserve an up or down vote, and we will use every available legislative tool to get comprehensive national security legislation over the finish line. The US Senate has done its job. It is time for the House of Representatives to do the same.”We’re still waiting on Joe Biden, who is due to speak at the White House on the national security package that passed the Senate today but which seems sure not to pass the Republican-held House.While we wait, here’s Lauren Gambino’s report:We’re still waiting for Joe Biden to speak at the White House, so while we do, here’s Adam Gabbatt on today’s special election in New York, where the successor to George Santos will be selected …The replacement for George Santos, the disgraced, indicted Republican and fabulist who was expelled from Congress last year, is set to be decided today, as New Yorkers head to the polls in a closely watched election.Voters in Long Island, east of New York City, face a choice between Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who previously spent six years in Congress, and Mazi Pilip, a relatively unknown local politician, in an election that will affect Republicans’ narrow majority in the House of Representatives.But more than that, the Suozzi-Pilip race has become a test for what the US can expect in the run-up to November’s elections.Immigration, the economy, abortion and aid to Israel have proved key issues, and politicians around the country will be looking to see whether Suozzi, a moderate Democrat, is able to navigate his attachment to an unpopular president dealing with a much-politicized situation at the US-Mexico border.Pilip, who was relatively unknown before the local Republican party selected her to run, has repeatedly attacked Suozzi over immigration – a tactic likely to be repeated in nationwide elections later this year. Suozzi has sought to tie Pilip to Donald Trump – who remains unpopular – and the anti-abortion movement.The seat is seen as a key indicator of voter sentiment before the expected Biden-Trump election in the fall. The demographic of New York’s third congressional district is seen as a political bellwether: largely suburban, it was one of 18 districts Biden won in 2020 but which voted for a Republican House representative in 2022.Biden won the district in 2020, but the area swung Republican in the 2022 midterm elections, when Santos was elected.Read the full story here:Joe Biden is due to deliver “remarks on the Senate passage of the bipartisan supplemental agreement”, AKA the $95bn national security spending bill that the upper chamber passed earlier today, but which the Trump-aligned Republicans who control the House … do not like.The White House stream for Biden’s remarks, which were announced for 1.15pm ET (but which could well start later than that, given precedent) is here.It’s been a lively day in US politics so far and we’ll continue to bring you the news as it happens. Here’s where things stand:
      The national security bill that passed the US Senate early this morning, by 70 votes to 29, is valued at $95bn. The House speaker, Mike Johnson, has already rejected it. Nonetheless, here’s some of what’s in it: $60bn in aid for Ukraine, in its fight against the Russian invasion; $14bn for Israel, as it prosecutes its war against Hamas; $5bn (or close to) for allies in the Indo-Pacific prominently including Taiwan, which is widely held to be in danger of attack from China.
      Joe Biden urged the House to “move with urgency” on the $95bn foreign aid bill that passed the Senate first thing this morning, with more funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other overseas assistance, after an overnight marathon session in the upper chamber.
      Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, saluted the passage of the national security bill with a “robust majority”, and in remarks to reporters on Capitol Hill said: “Now, it’s up to the House to meet this moment, to do the right thing and save democracy as we know it.”
      Out on the campaign trail, Nikki Haley said Donald Trump’s move to have his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, named co-chair of the Republican National Committee was simply another attempt to have himself confirmed asap as the winner of the presidential primary – in which Haley is still running.
      A new feature: Non-Apology of the Day.Here’s Lauren Hitt, a Biden campaign spokesperson, saying sorry-not-sorry to Margaret Hoover, via Politico, after she said Joe Biden comparing Donald Trump to her great-grandad, Herbert Hoover, was a “cheap shot” at the much-maligned, very reasonably arguably misunderstood 31st president:
      We apologize for any undue pain we caused Herbert Hoover by lumping him in with Donald Trump. While they do share the worst jobs record in American history, Hoover never said he wanted the economy to crash to improve his own political fortune – an important distinction.”
