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      Bernie Moreno says he fled socialism in Colombia for the US in 1971. What does history say?

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      Bernie Moreno, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Ohio who expected to mount a stern challenge to Sherrod Brown, the incumbent leftwing Democrat, says his family fled socialism when they came to the US from Colombia in 1971, when he was four years old.Though such statements formed a central part of Moreno’s campaign message on his way to securing the Republican nomination with support from Donald Trump, they do not withstand historical scrutiny.In an interview in 2020, about his success as a car dealer in Ohio, Moreno described himself as “somebody who moved to this country a long time ago to escape what happens in most South American countries, which is socialism and the absolute prison of those ideas”.In 2021, as Moreno moved into national politics with a first run for a Senate nomination, the Cleveland Plain Dealer said he “says he came to the United States as a child with his mother and siblings to flee socialism in their native Colombia. He believes that same ideology is rising in the United States, and he wants to fight back.”But when Moreno was born, on 14 February 1967, Colombia was nine years into the 16-year period of National Front government, in which conservative and liberal parties alternated being in power as a way to avoid violence between the two factions.Furthermore, the first leftwing Colombian government in modern times is the current one, headed by Gustavo Petro and in power since 2022.Colombia has long been home to leftwing guerrilla groups. As described by the US Congressional Research Service, when Moreno lived there, the country was home to “leftist, Marxist-inspired insurgencies … including the Farc, launched in 1964, and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN), which formed the following year”.Such groups, the CRS says, “conducted kidnappings, committed serious human rights violations, and carried out a campaign of terror that aimed to unseat the central government in Bogotá”.Moreno, however, has described an early childhood far removed from such worries.By his own description, his father was secretary of health under Misael Pastrana, a conservative and the last National Front president between 1970 and 1974.“We had a very, very, very, very incredible lifestyle in Colombia,” Moreno said in 2019, at a business event in Cleveland, adding that his mother moved the family to the US – initially against his father’s wishes – because she “didn’t want us to be raised as pampered indoor cats”.The move was “a jump”, Moreno said, “but it was this idea of no fear”.Contacted for comment on Wednesday, Moreno’s communications director, Reagan McCarthy, said: “No where in the [first] quote cited does Bernie say his family came to America because Colombia was a socialist country or that his family was escaping a socialist country at the time.“He very clearly was stating that many South American countries fell to socialism and his parents came to America to ensure their kids would grow up in a free society, out of fear that Colombia would eventually move towards socialism.”As indicated by McCarthy’s reference to “many South American countries [falling] to socialism”, Moreno has also spoken of a fear of being “surrounded” by socialist governments.In 2021, writing in the Toledo Blade, he said: “I was born in South America, surrounded by socialist ideology.”The same year, Moreno told the Landscape, a Cleveland podcast: “I think the [US is] going off [in] a very dangerous direction. It’s a direction I recognise. I grew up surrounded by socialist ideology, whether it’s Venezuela or Cuba [or] now Peru, and I know where this movie ends.”And in a campaign ad, also from 2021, Moreno said: “I came from a country surrounded by the ideology of radicals like Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, who promised to give everyone all they needed and solve all their problems, just like [Vermont senator] Bernie Sanders and AOC [New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] are doing today.”Such claims also shake under scrutiny.Cuba has indeed been governed from the left since 1959, when Castro and the Communist party took power after a long fight. Castro was assisted by Guevara, a revolutionary from Argentina – who was killed in October 1967, when Moreno was eight months old.In the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Moreno was a young child in Colombia, Venezuela was governed by Rafael Caldera, a Christian Democrat who moved to end conflict with leftwing guerrillas. Ecuador, which also borders Colombia, was also governed by a centrist at that time.Between 1968 and 1975, Peru was led by Juan Velasco Alvarado, a general who seized power in a coup d’état but governed from the political centre. The current president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, is a former member of a Marxist party now governing with the support of rightwingers.Between 1970 and 1973, Chile – more than a thousand miles south of Colombia – was governed by Salvador Allende, its first socialist president. He died on 11 September 1973 as the rightwing Chilean military led by Gen Augusto Pinochet attacked the presidential palace, in a coup backed by the CIA.After coming to the US in 1971, Moreno became a US citizen at 18. In her statement on Wednesday, McCarthy, the Moreno aide, accused the Guardian of failing to celebrate “what could potentially be the first South American-born senator”.The National Republican Senatorial Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Brown declined to comment. More

