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      He led a strike at Kellogg’s. Now he’s aiming for a Nebraska Senate seat

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      Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada – these are the swing states most pundits expect will decide the 2024 election. No one has deep-red Nebraska on that list. But a 48-year-old pipefitter and union organizer from Omaha is hoping to change that.Three years ago, Dan Osborn led the Nebraska leg of a US-wide strike against the cereal giant Kellogg’s as the company pushed for concessions in a new union contract despite posting record profits during the Covid-19 pandemic.Now he’s taking on Deb Fischer, a Republican senator, who is running for her third US Senate term in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate in 18 years. Osborn is running as an independent and says he hasn’t yet decided who will get his vote come November but his pro-labor, pro-choice views are unlikely to sit well with conservative Republicans.“This from the beginning was considered a long shot,” said Osborn. “I’ve enjoyed proving people wrong from the very beginning of this and I look forward to continue proving people wrong, that this isn’t impossible. I want to show that Nebraska has an independent spirit.”Nebraska is historically a stronghold for Republicans. A Democrat has not won a US Senate seat to represent the state since Ben Nelson in 2006. An independent hasn’t won since George Norris in 1936.Despite the odds, Osborn’s campaign is off to an impressive start. A November 2023 poll, the only one conducted so far for the race, put Osborn at 40% to 38% for Fischer, with 18% undecided. Osborn has also fundraised more than $600,000 so far, a record for an independent candidate in the state, primarily from small donors.Osborn said he was approached to run by railroad workers in Nebraska who have been disgruntled with Fischer over her refusal to support the Railroad Safety Act.The bill was drafted in response to the East Palestine, Ohio, disaster as railroad workers and unions have decried poor working conditions and safety issues driven by railroad corporations, which Osborn has pointed out are big donors to his opponent. In contrast, Fischer had introduced legislation to further deregulate the railroad industry.Improving railroad safety is a part of Osborn’s campaign platform, along with cannabis legalization, enacting congressional term limits, lowering tax rates for small business owners and the middle class, and improving pay and support for veterans.“We’re dealing with people like Deb Fischer who take corporate Pac money and they vote accordingly,” added Osborn. “They are not for the workers, for the people, they’re for corporations.”His former employer Kellogg’s has also hit the headlines, with Kellogg’s CEO, Gary Pilnick, stating during an appearance on CNBC that poor families facing financial distress should consider eating cereal for dinner.“This just goes to show how out of touch CEOs are with regular people,” said Osborn.Osborn is a long shot for Nebraska but he’s hoping that his story will resonate with people who are fed up with business as usual and a 1% that seem to think “let them eat cereal” is an answer to income inequality. He cited a 2020 report that calculated the redistribution of wealth in the US from the bottom 90% of earners to the top 1% of earners, finding that $50tn has been taken in redistributed income in recent decades.“How does that happen on everybody’s watch? It’s because the special interests and corporations own the politicians and they vote accordingly,” concluded Osborn. “I’m tired of it and I think people are starting to wake up to that fact because we’re all hurting right now. I’m hurting. I’m still working 40-50 hours as a steamfitter while I’m running for Senate and my dollar doesn’t stretch like it used to, I’m getting hurt at the gas pump, I’m getting hurt at the grocery stores and everybody else is too.” More

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      Chuck Schumer lauds Senate’s ‘greatest achievement in years’ as foreign aid bill passes – video

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      The US Senate has voted resoundingly by 79 to 18 to approve $95bn in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as a bipartisan super-majority united to send the long-stalled package to Joe Biden’s desk for signature. The bill was approved after proceedings that were hailed by the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, as ‘one of the greatest achievements the Senate has faced in years’ More

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      US Senate close to passing $95bn aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after key vote