      Hoover was the president who had to deal with the Great Depression. Trump’s presidency had an adverse effect on many Americans’ mental health. And so forth.Here’s more on the subject of Biden, Trump and Herbert Hoover:In South Carolina earlier, Nikki Haley said Donald Trump’s move to have his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, named co-chair of the Republican National Committee was simply another attempt to have himself confirmed as the winner of the presidential primary in which Haley is still running.Speaking in her hometown, Bamberg, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador (under Trump) said: “He tried to get the RNC to name him the presumptive nominee. We don’t do coronations. South Carolinians deserves the right to vote on this. So does Michigan, so do all the states on Super Tuesday [5 March]. And so that backfired and he pulled back from it.“What we saw yesterday was, he took a different approach. Now he has decided he has fired the RNC chair [Ronna McDaniel], he’s named who’s going to be the new RNC chair [Michael Whatley, the North Carolina Republican chair and a Trump loyalist], his daughter-in-law [married to Eric Trump, his second son] will be the co-chair, and he is making his campaign manager [Chris LaCivita] the [chief operations] officer that runs the party.“Think about what’s happening right now. Is that how you’re going to try and take an election?”Unfortunately for Haley, the Republican election of a nominee to face Joe Biden in November has so far proceeded entirely in the direction of Trump.The former president won in Iowa, then won in New Hampshire, then won in Nevada. South Carolina is next up. Haley’s home state it may be, but Trump leads polling there by vast margins.Haley also bemoaned Trump’s many legal problems, saying he “talked about being a victim” and had spent “$50m of campaign contributions on his personal court cases”.Accusing Trump of not caring about issues facing everyday Americans, Haley said they included “wasteful spending, the $34tn in debt”, poor reading among eighth graders, “lawlessness on the border … law and order in our cities [and] the wars around the world that make us less safe” .“All he did was talk about himself,” she said, “and that’s the problem.”White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates continues his memo on the national security bill by breaking down areas of US interest boosted by passage through the Senate but, he says, at risk in a House controlled by Republicans loyal to Donald Trump.Such areas include “Ukraine and Nato”, the latter a subject of special concern in Washington (and in European capitals) this week, after Trump told supporters he would encourage Russia to attack Nato members he did not think paid enough for the privilege of US support.Bates says: “Unhinged, irresponsible voices on the right are even encouraging Russia to attack our closest allies and agitating to unravel Nato – an alliance which is bigger and stronger than ever, thanks in no small part to President Biden’s leadership. Those irresponsible voices are erratic and dangerous.”He also points to a consideration common across the national security package – what it means for Americans who make things like planes and weapons.“Our support for Ukraine is revitalising the American defense industrial base across the country,” Bates says.He also seeks to highlight Iranian support for Vladimir Putin’s Russia in its war in Ukraine and, on the Israel part of the bill, says “a House vote against American national security is a vote against crucial military support for Israel as they defend themselves from the Hamas murderers who committed the worst terrorist massacre in that country’s history and whose leaders have pledged to repeat the attacks of October 7 over and over again until Israel is annihilated”.Bates highlights humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, too.Turning to Taiwan, the Bates memo says Biden is “committed” to the island’s “self-defense capabilities” in the face of “a more assertive Peoples Republic of China”.Bates concludes: “A House vote against American national security would undermine these goals.”Andrew Bates, the deputy White House press secretary, sends the press a memo …“Months ago, President Biden submitted a request for critical national security funding to Congress – every aspect of which has strong bipartisan support. President Biden has called for action ever since, working in good faith with Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, in order to keep the American people safe.“But a subset of congressional Republicans delayed that urgently-needed action, choosing politics over national security.“Today, the Senate just voted to move forward on many of the most pressing needs of the American people. The onus is now on the House to do the same. This is a high stakes moment for American families. It’s also a high stakes moment for House Republicans, because the choice is stark.“Will House Republicans side with President Biden and senators on both sides of the aisle in supporting American national security? Or will House Republicans, in the name of politics, side with Vladimir Putin and the regime in Tehran?“The House GOP cannot lose sight of this binary choice. It would be devastating to undercut American national security by voting against our interests and values.” More

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      Republicans’ topsy-turvy take on aid for Ukraine reveals party in thrall to Trump

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      Nearly a decade ago, as Russian troops entered the Crimean peninsula, congressional Republicans were in uproar, blaming Moscow’s land grab on what they claimed was a retreat from American leadership by then president Barack Obama. Loudest among the Republican critics was the South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, who assailed Obama as a “weak, indecisive leader”.In a pre-dawn vote on Tuesday, Graham joined the majority of Senate Republicans in opposing a foreign aid package that would rush wartime assistance to Ukraine as it approaches the second anniversary of Russia’s full invasion.It was a shocking – if not entirely surprising – turn for one of the chamber’s leading defense hawks and a steadfast Russia critic. But these days Graham has another distinction: he is one of Donald Trump’s most loyal allies on Capitol Hill, where the former president – and likely Republican nominee – has been whipping up opposition to Ukraine’s war effort.Just 22 Republican senators broke with Trump to approve the aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other