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      Joe Lieberman, former US senator and vice-presidential nominee, dies at 82

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      The former US senator Joe Lieberman, who ran as the Democratic nominee for vice-president in the 2000 election and became the first Jewish candidate on a major-party ticket for the White House, alongside presidential candidate Al Gore, has died at the age of 82.Lieberman died in New York due to complications from a fall, according to a statement from his family. He was a Connecticut senator for four terms.Lieberman took one of the most controversial arcs in recent US political history. Though he had the status of a breakthrough candidate for America’s Jewish community as Gore’s running mate, his support for president George W Bush’s Iraq war heralded a rightward journey that saw him anger many Democrats.Lieberman sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 but his support for the war in Iraq doomed his candidacy with voters, amid increasing anger at the invasion and its bloody aftermath. It also meant Lieberman was rejected by Connecticut’s Democrats when he ran for a fourth Senate term there in 2006.However, in what he said was a vindication of his positions, he kept his Senate seat by running as an independent candidate, with substantial support from Republican and independent voters.By 2008, Lieberman was a high-profile supporter of Republican senator John McCain in his bid to defeat Democrat Barack Obama’s quest to become America’s first Black president.Thus Lieberman did manage to both impress and offend people across party lines. He expressed strong support for gay rights, civil rights, abortion rights and environmental causes that often won him praise of many Democrats, and he frequently fit mould of a north-east liberal. He played a key role in legislation that established the US Department of Homeland Security.He was also the first national Democrat to publicly criticize President Bill Clinton for his extramarital affair with then White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He scolded Clinton for “disgraceful behavior”, earning the ire of his party – though his position has become much more standard in the wake of the #MeToo movement.As he sought a political home outside Democratic politics, Lieberman’s close friend in the Senate John McCain was leaning strongly toward choosing him as vice-president for the 2008 Republican ticket, but Lieberman’s history of liberal policies were seen as too unpopular for McCain to pull off such a move with his conservative base. He plumped for Sarah Palin instead.In announcing his retirement from the Senate in 2013, Lieberman acknowledged that he did “not always fit comfortably into conventional political boxes” and felt his first responsibility was to serve his constituents, state and country, not his political party.Harry Reid, who served as Senate Democratic leader, once said that while he didn’t always agree with the independent-minded Lieberman, he respected him.“Regardless of our differences, I have never doubted Joe Lieberman’s principles or his patriotism,” Reid said. “And I respect his independent streak, as it stems from strong convictions.”After leaving the Senate, Lieberman joined a New York law firm and took up company boards – as is common for retiring senators. But his public positions continued to be a mish-mash of liberal and rightwing views.View image in fullscreenHe endorsed Donald Trump’s controversial decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and was a public supporter of Trump’s rightwing education secretary Betsy DeVos – a hated figure for many liberals. But at the same time, he endorsed Hilary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 in their runs for the White House.Lieberman continued to push his message of compromise with his 2021 book The Centrist Solution, comparing far-right extremists to progressive leftists in a Guardian interview at the time, saying: “The divisive forces in both of our two major parties have moved further away from the centre. But I believe those more extreme segments of both parties are in the minority in both parties.”He also said he was optimistic that “more mainstream, centrist elements” in the Republican party would take over again.He remained active in recent years as the founding chairman of No Labels, an organization to encourage bipartisanship but which is currently exploring backing a third-party bid for the presidency as Trump and Biden face off again. Faced with criticisms that the group’s efforts could boost Trump’s chance at victory, Lieberman said last year he did not want to see Trump re-elected, but that he believed Democrats would fare better if Biden was not running. In recent weeks, No Labels has struggled to find a candidate as ballot deadlines near.Lieberman grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, where his father operated a liquor store. He was the eldest of three siblings in an Orthodox Jewish family. A Yale law school graduate, Lieberman went on to serve as Connecticut attorney general in 1983, before defeating the incumbent Republican, Lowell Weicker, to earn his Senate seat in 1988.Tributes poured in from both sides of the aisle on Wednesday night. Chris Murphy, a US senator from Connecticut, said in a statement that his state was “shocked by Senator Lieberman’s sudden passing”, adding: “In an era of political carbon copies, Joe Lieberman was a singularity. One of one. He fought and won for what he believed was right and for the state he adored.”Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and oldest sitting senator at 90, recalled working with Lieberman on whistleblower initiatives, saying in a statement: “Joe was a dedicated public servant working [with] anyone regardless of political stripe.”Gore published a tribute praising Lieberman as a “truly gifted leader, whose affable personality and strong will made him a force to be reckoned with”, recounting his former running mate’s support of the 1960s civil rights movement.Obama wrote that he and Lieberman “didn’t always see eye-to-eye”, but commended the former senator for supporting the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the passage of the Affordable Care Act: “In both cases the politics were difficult, but he stuck to his principles because he knew it was the right thing to do.”Paul Harris and the Associated Press contributed to this report More