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      The US Senate on Tuesday was preparing to give final approval to a $95bn in wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, with a bipartisan coalition eager to send the long-stalled package to Joe Biden’s desk for signature.In a sweeping 80-19 vote, the Senate overwhelmingly voted to advance the measure in a step hailed by the Senate majority leader as “one of the greatest achievements the Senate has faced in years”.“Today the Senate sends a unified message to the entire world: America will always defend democracy in its hour of need,” said Chuck Schumer in a floor speech moments after the Senate moved toward final passage of the bill, possibly as early as Tuesday evening.“Make no mistake, America will deliver on its promise to act like a leader on the world stage, to hold the line against autocratic thugs like Vladimir Putin,” he continued. “We are showing Putin that betting against America is always, always a grave mistake.”After months of delays and setbacks, the House last week approved four bills to rush funding to three American allies while approving a conservative proposal that could lead to a nationwide ban of the social media platform TikTok. The measures were combined into one large package that the Senate will take up on Tuesday.The legislation includes $60.8bn to replenish Ukraine’s war chest as it seeks to repel Russia from its territory; $26.3bn for Israel and humanitarian relief for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8.1bn for the Indo-Pacific region to bolster its defenses against China.In a call on Monday, Biden informed the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that he would “move quickly” to send desperately needed military aid, including air defense weaponry, to the country following the bill’s passage by the Senate.In a move to bolster Republican support, the GOP-controlled House added a provision that would see TikTok blocked in the US unless its Chinese-owned parent company divests from the social media platform within a year. Much of the foreign aid section of the bill mirrors what the Senate passed in February, with the addition of a measure mandating the president seek repayment from Kyiv for roughly $10bn in economic assistance in the form of “forgivable loans”, an idea first floated by Donald Trump, who was initially opposed to aiding Ukraine.A vast majority of senators was expected to support the package on final passage. In the test vote earlier on Tuesday, 17 hardline Republican senators opposed moving forward with the measure. Among them was Rick Scott, the Florida senator, who said he supported several provisions in the bill, including the TikTok ban and aid for Israel, but could not endorse sending billions of US taxpayer dollars to Ukraine.Two progressive senators, Democrat Jeff Merkley and independent Bernie Sanders, voted against the procedural rule, saying they could not support providing additional military aid to Israel at a time when its government is waging a war that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza and pushed the territory to the brink of famine.“We are now in the absurd situation where Israel is using US military assistance to block the delivery of US humanitarian aid to Palestinians,” Sanders said in remarks on the Senate floor. “If that is not crazy, I don’t know what is.”The Vermont senator sought to introduce two amendments: one that would end offensive military funding to Israel, citing Americans’ “increasing disgust” for Benjamin Netanyahu’s “war machine”, and another to restore funding to the UN relief agency Unrwa. Both were blocked from consideration, a move he denounced as a “dark day for democracy”.The foreign aid package largely resembles the measure passed by the Senate in February. But several Republican senators who voted against it then reversed course and on Tuesday gave their approval.Among them was Lindsey Graham, a longtime defense hawk who previously opposed the Senate’s foreign aid package because it wasn’t paired with border legislation but on Tuesday voted to advance it. Following a visit to Ukraine earlier this year, Graham endorsed Trump’s loan plan and has since pointed to Iran’s aerial attack on Israel as a reason send aid to the country.“Israel needs the US Senate now. No excuses,” Graham wrote on X before voting to advance the bill.The Senate’s passage of the aid package caps a tortured odyssey on Capitol Hill that began last year with a request for the White House for a fresh round of funding for Ukraine and for Israel, reeling from the 7 October cross-border attack by Hamas.Despite broad congressional support, the effort almost immediately stalled as a faction of Republicans, increasingly skeptical of US involvement in foreign entanglements, resisted sending more aid to Ukraine. Conservatives began insisting that any funding to foreign countries be paired with legislation aimed at stemming the rise of people arriving at the US-Mexico border.When a bipartisan border and national security bill negotiated in the Senate collapsed, Schumer proceeded to move forward with a vote on the foreign aid bill up for a vote. It passed overwhelmingly in a 70-29 vote in February, but had no clear path forward in the Republican-controlled House, where the new speaker, Mike Johnson, dithered as Ukraine suffered battlefield losses.Personal entreaties from Biden, congressional leaders and European heads of state, participation in high-level intelligence briefings as House speaker, and prayer eventually persuaded Johnson to act. The decision may come at a political cost: his job.“History judges us for what we do,” Johnson said at an emotional press conference last week, after a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers passed the aid package by lopsided margins.In remarks on Tuesday, Schumer praised Johnson, who he said “rose to the occasion”, as well as Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader with whom the Democrat said he had worked “hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder to get this bill done”.“A lot of people inside and outside the Congress wanted this package to fail,” Schumer said. “But today those in Congress who stand on the side of democracy are winning the day.”McConnell has made funding Ukraine’s war effort a legacy-building quest, after announcing his decision to step down as the long-serving Senate Republican leader. In a lengthy floor speech ahead of the procedural vote on Tuesday, McConnell confronted the strain of “America first” isolationism favored by Trump and his loyalists in Congress that is rife and growing within the Republican party.“Today’s action is overdue, but our work does not end here,” he said. “Trust in American resolve is not rebuilt overnight. Expanding and restocking the arsenal of democracy doesn’t just happen by magic.” More