US allies – yet another sign of how thoroughly the former president’s America First vision has supplanted the party’s consensus toward internationalism and interventionism.There has long been an isolationist strain among hardline Republicans who contend that investment in foreign entanglements risks bringing the US closer to war and diverts money away from domestic challenges. But then Trump came to power and sidelined the defense hawks, ushering in a dramatic shift in Republican sentiment toward America’s allies and adversaries.Nearly half of Republicans and right-leaning independents said the US was providing too much aid to Ukraine, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center conducted late last year. This share rose sharply from the early stages of the war following Russia’s invasion in February 2022.In his statement on Monday night, Graham insisted that he still supported Ukraine but said unless and until lawmakers turn the $95bn military assistance package into a “loan instead of a grant”, he would oppose it.It echoed comments Trump made over the weekend, in an all-caps social media post addressed to the US Senate, in which he said foreign aid should be structured as a loan, not a “giveaway”. Later in a campaign speech, Trump rattled American allies in Europe when he claimed that he would encourage Russia to attack Nato allies who did not pay enough to maintain the security alliance.But in Washington, most Republicans dismissed or downplayed the remark.“I was here when he was president. He didn’t undermine or destroy Nato,” senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who sponsored legislation to block a US president from unilaterally withdrawing from Nato, told reporters. The senator, who built a reputation as a defense hawk, voted against the military assistance measure on Tuesday.The bill, which includes $60bn for Ukraine, divided the Senate Republican leadership. From the Senate floor, Senator Mitch McConnell, the top Republican, delivered increasingly urgent pleas for his conference to rise to the occasion and support America’s allies, even after his plan to tie border security to foreign aid collapsed, torpedoed by Trump’s opposition.“This is about rebuilding the arsenal of democracy and demonstrating to our allies and adversaries alike that we’re serious about exercising American strength,” McConnell said. “American assistance with these efforts is not charity. It’s an investment in cold, hard US interests.”McConnell’s deputy, John Thune of South Dakota, voted for the measure, while John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No 3 Senate Republican, opposed it. Barrasso has endorsed Trump for president.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIn a floor speech, Senator Rand Paul, who led the effort to delay the measure, accused McConnell, a fellow Republican from Kentucky, of collaborating with Democrats to “loot the Treasury”. He panned McConnell’s argument that bolstering Ukraine’s defense was critical to American national security as “ludicrous”.The Ohio senator JD Vance, another Trump loyalist, claimed the effort to replenish Ukraine’s war chest was a “plot” by the Republican establishment to “stop the election of Donald Trump”. Meanwhile, some arch-conservatives suggested it was time for McConnell to step down.Now the bill goes to the House, where the speaker, Mike Johnson, must tread carefully not to meet the same fate as his prematurely deposed predecessor. Johnson indicated that he was unlikely to bring the measure to the floor for a vote because it lacks border enforcement measures. But just last week he announced that he would refuse to bring a version of the bill that included a border security deal because the Trump-allied hardliners who hold outsized power over his thin majority were wary of handing Joe Biden anything that resembled a political victory.House Democrats and the remaining pro-Ukraine House Republicans are casting about behind the scenes for a solution. But there are many political and logistical hurdles to overcome before a majority bloc not accustomed to working together in the tribal House comes together to circumvent Johnson – and by extension Trump.“If it were to get to the floor, it would pass,” congressman Andy Biggs, a member of the hardline House Freedom caucus and a staunch opponent of the aid package, told a conservative radio host on Tuesday morning. “Let’s just be frank about that.”But until the bill reaches Biden’s desk, Biggs’s admission is cold comfort to American allies waiting for Congress to act. More

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      Joe Biden calls Trump’s Nato remarks ‘dumb’, ‘shameful’ and ‘dangerous’

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      Joe Biden has attacked Donald Trump’s comments on the US pulling out of the Nato military alliance as “dumb”, “shameful” and “dangerous” in a blistering speech attacking Republican opposition to legislation partly aimed at providing support for Ukraine in its stand against a Russian invasion.Trump’s remarks about encouraging Russia to attack Nato allies who did not contribute what Trump called their fair share of Nato funding have set off alarm bells across Europe among leaders who eye the prospect of a second Trump presidency with growing disquiet.In a speech after the foreign aid bill – which also includes aid to Israel and Taiwan – passed the Senate, Biden urged reluctant Republicans to pass the legislation in the Republican-controlled House.“Supporting this bill is standing up to Putin,” Biden said. “Opposing it is playing into Putin’s hands.”Biden then attacked Trump for his encouraging of Republicans in the House to refuse to support the bill and for his comments about Russia and Nato.“Can you imagine a former president of the United States saying that? The whole world heard it,” he said. “The worst thing is, he means it. No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Let me say this as clearly as I can: I never will.“For God’s sake it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous. It’s un-American. When America gives its word it means something, so when we make a commitment, we keep it. And Nato is a sacred commitment.”The passage of the bill through the House, however, looks far from assured despite the president’s urging and its hard-won success in the Senate. Mike Johnson, the hard-right Republican House speaker, in effect rejected the aid package because it lacked border enforcement provisions.