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

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

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

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

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

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

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      US government faces another shutdown: what you need to know

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      Congress faces its third shutdown deadline of the month this week, as much of the federal government is expected to run out of funding by Friday at midnight.Both chambers of Congress must approve six appropriations bills before Saturday to get the legislation to Joe Biden’s desk and avert a partial shutdown. Although the current fiscal year started more than five months ago, House Republicans have struggled to pass appropriations bills due to demands from hard-right members to include controversial provisions in the legislation.As a result, Congress has been forced to pass four stopgap bills since the fiscal year began in October, and members hope they can finally conclude the appropriations process this week.But disputes over the Department of Homeland Security’s budget repeatedly hampered negotiations, raising serious doubts about whether members would be able to pass a spending package in time to prevent a funding lapse.The White House announced on Tuesday that negotiators had reached a deal on homeland security funding, but it remains unclear whether Congress will have enough time to pass the proposal before Saturday.Here’s everything you need to know about the shutdown threat:What bills must Congress pass?Congress has to approve six full-year appropriations bills, which represent funding for about 70% of the federal government. Among other agencies, the departments of state, defense, homeland security, education and labor will all run out of funding at 12.01am on Saturday unless another spending package is approved.Didn’t Congress already pass a funding bill?Earlier this month, Congress approved a spending package that encapsulated six of the 12 full-year appropriations bills necessary for funding the federal government. The agencies covered by that package now have funding through the rest of this fiscal year, which ends on 30 September.But under the terms of a stopgap bill passed late last month, the remaining six appropriations bills must be signed by 22 March to prevent a partial government shutdown.What is holding up the talks?Democrats and Republicans appear to have reached agreement on five of the six appropriations bills, but they repeatedly clashed over funding for the Department of Homeland Security due to arguments over money for border security measures.The House speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, said on Tuesday that a deal had been struck on DHS funding, but the exact details of the proposal remain unclear. As of Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers were still waiting to see legislative text of the deal.“House and Senate committees have begun drafting bill text to be prepared for release and consideration by the full House and Senate as soon as possible,” Johnson said on X, formerly known as Twitter.The announcement comes weeks after congressional Republicans blocked a bipartisan border and national security deal that included more funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.Does a shutdown appear likely at this point?The exact timing of votes in the House and the Senate will determine whether a partial shutdown occurs on Saturday. House Republican leaders prefer to give members 72 hours to read legislation before a vote, and with full bill text now expected no earlier than Tuesday, it appears that a final House vote would probably take place on Friday.That would leave the Senate with little time to approve the package before the shutdown deadline at midnight. Senators would have to unanimously agree on fast-tracking the legislation, and that task could prove difficult given past objections from some hard-right Republicans in the chamber, including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.“Passing the second group of appropriations bills, of course, is not going to be easy,” the Senate majority leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer, said last week. “Democrats will continue working with Republicans to finish the job. That can only be done in a bipartisan way.”If no agreement is reached on expediting the final Senate vote, it could trigger a partial shutdown on Saturday morning. But if the Senate can ultimately approve the package over the weekend, the shutdown would be short-lived and would have little impact on federal agencies.If Congress can pass a funding package, when will this issue arise again?Assuming Congress approves a spending package this week, the entire federal government will be funded through the end of the fiscal year, and lawmakers will not face another shutdown deadline until the end of September.But it is worth noting how unusual it is to have Congress still haggling over government funding at this point in the calendar, when nearly half of the fiscal year has already elapsed. Underscoring how late Congress is on passing the appropriations bills, members of Biden’s cabinet will be on Capitol Hill this week to testify about the president’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year – even as this year’s spending levels remain up in the air. More