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      Senate leader Chuck Schumer hails bipartisanship and thanks Mike Johnson as foreign aid bill heads for passage – as it happened

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      The Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, once again spoke from the chamber’s floor after lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to advance the $95b bill authorizing military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.Passing the legislation was a top priority for Joe Biden, his Democratic allies and some Republicans, including the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell. It faced resistance from others in the GOP, among them the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson. But Johnson relented earlier this month, and allowed it to be voted on in the House, where it passed with more Democrats in favor than Republicans.In his remarks, Schumer thanked Johnson and McConnell, while saying the bill’s passage was a sign that bipartisanship is alive and well in a Congress better known for intractable partisan stalemate.“Today’s outcome yet confirms another thing we’ve stressed from the beginning of this Congress. In divided government, the only way to ever get things done is bipartisanship,” Schumer said.“I thank leader McConnell, as I’ve mentioned before, working hand in hand with us, not letting partisanship get in the way. I thank Speaker Johnson, who rose to the occasion, in his own words, that he had to do the right thing, despite the enormous political pressure on him. And I thank leader Jeffries, who worked so well together in his bipartisan way, with Speaker Johnson.” The last name is Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader.The Senate has taken the key step of invoking cloture on the $95b bill that will send military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and could set the stage for social media app TikTok’s ban nationwide. Lawmakers are now debating the legislation, with final passage expected later today or perhaps tomorrow. The chamber earlier in the day rejected an attempt to make amendments to the bill, which already passed the House, thwarting independent Bernie Sanders’s plans to tweak the text to stop weapons shipments to Israel in what he called “a dark day for democracy”. Meanwhile, GOP senators called on the Biden administration to step in to break up pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses, including New York University and Yale University.Here’s what else happened today:
      Joe Biden assailed Donald Trump’s hand in overturning Roe v Wade in a speech in Florida, and mocked his Bible sales.
      The US plans to ship $1b in weapons to Ukraine that can be quickly deployed on the battlefield once the foreign aid bill passes.
      Trump’s trial on charges of falsifying business records is continuing in New York City, with testimony from former Nation Enquirer publisher David Pecker.
      Republican House speaker Mike Johnson took a risk by allowing the chamber to pass the bill funding Ukraine’s defense, but Trump praised him nonetheless.
      Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s Democratic leader, thanked Johnson for allowing the House to vote on and pass the foreign aid bill, despite his previous hesitancy towards arming Ukraine.
      Back in the Senate, lawmakers continue to debate the foreign aid bill for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, which appears headed for passage later today.The speeches will probably go on for a few hours. Shortly after the chamber overwhelmingly took the key legislative step of invoking cloture on the bill, CNN reports Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell, an ardent supporter of Ukraine, laid into conservative commentator Tucker Carlson for his support of Vladimir Putin, and the damage it has caused:Carlson traveled to Russia in February for an interview with Putin, which did not appear to go the way the conservative commentator hoped:Much of what Joe Biden told the crowd in Florida was well-trod territory for the president, who has pledged to protect abortion access ever since the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022.But he did try out a new line, one inspired by Donald Trump’s foray into theology.“Trump bragged how proud he was to get rid of Roe v Wade … He took credit for it. He said, there has to be punishment for women exercising their reproductive freedom. His words, not mine,” Biden said.Then he teed up a zinger: “He described the Dobbs decision as a miracle. Maybe it’s coming from that Bible he’s trying to sell. I almost wanted to buy one just to see what the hell’s in it.”If you haven’t heard about it, yes, Trump is selling a Bible:Joe Biden vowed to protect abortion access as president, including vetoing any attempt by Congress to pass a nationwide ban on the procedure.But much of his speech was dedicated to reminding voters of Donald Trump’s role in Roe v Wade’s downfall.“It was Donald Trump who ripped away the right to freedom of women in America. It will be all of us who restore those rights for women in America,” Biden said.