“The mandate of national security supplemental legislation was to secure America’s own border before sending additional foreign aid around the world,” he said, adding: “In the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters. America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.”Many see such sentiments as richly ironic given it was Johnson and his House Republicans who – under pressure from Trump and his allies – tanked an earlier version of the aid legislation which included a bipartisan immigration deal intended to tackle the US-Mexico border crisis.Conservatives had insisted recently that the foreign aid package must be tied to border security measures but with immigration poised to play a critical role in the November elections and Trump increasingly certain to be the Republican nominee, the party was suddenly scared of handing Biden a domestic policy victory by trying to solve the issue.But the crises being tackled by the legislation are not just limited to the border, Ukraine and Russia – or just Republicans.Biden also stressed the part of the package passed by the Senate that he said “provides Israel with what it needs to protect his people against the terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and others, and it will provide life-saving humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people desperately need food, water and shelter. They need help.”That was a message to Biden’s own party: three senators (two Democrats and the Democratic-aligned Bernie Sanders) also voted no on the bill, citing Biden’s staunch support for Israel’s military strikes in the Palestinian territories. More

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      US Senate moves forward $95bn Ukraine and Israel aid package

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      After many setbacks and much suspense, the Senate appeared on track this week to approve a long-awaited package of wartime funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as Republican opponents staged a filibuster to register their disapproval over a measure they could not block.The Senate voted 66-33, exceeding a 60-vote margin, to sweep aside the last procedural hurdle and limit debate on the measure to a final 30 hours before a vote on passage that could come on Wednesday.Senators had worked through the weekend on the roughly $95bn emergency spending package, which cleared a series of procedural hurdles as it moved toward final passage. The chamber voted on the legislation on Monday night following hours of debate and a talking filibuster led by Republican senator Rand Paul and joined by a coterie of Donald Trump’s allies in the chamber.On Monday, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said the weekend votes demonstrated “beyond doubt that there’s strong support” for advancing the foreign aid package.Schumer said: “These are the enormously high stakes of the supplemental package: our security, our values, our democracy. It is a down payment for the survival of western democracy and the survival of American values.”He continued: “The entire world is going to remember what the Senate does in the next few days. Nothing – nothing – would make Putin happier right now than to see Congress waver in its support for Ukraine; nothing would help him more on the battlefield.”If the bill passes the Senate as expected, the bill would next go to the Republican-led House, where next steps are uncertain. Though a bipartisan majority still supports sending assistance to Ukraine, there is a growing contingent of Republican skeptics who echo Trump’s disdain for the US-backed war effort.“House Republicans were crystal clear from the very beginning of discussions that any so-called national security supplemental legislation must recognize that national security begins at our own border,” read a statement from House speaker Mike Johnson.The Republican speaker said the package lacked border security provisions, calling it “silent on the most pressing issue facing our country”. It was the latest – and potentially most consequential – sign of opposition to the Ukraine aid from conservatives who have for months demanded that border security policy be included in the package, only to last week reject a bipartisan proposal intended to curb the number of illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border.“Now, in the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters,” Johnson said. “America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.”The measure includes $60bn in funding for Ukraine, where soldiers are running out of ammunition as the country seeks to repel Russian troops nearly two years after the invasion. Much of that money would go toward supporting Ukraine’s military operations and to replenishing the US supply of weapons and equipment that have been sent to the frontlines. Another $14bn would go to support Israel and US military operations in the region. More than $8bn would go to support US partners in the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan, as part of its effort to deter aggression by China.It also allots nearly $10bn for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, where nearly a quarter of residents are starving and large swaths of the territory have been ravaged.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionNot included in the package is a bipartisan border clampdown demanded by Republicans in exchange for their support for the foreign aid package. But after months of fraught negotiations, Republicans abandoned the deal following Trump’s vocal opposition to the border-security measure.Though its Republican defenders argued that it was the most conservative immigration reform proposal put forward in decades, Trump loyalists on Capitol Hill deemed it inadequate amid record levels of migration at the US southern border. Others were more explicit, warning that bipartisan action to address the situation could help Joe Biden’s electoral prospects in the November elections.Border security is top of mind for many Americans, the overwhelming majority of whom disapprove of the president’s handling of the issue.After the Senate failed to advance the border security measure, Schumer stripped it out and moved ahead with a narrowly-tailored foreign aid package. In floor speeches on Monday, several Republican senators lamented the absence of border enforcement policies, though all had voted to reject the bipartisan immigration deal last week.“Open the champagne, pop the cork! The Senate Democrat leader and the Republican leader are on their way to Kyiv,” Paul said, launching the filibuster. He continued: “They’re taking your money to Kyiv. They didn’t have much time – really no time and no money – to do anything about our border.” More