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      Biden and House Republicans reach funding deal as shutdown looms

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      The Biden administration and House Republican leadership have struck a deal on a government funding package, but it remains unclear if US Congress will have enough time to pass the proposal before Saturday, when many federal agencies are expected to run out of money.Joe Biden said on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached, and he urged lawmakers to move as swiftly as possible to get the bill to his desk and avert a partial government shutdown this weekend.“We have come to an agreement with congressional leaders on a path forward for the remaining full-year funding bills,” Biden said in a statement. “The House and Senate are now working to finalize a package that can quickly be brought to the floor, and I will sign it immediately.”The House speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, confirmed that negotiators had reached a deal on funding the Department of Homeland Security through the rest of the fiscal year, which had become the final sticking point in the talks.The negotiators had already closed out five of the six remaining appropriations bills, but disputes over border security funding prevented them from announcing a deal over the weekend. The exact details of the DHS deal were not immediately clear, as lawmakers waited to review the text of the legislation on Tuesday.“House and Senate committees have begun drafting bill text to be prepared for release and consideration by the full House and Senate as soon as possible,” Johnson said on X, formerly known as Twitter.Congressional leaders are now in a race against the clock to pass the funding bill before 12.01am on Saturday, when roughly 70% of the federal government will shut down unless another spending package is approved. Earlier this month, Biden signed a bill to fund the remaining 30% of the federal government through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on 30 September. But the departments of state, defense, labor, education and others still face a funding cliff on Saturday.The timeline will be tight, as House Republican leaders prefer to give members at least 72 hours to review legislation before holding a vote. That would set the final House vote for Friday at the earliest, leaving the Senate with just hours to pass the bill before the shutdown deadline.In order to accomplish that, all senators will need to unanimously agree on expediting the bill’s passage, and that could prove difficult given past objections from some hard-right members of the upper chamber, such as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. If no such time agreement is reached, then a short shutdown may ensue, but it would probably have little impact on federal agencies as long as the Senate can still pass the bill over the weekend.Once Biden signs the spending bill, the entire federal government will be funded through the rest of the fiscal year. The resolution would end a months-long standoff that has forced Congress to pass four stopgap spending bills since the fiscal year began in October, but members will not get much of a reprieve from their appropriations duties. Congressional hearings are already being held this week to discuss next year’s budget. More

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      in US Politics

      Trump unable to make $454m bond in civil fraud case, say his lawyers – as it happened