“When you do that, you’ll teach Donald Trump and extreme Maga Republicans an extremely valuable lesson: don’t mess with the women of America.”Joe Biden has made it to Tampa, where he’s laying into Donald Trump for his role in the supreme court’s overturning of Roe v Wade, which has allowed states to ban abortion.Beginning next week, abortion will be banned in Florida beyond six weeks of pregnancy – a point at which many women are not aware they are pregnant. During his presidency, Trump appointed to the supreme court three conservative justices who would go on to vote to overturn Roe.“For 50 years, the court ruled that there was a fundamental constitutional right to privacy. But two years ago, that was taken away. Let’s be real clear. There was one person responsible for this nightmare, and he’s acknowledged and he brags about it – Donald Trump,” Biden said.“Trump is worried voters are gonna hold him accountable for the cruelty and chaos he created. Folks, the bad news for Trump is we are going to hold them accountable.”Independent senator Bernie Sanders expressed disappointment that the chamber declined to consider amendments to the foreign aid bill he planned to offer that would restore funding to UN relief agency Unrwa and remove weapons shipments to Israel.“I am very disappointed, but not surprised, that my amendment to end offensive military aid to Netanyahu’s war machine – which has killed and wounded over 100,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of whom are women and children – will not be considered,” the Vermont lawmaker said.“Polls show that a majority of Americans, and a very strong majority of Democrats, want to end US taxpayer support for Netanyahu’s war against the Palestinian people. It is a dark day for democracy when the Senate will not even allow a vote on that issue.”The Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, once again spoke from the chamber’s floor after lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to advance the $95b bill authorizing military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.Passing the legislation was a top priority for Joe Biden, his Democratic allies and some Republicans, including the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell. It faced resistance from others in the GOP, among them the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson. But Johnson relented earlier this month, and allowed it to be voted on in the House, where it passed with more Democrats in favor than Republicans.In his remarks, Schumer thanked Johnson and McConnell, while saying the bill’s passage was a sign that bipartisanship is alive and well in a Congress better known for intractable partisan stalemate.“Today’s outcome yet confirms another thing we’ve stressed from the beginning of this Congress. In divided government, the only way to ever get things done is bipartisanship,” Schumer said.“I thank leader McConnell, as I’ve mentioned before, working hand in hand with us, not letting partisanship get in the way. I thank Speaker Johnson, who rose to the occasion, in his own words, that he had to do the right thing, despite the enormous political pressure on him. And I thank leader Jeffries, who worked so well together in his bipartisan way, with Speaker Johnson.” The last name is Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader.The Senate invoked cloture on the $95bn bill to provide military assistance to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, an important procedural step that clears the way for a final vote on its passage later today.The bill advanced with 80 votes in favor, and 19 opposed.The measure has already been approved by the House, and will be signed by Joe Biden after it passes the Senate. Lawmakers are now expected to debate the legislation and offer a limited number of amendments.Back in the Senate, they’re voting on whether to invoke cloture on the foreign aid bill.That will set the stage for its final consideration, after a period of debate.A previous motion by Republican senator Mike Lee that would have blocked the bill’s progress was voted down with 50 senators opposed and 48 in favor.When he speaks in Tampa at 3pm, Joe Biden will press his message that Donald Trump is responsible for the spread of abortion bans across the country, his re-election campaign announced.The president will arrive in Florida one week before a law banning abortions after six weeks – a point at which many women are not yet aware they are pregnant – goes into effect. In a memo, Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chávez Rodriguez, said such laws were out of step with the American public.“Trump is hoping that Americans will somehow forget that he’s responsible for the horror women are facing in this country every single day because of him. It’s a bad bet,” Chávez Rodriguez wrote.Here’s more:
      When President Biden speaks out against attacks on reproductive freedom across the country and yet another extreme Trump abortion ban taking effect in Florida, it will resonate with voters across every battleground state. Women and their families do not want Trump and MAGA Republicans continuing to dismantle their fundamental freedoms. An overwhelming majority of voters have rejected Trump’s abortion bans every time they’ve been on the ballot, and this November, they’ll reject Trump too.
      Joe Biden will shortly arrive in Tampa, where he is scheduled to give an address this afternoon on abortion rights, including attacking Florida’s six-week ban that is set to take effect on 1 May.Reporters on the ground in Tampa say Biden will be faced by several dozen people who have gathered to protest the president’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.The Senate’s procedural vote on the foreign aid bill is being delayed by Republicans complaining they can’t offer amendments to it.Eric Schmitt, of Missouri, and Utah’s Mike Lee are accusing the Democratic majority leader, Chuck Schumer, of effectively railroading through his version of the bill “with minimal debate and perhaps no amendments”, Lee said.He insists, as extremist House Republicans who opposed the bill last week did, that money for Ukraine is unpopular.Bernie Sanders, independent senator for Vermont, says he agrees with Lee.He says he wants to offer two amendments, one to ensure there’s no money for Israel’s “war machine”. The second is removing a block on aid money for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa), which Israel says has been infiltrated by “Hamas terrorists” stealing funds.“Members can agree with me or disagree with me on the issues, but they should be voted upon,” Sanders said.Senators are voting now whether to adopt a motion by Lee to table (kill) Schumer’s motion to move forward with the foreign aid bill.The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will visit Saudi Arabia this weekend in pursuit of the Biden administration’s ambitious goal of helping to restore that nation’s relations with Israel, Axios reports.He’ll be attending the special meeting of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh on Sunday, and meeting the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and other regional leaders, the outlet said.Axios, citing US officials, adds that Blinken “is considering” visiting Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as part of his trip, but has not yet finalized an itinerary.Senators are inching towards a procedural vote on the $95.3bn foreign aid package, expected close to the top of the hour.Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly has just been on the chamber floor, lamenting that it took so long for Congress to pass a bill he said 71% of members ultimately voted for.“Because of delays, Ukraine’s fighters are desperately low [on weapons and ammunition],” he said.“That’s tying the hands of their commanders at the same time Russia is revitalizing its war effort.”But, he says, “Ukraine can win this war. Passing this bill will allow the transfer to them more of what Ukraine needs to turn the tide.”Republican Maine senator Susan Collins concurs. “[This is] a volatile and dangerous time in world history,” she says:
      If [Russia’s president Vladimir] Putin is allowed to succeed in Ukraine, he will continue to pursue his goal of recreating the Soviet Union. He’s made no bones about that.
      She fears Moldova, Georgia, the Baltic nations and Poland are in Putin’s sights.“Then our troops would be involved in a much larger war,” she says.The Senate will soon begin voting on a $95bn foreign aid bill for Israel, Ukraine and other US allies, ending months of negotiations over one of Joe Biden’s top priorities and giving Kyiv another lifeline in its defense against Russia’s invasion. But the drama isn’t over yet. Independent senator Bernie Sanders has vowed to offer amendments stripping from the bill funds to send Israel weapons, while Republicans opposed to arming Ukraine may make their own stand. Voting begins at 1pm with a procedural motion. Meanwhile, GOP senators are calling on the Biden administration to step in to break up pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses, including New York University and Yale University.Here’s what else is going on today:
      The US plans to ship $1b in weapons to Ukraine that can be quickly deployed on the battlefield once the foreign aid bill passes.
      Donald Trump’s trial on charges of falsifying business records is continuing in New York City, with testimony from former Nation Enquirer publisher David Pecker.
      Republican House speaker Mike Johnson took a risk by allowing the chamber to pass the bill funding Ukraine’s defense, but Trump continued to praise him, raising his chances of keeping his job.
      Twenty-five Republican senators have demanded that the Biden administration send federal law enforcement to respond to college campuses where pro-Palestinian protests have occurred, and called the demonstrators “anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist mobs”.“The Department of Education and federal law enforcement must act immediately to restore order, prosecute the mobs who have perpetuated violence and threats against Jewish students, revoke the visas of all foreign nationals (such as exchange students) who have taken part in promoting terrorism, and hold accountable school administrators who have stood by instead of protecting their students,” the group wrote in a letter addressed to the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, and the education secretary, Miguel Cardona.Among the signatories is the party’s Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, and his deputy, John Thune. Josh Hawley, the Missouri senator who separately demanded the president deploy national guard troops to college campuses, also signed the letter.Here’s more on the campus protests: More