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      Donald Trump has been unable to post a bond covering the full amount of his $454m New York civil fraud judgment against him, his lawyers said in a court filing.The filing on Monday states that obtaining a bond has proven to be “a practical impossibility”, adding that “diligent” efforts made to secure a bond have included “approaching about 30 surety companies through 4 separate brokers” and “countless hours negotiating with one of the largest insurance companies in the world.”These efforts have proven that “obtaining an appeal bond in the full amount” of the judgment “is not possible under the circumstances presented,” the filing states.With interest, Trump owes $456.8m. In all, he and co-defendants including his company and top executives owe $467.3m, according to AP. To obtain a bond, they would be required to post collateral worth $557m, Trump’s lawyers said.
      Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, told Joe Biden that he will send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to discuss a potential military operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, the White House said. Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone on Monday in their first known interaction in more than a month, in which the US president questioned the Israeli leader about establishing a “coherent and sustainable strategy’ to defeat Hamas.
      Donald Trump’s lawyers told a New York appellate court that it’s impossible for him to post a bond covering the full amount of his $454m civil fraud judgment while he appeals.
      Trump’s claim to be immune from criminal prosecution for acts committed in office is rejected by 70% of American voters, and 48% of Republicans, according to a new poll.
      Trump is expected to enlist Paul Manafort, his former 2016 presidential campaign manager who he pardoned, to help with the Republican national convention, according to multiple reports.
      The supreme court heard oral arguments Monday in a case that could upend the federal government’s relationship with social media companies and with lies online. Plaintiffs in Murthy v Missouri argue that White House requests to take down coronavirus misinformation on Twitter and Facebook constitute illegal censorship in violation the first amendment.
      Congress is once again running up on yet another critical government funding deadline, with a dispute over border security funding threatening to force a shutdown of vast swaths of the federal government.
      Gavin Newsom, the Californian governor, has postponed his State of the State address while his signature mental health and homelessness initiative Prop 1 remains too close to call.
      The father of Laken Riley has objected to how he says his daughter’s death is “being used politically” ahead of the upcoming presidential and congressional elections.
      Geoff Duncan, the former Georgia lieutenant governor, said he is withdrawing his name from consideration for a third-party 2024 presidential ticket with the centrist group No Labels.
      Mike Johnson, the House speaker, asked fractious fellow Republicans to “cool it” and stop fighting each other during primary elections as he seeks to maintain some sort of control over a caucus at the mercy of the far right.
      The supreme court rejected an appeal from Couy Griffin, a former New Mexico county commissioner who was removed from office over his role in the January 6 insurrection.
      The son of the late supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called a decision to give Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch an award named for his mother a “desecration” of her memory.
      Barack Obama has held talks with Rishi Sunak as the former US president paid a “courtesy visit” to Downing Street during a trip to London.The pair are understood to have discussed a range of subjects during an hour-long meeting, including one of the prime minister’s favourite topics, artificial intelligence.Obama, who served two terms in the White House from 2009 to 2017 before he was succeeded by Donald Trump, was in London as part of work with his Obama Foundation, which oversees a scholarship programme and other initiatives.The prime minister’s official spokesperson said Obama had made “an informal courtesy drop-in as part of his trip to London”. He added:
      I think President Obama’s team made contact and obviously the prime minister was very happy to meet with him and discuss the work of the Obama Foundation.
      The two held what were understood to be largely one-to-one discussions in the prime minister’s study. Obama briefly paused at the door of No 10 to wave to the cameras but no photos were released from what Downing Street said was a private meeting.A conservative social media influencer has been charged with storming the US Capitol and passing a stolen table out of a broken window, allowing other rioters to use it as a weapon against police, according to an AP report.Isabella Maria DeLuca, 24, was arrested last Friday in Irvine, California, on misdemeanor charges, including theft of government property, disorderly conduct and entering a restricted area.During the January 6 riot, DeLuca posted to social media, writing “Fight back or let politicians steal and election? Fight back!”Videos captured her entering a suite of conference rooms inside the Capitol through a broken window. She passed a table out of the window and then climbed back outside through the same window. A table that another rioter threw at police resembled the one that DeLuca passed out the window, according to court records unsealed on Monday.More than 1,300 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related crimes. More than 800 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds getting a term of imprisonment ranging from a few days to 22 years.The supreme court heard oral arguments Monday in a case that could upend the federal government’s relationship with social media companies and with lies online.Plaintiffs in Murthy v Missouri argue that White House requests to take down coronavirus misinformation on Twitter and Facebook constitute illegal censorship in violation the first amendment.The arguments began with Brian Fletcher, the principal deputy solicitor general of the justice department, making an argument that none of the government’s communications crossed the line from persuasion into coercion. He also pushed back against descriptions of events in lower court rulings, stating that they were misleading or included quotations taken out of context. Fletcher said:
      When the government persuades a private party not to distribute or promote someone else’s speech, that’s not censorship, that’s persuading a private party to do something that they’re lawfully entitled to do.
      The justices, most prominently conservatives Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, questioned Fletcher on where exactly the line is between threatening companies and persuading them. Fletcher defended the government’s actions as part of its broader ability to try and reduce public harm. Fletcher said:
      The government can encourage parents to monitor their children’s cell phone usage or internet companies to watch out for child pornography on their platforms, even if the fourth amendment would prevent the government from doing that directly.
      Joe Biden’s phone conversation with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “businesslike”, the White House’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.During the call, the president warned Netanyahu that an Israeli military operation in Rafah would deepen anarchy in Gaza, Sullivan told reporters.Biden also questioned Netanyahu over a lack of a “coherent and sustainable strategy’ to defeat Hamas, “rather than Israel go smashing into Rafah,” he said.The two leaders agreed teams from each side would meet in Washington to discuss a prospective Rafah operation, Sullivan said. This meeting could take place this week or next, he said, adding that no Rafah operation would proceed before the talks.Donald Trump is expected to enlist Paul Manafort, his former 2016 presidential campaign manager who he pardoned, as a campaign adviser later this year, according to multiple reports.Manafort has been in discussions for several months with Trump’s team to help with the Republican national convention in Milwaukee, although his potential role at the party’s convention has not been decided, the Washington Post reported.Manafort was sentenced to more than seven years in prison as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation into Trump’s associates. Trump pardoned him in the final weeks of his presidency.Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has told Joe Biden that he will send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to discuss a potential military operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, the White House said.White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters:
      We’ve arrived at a point where each side has been making clear to the other its perspective.
      Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone earlier on Monday, their first known interaction in more than a month as the rift deepens between the two leaders over the war in Gaza.The son of the late US supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called a decision to give Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch an award named for his mother a “desecration” of her memory.Discussing protests made to the Dwight D Opperman Foundation, which gives the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership award, James Ginsburg told CNN:
      I don’t want to speak to what our other plans might be if the foundation doesn’t see the wisdom of desisting and ending this desecration of my mother’s memory. But I will say that we will continue to fight this.
      The second woman appointed to the US supreme court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent 27 years as a justice, becoming a hero to American liberals. She died aged 87 in September 2020 and was replaced by Amy Coney Barrett, the third conservative justice installed by Donald Trump.Ginsburg helped establish the award colloquially known as the RBG, saying it would honour “women who have strived to make the world a better place for generations that follow their own, women who exemplify human qualities of empathy and humility, and who care about the dignity and well being of all who dwell on planet Earth”.Previous recipients have included Barbra Streisand and Queen Elizabeth II. Last week, the Dwight D Opperman Foundation announced a five-strong list it said was chosen from “a slate of dozens of diverse nominees” but which included just one woman.Former Georgia lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan said he is withdrawing his name from consideration for a third-party 2024 presidential ticket with the centrist group No Labels.“After careful deliberation, I have withdrawn my name from consideration for the No Labels presidential ticket,” Duncan said in a statement on Monday.
      It was an honor to be approached, and I am grateful to all those who are engaged in good-faith efforts to offer Americans a better choice than the Trump vs. Biden re-match.