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      US Senate votes to renew Fisa surveillance program

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      The US Senate voted late on Friday night to approve the reauthorization of the controversial Fisa surveillance program, narrowly preventing its midnight expiration.The reauthorization secures what supporters call a key element of the United States’ foreign intelligence-gathering operation.“Democrats and Republicans came together and did the right thing for our country safety,” said Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate.“We all know one thing: letting Fisa expire would be dangerous. It’s an important part of our national security, to stop acts of terror, drug trafficking and violent extreme extremism.”Fisa has attracted criticism from some Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who argue it violates Americans’ constitutional right to privacy. The bill was blocked three times in the past five months by Republicans in the House of Representatives bucking their party, before passing last week by a 273-147 vote when its duration was shortened from five years to two years.The White House, intelligence chiefs and top lawmakers on the House intelligence committee warned of potentially catastrophic effects of not reauthorizing the program, which was first created in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.Although the right to privacy is enshrined in the US constitution, the data of foreign nationals gathered by the program often includes communications with Americans, and can be mined by domestic law enforcement bodies such as the FBI without a warrant.That has alarmed both hardline Republicans and leftwing Democrats. Recent revelations that the FBI used this power to hunt for information about Black Lives Matter protesters, congressional campaign donors and US lawmakers raised further doubts about the program’s integrity. More

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      ‘This is a violent attack against women’: Florida Senate candidate seeks to channel abortion outrage

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      A round table on abortion rights, hosted by Florida’s Democratic Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, has only just begun, and already she finds herself comforting a woman in tears with a very personal story to tell.The woman is from Colombia, and speaks softly in Spanish as she tells the intimate gathering of the Miami-Dade Hispanic Democratic Caucus about the distressing decision her daughter had to make to terminate a pregnancy after learning the fetus was not developing.“In Colombia, which tends to be a very conservative country, she was glad supportive medical professionals were there for her daughter in the decision, and grateful she had access to good-quality healthcare for it,” said Mucarsel-Powell.“It was traumatic and painful, but at least they could rely on that healthcare. I’m just seeing outrage, from men and women, that here, families are faced with having to live in a state where you will not be able to get that care, because most women don’t even know they’re pregnant at six weeks.”She was referring to the ruling by Florida’s supreme court earlier this month that will allow a six-week abortion ban, with few exceptions for rape or incest, to take effect on 1 May. It will end the state’s position as a bulwark of access to the procedure in the south-eastern US.Yet it has also acted as rocket fuel to the campaign of Mucarsel-Powell, an Ecuador-born former congresswoman and mother of two daughters. She seized on the issue to launch a statewide Freedom Tour championing the protection of abortion rights and exposing the “unapologetic and proud” support for the ban on the part of her opponent in November, the incumbent Republican senator Rick Scott.View image in fullscreenThe Hispanic Caucus event in Coral Gables was only the third of the tour, but Mucarsel-Powell said it was already clear that abortion is a “top-of-mind” issue galvanizing voters, as it is in other Republican-controlled states that have curtailed reproductive rights since the US supreme court ended almost 50 years of federal protections with its 2022 reversal of Roe v Wade.On Monday, her campaign announced it had raised over $3.5m in the first quarter of the year, with more than 5,300 new donors since the supreme court ruling. And Democrats across Florida are also sensing wind in their sails as opposition to the ban, as well as support for a court-approved ballot initiative that could enshrine access to the procedure in the state’s constitution, hardens.“This is a violent attack against women, because it is fundamental for us to make that decision on our own, with our healthcare provider, with our families, with our faith,” Mucarsel-Powell told the Guardian in an interview following the round table.“This is about protecting privacy, protecting healthcare for women, making sure that there’s no government interference, especially from extreme politicians like Rick Scott. I can tell you what people are thinking about this, and that it’s affecting women living in the state of Florida that were sent home when they thought they were having a miscarriage, and they weren’t able to get that healthcare.“And then they got very ill, and almost died because they didn’t receive that healthcare. So this is a top-of-mind issue, like so many other issues, but we’ll see in November how voters decide what are going to be their priorities. I think they’re going to make things very clear.”View image in fullscreenAlso clear is Mucarsel-Powell’s disdain for Scott, who she believes is vulnerable in November as he defends the seat he narrowly won from the incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson in 2018 by only 10,000 votes from 8.2m cast.“If he goes back to the Senate, he will push for a national abortion ban,” she said. “His true agenda includes signing away women’s reproductive rights and trying to control their bodies.“And he knows he will have to answer for his support of Florida’s ban in November. The choice is going to be very clear for voters, they know who I am, they know what I stand for, and who and what Rick Scott isn’t.An Emerson College poll this week showed that 42% of Florida voters planned to vote for the constitutional amendment that would overturn the Florida ban, far short of the 60% it would need to pass.Yet Mucarsel-Powell sees hope in the 32% who say they are still unsure. “A lot of people don’t know that this amendment is on the ballot, so the movement that has been created and has built this infrastructure on the ground is ready to make sure that everyone knows this is an issue,” she said.“The work is happening, it will continue to happen, and I think in November, the majority of Floridians will know that they have a choice. I believe they’re going to come out and vote for freedom.” More

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      House Republicans’ bid to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas fails in US Senate

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      Senate Democrats on Wednesday dismissed the impeachment case brought by House Republicans against Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, on grounds that the charges failed to meet the bar of “high crimes and misdemeanors” outlined in the constitution as a basis for removing an official from office.In a pair of party-line votes, Democrats held that two articles alleging Mayorkas willfully refused to enforce the nation’s immigration laws and breached the public trust with his statements to Congress about the high levels of migration at the US southern border with Mexico were unconstitutional. On the first article, the Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, voted “present”.Democrats then voted 51-49 to adjourn the trial, just one day after House Republicans presented the articles to the Senate. Chuck Schumer, the senate majority leader, moved to dismiss the charges outright, arguing that a cabinet official cannot be removed from office for implementing the policies of the administration he serves.“It is beneath the dignity of the Senate to entertain this nakedly partisan exercise,” Schumer said in a floor speech opening Wednesday’s session.Constitutional scholars, including conservative legal experts, have said the Republicans’ impeachment case is deeply flawed and weakens Congress’s most powerful tool for holding despots and delinquents to account. But Republicans pushed ahead, arguing that Mayorkas’ handling of the southern border warranted a historic rebuke.“This process must not be abused. It must not be short-circuited,” Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, said, imploring Democrats to hold a full trial. “History will not judge this moment well.”After the Senate convened as a court of impeachment, Schumer offered his plan to hold votes to dismiss the two articles of impeachment after limited debate. Senator Eric Schmitt, a Republican of Missouri, immediately objected to Schumer’s proposal and accused the Democratic leader of “setting our constitution ablaze” by seeking to dispense with the charges against Mayorkas.The majority leader then called for votes to dismiss the trial, setting off a series of procedural maneuvers by Republicans to delay the proceedings, all of which were rejected 51-49 by the Democratic majority.Had they moved to a trial, Republicans still would have lacked the support of two-thirds of the Senate that is needed to convict and remove Mayorkas from office.Mayorkas has denied wrongdoing, defending the work of his agency as it grapples with soaring migration and a refusal by Congress to act.“As they work on impeachment, I work in advancing the missions of the Department of Homeland Security. That’s what I’ve done throughout this process,” Mayorkas said on Wednesday during an appearance on CBS to discuss a new federal initiative to combat online abuse of children.Democrats cast the impeachment effort as election-year political theater designed to draw attention to the situation at the border, one of the president’s biggest liabilities. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has made immigration the centerpiece of his campaign for the White House.“The impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas has nothing to do with high crimes and misdemeanors and everything to do with helping Donald Trump on the campaign trail,” Schumer added on Wednesday.He charged Republicans instead to join Democrats in passing the bipartisan Senate border bill aimed they derailed at Trump’s behest.Some Senate Republicans have expressed deep skepticism of the impeachment effort. But conservatives have cried foul and are preparing to deploy a series of procedural tactics in an effort to delay the vote ending the trial without arguments.“What Senator Schumer is going to do is fatuous, it is fraudulent and it is an insult to the Senate and a disservice to every American citizen,” said John Kennedy, Republican Senator of Louisiana, at a press conference on Tuesday.By a single vote, House Republicans impeached Mayorkas in February for his handling of the border. It was the first time in nearly 150 years that a cabinet secretary was impeached.But Mike Johnson delayed the transfer of the articles for several weeks, initially to allow the chambers more time to complete work on government funding legislation. Upon returning from a two-week recess, the House speaker again postponed the transfer at the request of Senate Republicans, who requested more time to prepare.The outright dismissal of the charges, without the opportunity to argue their case, was yet another setback for House Republicans, plagued by internal drama and a vanishingly thin majority.In a joint statement, House Republican leaders said: “The American people will hold Senate Democrats accountable for this shameful display.”The White House, meanwhile, applauded Senate Democrats for dispensing with what it called a “baseless” case.“President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas will continue doing their jobs to keep America safe and pursue actual solutions at the border, and Congressional Republicans should join them, instead of wasting time on baseless political stunts while killing real bipartisan border security reforms,” said the White House spokesperson Ian Sams.The proceedings began at 1pm, when Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, administered the oath of office to the Senate president pro tempore Patty Murray, a Democrat of Washington. Each senator was sworn in as a juror and signed their name in an oath book.“Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye!” the sergeant-at-arms proclaimed, reminding senators that they are to “keep silent on pain of imprisonment” for the duration of the trial.Had the Senate moved to an impeachment trial, it would be the third time in five years. Trump was impeached twice during his presidency, first over his dealings with Ukraine and later over his involvement in the January 6 assault on the US Capitol. He was acquitted both times by Senate Republicans. More