      No Labels has been struggling to field a so-called “unity ticket” to provide voters with an alternative to Donald Trump and Joe BidenDuncan becomes the latest lawmaker to turn down No Labels, a list that includes Republican former presidential candidate Nikki Haley, Republican former Maryland governor Larry Hogan, and Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema.California’s governor Gavin Newsom has postponed his State of the State address while his signature mental health and homelessness initiative Prop 1 remains too close to call.With more than 95% of votes counted, the statewide ballot measure that would restructure mental health funding in the state is slightly ahead – but still too close to call. The measure, which has faltered despite no funded opposition, is a key piece of the governor’s plan to address both the mental health and homelessness crises. It would redirect some of the state’s mental health funds toward housing and residential treatment facilities for severe mental health and substance use disorders, and raise billions via a bond.Fiscal conservatives have balked at the measure’s borrowing costs – but Prop 1 was also criticized by local officials, because it would defund community-based programs, and disability rights advocates, who object to its funding of locked-door psychiatric institutions and involuntary treatment.Still, while healthcare companies, and unions backing the state’s prison guards and construction workers, have funded a $14.3m campaign to sell the measure to voters, opponents had only raised $1,000. The “no” campaign conceded last week, but there’s still a chance the measure could fail.The governor was banking on Prop 1 to fund broader plans to combat homelessness, which include the Care court program, which will empower families, providers and outreach workers to ask state courts to compel people with certain severe mental disorders into treatment programs, and SB43, which expands the group of people who can be placed in involuntary psychiatric holds or forced to undergo medical treatment.Ahead of the election on 6 March, Newsom had been confident – telling the LA Times, “I think it’s going to win overwhelmingly.”Now, the governor’s federal PAC, Campaign for Democracy, is seeking volunteers to help Democrats who have had their ballots rejected, for reasons such as forgetting to include a signature, to help them correct issues and have votes counted.Donald Trump’s failure to secure a bond to cover a $454m judgment in his New York civil fraud case means he is inching closer to the possibility of having his properties seized, Reuters reports.The former president must either pay the sum out of his own pocket or post a bond to stave off the state’s seizure while he appeals the judgment against him last month for misstating property values to dupe lenders and insurers.Trump’s lawyers said on Monday that they’d approached 30 companies without success to make the bond.A bonding company would be on the hook for any payout if Trump loses his appeal and proves unable to pay.He must post cash or a bond within 30 days of the judge’s formal entry of the order on February 23 or risk the state seizing some of the Trump Organization’s assets to ensure New York attorney general Letitia James, who brought the civil case, can collect. Thirty days end on March 25.In a court filing, Trump’s lawyers urged a mid-level state appeals court to delay enforcement of the judgment, arguing the amount was excessive. It was unclear when the court, known as the appellate division, would rule.The Guardian adds that last month James said she will seize Trump’s assets if he doesn’t pay.US vice president Kamala Harris kicked off an event at the White House a little earlier to mark women’s history month.She was accompanied by Jill Biden and a dude who loves to describe himself as “Jill Biden’s husband”, as well as a dude who’s the Veep’s husband, and Maria Shriver, who is founder of the nonprofit organization the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement as well as the former first lady of California and a member of the Kennedy clan.Harris said that she’s visited 20 countries in her current position and firmly believes that the strength of a democracy is measured by how a nation values the women of its population, especially in the economy.She reminded those gathered, to huge cheers, that her scientist mother was in a tiny minority as a woman graduating in her day in such a discipline and yet her daughter is now the first female vice president of the US.Harris said that in the US, women carry around two thirds of student debt. She ran through a list of what the Biden administration is doing for women. But her key role in this election is to persuade voters to reelect the Biden-Harris team as the only path to protecting reproductive rights. She has been out on the trail railing against the conservative-leaning Supreme Court, which tilted far to the right under Donald Trump, overturning in the national right to abortion afforded under Roe v Wade and the ongoing hard right assault from many angles on reproductive choice.“In states across our nation we are witnessing a full on attack against hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights, including the right of women to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do,” she said at the White House a little earlier today.Reactions are bubbling up to the news that Donald Trump has been unable to obtain a bond to secure the $464m New York civil fraud judgment against him.Film producer and political commentator Keith Boykin metaphorically shakes his head at Republicans being prepared to nominate Trump for a second term when he can’t pay his fines.Actor Rob Reiner is even plainer.Various other reactions from the commentariat include “sad”, the “king of debt” may need to hold a fire sale, and a pic of Trump sweating.
      Donald Trump’s lawyers told a New York appellate court that it’s impossible for him to post a bond covering the full amount of his $454m civil fraud judgment while he appeals.
      Trump’s claim to be immune from criminal prosecution for acts committed in office is rejected by 70% of American voters, and 48% of Republicans, according to a new poll.
      The supreme court is hearing arguments in Murthy v Missouri, a case with the potential to radically redefine how the US government interacts with social media companies.