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      Far-right US Senate candidate tells crowd to ‘strap on a Glock’ before elections

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      Republican US Senate candidate Kari Lake has told supporters to “strap on a Glock” ahead of the 2024 elections as she struggles to gain ground against her Democratic rival in Arizona.In a campaign speech made to a crowd in Arizona’s Mohave county on Sunday, Lake echoed Trump-like terms in calling Washington DC a “swamp” – and used a reference to carrying guns when she told people to prepare for an “intense” election year.Lake hopes to represent Arizona in the seat to be vacated by Democrat turned independent Kyrsten Sinema.Lake told the crowd: “We need to send people to Washington DC that the swamp does not want there. And I can think of a couple people they don’t want there. First on that list is Donald J Trump; second is Kari Lake.“He’s willing to sacrifice everything I am. That’s why they’re coming after us with ‘lawfare’,” Lake said, referencing the ex-president’s many legal troubles as he stands trial in New York.“They’re going to come after us with everything. That’s why the next six months is going to be intense. And we need to strap on our … ”Lake briefly paused before deciding on the item her supporters should strap on. After suggesting a “seatbelt”, a “helmet” and “the armor of God”, she said: “And maybe strap on a Glock on the side of us just in case.”Before running for the Senate seat, Lake ran for governorship of Arizona in 2022 on a hard-right platform where she echoed Donald Trump’s false claims that he was not beaten in the 2020 presidential election by Joe Biden. She lost to her Democratic rival, Katie Hobbs.She told supporters on Sunday, referring to constitutional gun rights and free speech rights: “We’re not going to be the victims of crime. We’re not going to have our second amendment taken away. We’re certainly not going to have our first amendment taken away by these tyrants.”But despite Lake’s assertive remarks, more voters are now moving towards her Democratic opponent, Ruben Gallego, Politico reported.Politico cited election analyst Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, which moved the likelihood of the open Senate race from “toss-up” to “leans Democratic”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIt’s not yet clear how much the issue of abortion will sway elections in the state, where last week the Arizona supreme court ruled a divisive 19th-century near-total abortion ban would soon go into effect, almost two years after the overturning of Roe v Wade’s federal abortion rights protection by the US supreme court. The revived historical law in Arizona makes no exceptions for rape or incest and only allows abortions if the mother’s life is at risk.Lake has flip-flopped on the issue, previously supporting the law and now saying she opposes it.Democrats in the Arizona house of representatives are seeking to repeal the pending 1864 ban on abortion, but they will need the help of some Republicans in the closely divided legislature.Reuters contributed reporting More