      Congress is once again running up on yet another critical government funding deadline, with a dispute over border security funding threatening to force a shutdown of vast swaths of the federal government.
      The father of Laken Riley has objected to how he says his daughter’s death is “being used politically” ahead of the upcoming presidential and congressional elections.
      Mike Johnson, the House speaker, asked fractious fellow Republicans to “cool it” and stop fighting each other during primary elections as he seeks to maintain some sort of control over a caucus at the mercy of the far right.
      The supreme court rejected an appeal from Couy Griffin, a former New Mexico county commissioner who was removed from office over his role in the January 6 insurrection.
      Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, accused the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, of treating his country like a “banana republic” after Schumer publicly broke with Netanyahu over his handling of the war and called for new elections in Israel.
      The father of Laken Riley, whom authorities suspect was murdered by an undocumented migrant in February, has objected to how he says his daughter’s death is “being used politically” ahead of the upcoming presidential and congressional elections.Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was beaten to death on the University of Georgia’s campus on 22 February. Republicans have claimed Riley’s slaying represents a failure of the Joe Biden White House’s border policies and have used the killing to push legislation which would make it easier for law enforcement to detain unauthorized migrants accused of theft.Jason Riley, Laken’s father, told NBC’s Today show:
      I’d rather her not be such a political – how you say – it started a storm in our country … It’s incited a lot of people.
      Jason Riley said that since his daughter was killed, “there’s people on both sides that have lashed out at [his and Laken’s mother’s] families”.Investigators have charged José Ibarra with Riley’s murder. The 26-year-old, who is originally from Venezuela, had previously been charged with two crimes in New York before being released, ​​US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said, although officials in the state told the Associated Press they had no record of Ibarra being previously arrested.“I think it’s being used politically to get those votes,” Jason Riley said of his daughter’s death.
      It makes me angry. I feel like, you know, they’re just using my daughter’s name for that. And she was much better than that, and she should be raised up for the person that she is. She was an angel.
      Donald Trump is facing “insurmountable difficulties” in obtaining a bond to satisfy the $454m civil fraud judgment, his lawyers said in a court filing on Monday.In the filing, the former president’s lawyers wrote that Trump had “devoted a substantial amount of time, money, and effort” toward obtaining a bond but has “faced what have proven to be insurmountable difficulties in obtaining an appeal bond for the full $464 million.”Trump himself was ordered to pay $454m and with interest, owes $456.8m, according to AP. In all, he and co-defendants including his company and top executives owe $467.3m.They said Trump has approached 30 underwriters to back the bond, which is due by the end of this month, but that “very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching” the amount.The supreme court has rejected an appeal from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was removed from office over his role in the January 6 insurrection.Couy Griffin, a cowboy pastor and commissioner in Otero county in southern New Mexico, was kicked out of office in 2022 after he was sentenced to 14 days in jail and a $3,000 (£2,604) fine for misdemeanor trespassing during the Capitol attack. Griffin is the only elected official thus far to be banned from office in connection with the Capitol attack.The 14th amendment to the US constitution bars anyone who has participated in an insurrection from holding elected office.Though the supreme court ruled this month that states do not have the power to bar Donald Trump or other candidates for federal offices from the ballot, the justices said different rules apply to state and local candidates.House speaker Mike Johnson asked fractious fellow Republicans to “cool it” and stop fighting each other in displays of “member-on-member action” during primary elections as he seeks to maintain some sort of control over a caucus at the mercy of the far right, controlling the chamber by a mere two votes.“I’ve asked them all to cool it,” Johnson told CNN in remarks published Sunday.
      I am vehemently opposed to member-on-member action in primaries because it’s not productive. And it causes division for obvious reasons, and we should not be engaging in that. So I’m telling everyone who’s doing that to knock it off. And both sides, they’ll say, ‘Well, we didn’t start it, they started it.’
      Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, the far-right Trumpist firebrand pursuing such fights, effectively told the same outlet: “They started it.”“I would love nothing more than to just go after Democrats,” said Gaetz, who was last year the prime mover behind the historic ejection of Johnson’s predecessor as speaker, Kevin McCarthy, and who is now going after two more Republicans, Tony Gonzales of Texas and Mike Bost of Illinois.“If Republicans are going to dress up like Democrats in drag, I’m going to go after them too,” Gaetz said.
      Because at the end of the day, we’re not judged by how many Republicans we have in Congress. We’re judged on whether or not we save the country.
      Gonzales is under attack over a vote for gun safety reform, after the Uvalde elementary school massacre; over his positions on immigration reform; and for voting in favour of same-sex marriage. More