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Walz rallies with Steelers fans in Pittsburgh, questions Trump’s mental fitness

Ashley Murray — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 02:28:15 +0000

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz rallied before a few hundred spectators at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, and her running mate, Walz, have been blanketing Pennsylvania, a key swing state in the 2024 presidential race. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

PITTSBURGH — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz urged a crowd of Pittsburgh Steelers fans to vote early as he rallied a few hundred of them Tuesday night at the professional football team’s home at Acrisure Stadium.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ Democratic presidential running mate campaigned in the southwestern Pennsylvania city as the campaign continues its blitz of the coveted swing state that could decide the 2024 presidential contest.

The race between Harris and former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, remains razor-thin in the Keystone State.

Former Steeler Will Allen introduced Walz to a cheering crowd dotted with Steelers hats, jerseys and Terrible Towels, the team’s official rally towel.

“Give me my moment here, yesterday I made my first trip to Lambeau Field,” Walz said, referring to his trip to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and the home of the Green Bay Packers football team. “Today, I’m making my first trip into Steeler territory, so thank you.”

The former high school football coach and teacher visited Wisconsin Monday, which is alongside Pennsylvania on the list of must-win swing states. The others include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina.

Early mail-in ballot voting is already underway in Pennsylvania.

“If you’re voting by mail, get the damn thing in the mail as soon as possible,” Walz said.

Harris campaigned in Erie, Pennsylvania, Monday night before heading to Michigan Tuesday.

Attacks on Trump

Like Harris did in the state’s northwestern corner the previous night, Walz roused the Pittsburgh crowd by attacking Trump’s mental fitness.

“I would not usually encourage this, but go watch this guy, watch his town hall. He stopped taking questions and stood frozen on stage for 30 minutes while they played his Spotify list,” Walz said, referring to Trump’s Monday night town hall outside of Philadelphia.

“If this were your grandfather, you would take the keys away,” Walz said to laughter. “And I tell you this, look, it would be funny if this guy weren’t running for president of the United States.”

In Erie, Harris warned that Trump is “unhinged” and played video clips of the former president explaining his potential plans to use the military to silence “the enemy from within.”

Trump wrote on his social media platform Tuesday morning that Harris’ own health report is “really bad.”

“With all of the problems that she has, there is a real question as to whether or not she should be running for President!” he wrote on Truth Social.

Harris’ medical report released Saturday describes her “in excellent health.”

Walz on the farm

While Walz wore a white shirt and sports jacket when talking to the football fans, earlier in the day he donned a flannel shirt and told supporters gathered outside a barn in Lawrence County that he and Harris would fight for American farmers and resources for rural residents.

The governor also highlighted his bona fides as a veteran, hunter and gun owner. His speech can be viewed in full on C-SPAN.

The Harris-Walz campaign released a plan Tuesday for rural America that promised to shore up rural health care and support small farms.

Walz also stopped at a garden center and cafe in Butler County before heading into the city.

The pro-Democrat Rural USA political action committee highlighted economic analyses Tuesday that show Trump’s promised tariffs would cause farmers to lose business as exports would decline.

Pennsylvania farmers could lose $111 million in soy exports, $50 million in corn exports, $22 million in beef exports and $20 million in wheat exports, according to the analysis from the University of Illinois Department of Agriculture and Consumer Economics.

“These new studies literally show that Trump’s tariffs will put Pennsylvania farmers out of business,” Chris Gibbs, an Ohio corn and soybean farmer and president of Rural Voices USA, said in a statement Tuesday. “Exports are vital for Pennsylvania farmers and they cannot absorb the sharp fall in exports and prices these studies foreshadow.”

Trump defended his tariff proposals at the Economic Club of Chicago earlier Tuesday.? He told Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait during an hour-long interview that he would spur a manufacturing boom in the U.S. by making tariffs “so high, so horrible, so obnoxious” that companies would relocate.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio is scheduled to campaign in Pittsburgh Thursday.

Harris in interview with Charlamagne Tha God urges disillusioned voters to not give up

Jennifer Shutt — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 02:24:05 +0000

he Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, right, walks into the studio with Charlamagne Tha God before “We The People: An Audio Townhall With Kamala Harris and Charlamagne Tha God” on Oct. 15, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on a popular radio show Tuesday encouraged Americans to vote this year even if they don’t believe all of the issues they’re concerned about can be fixed in the immediate future.

“The solutions are not going to happen just overnight, and the solutions that we all want are not going to happen in totality because of one election,” Harris said during a live interview in Detroit with Charlamagne Tha God, co-host of the nationally syndicated “The Breakfast Club.”

“But here’s the thing — the things that we want, and are prepared to fight for, won’t happen if we’re not active and if we don’t participate.”

Harris said she didn’t “subscribe” to the idea that just because something takes a long time that it can’t be achieved, pointing to the years of struggle before the 1965 Voting Rights Act became law.

“It took the brutality of what happened when John Lewis and all those (who) were trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge,” Harris said, referring to Bloody Sunday. “It took a lot of work over our history to do what we have accomplished thus far, and we have to remain committed.”

Harris, who’s targeting outreach to Black male voters, encouraged listeners who have been disillusioned or traditionally disenfranchised by politics to vote this year, arguing that if they stayed home they would send a message to “obstructionists, who are standing in the way of change, they’re winning because they’re convincing people that it can’t be done.”

“Look at that circle, look at that vicious circle,” Harris said. “So let’s not fall for it.”

Harris said during the hour-long radio town hall that while the race between her and Republican candidate Donald Trump is extremely close, she expects to win once all the ballots are counted.

She also criticized him for making false statements about her career, actions taken by the Biden administration and policy proposals she’s put forward during her bid for the Oval Office.

“One of the biggest challenges that I face is mis- and disinformation, and it’s purposeful, because it is meant to convince people that they somehow should not believe that the work that I have done has occurred and has meaning,” Harris said.

Trump and his allies, she said, are trying to “scare people away” from voting for her in the presidential race “because they know they otherwise have nothing to run on.”

Police brutality

Harris spoke in detail about her proposals to expand the child tax credit, help first-time home buyers afford a down payment, increase access to capital for startup small business owners and decriminalize cannabis.

She said that if elected she would work with Congress to address police brutality through legislation, and noted that President Joe Biden signed an executive order more than two years ago that made several changes to how federal law enforcement agencies operate.

The executive order required the Justice Department to establish a database of “official records documenting instances of law enforcement officer misconduct as well as commendations and awards.”

Harris said during her interview that, as well as other provisions in the executive order addressing how federal law enforcement can use “no-knock warrants” and language barring chokeholds, marked significant change.

“This is no small issue … because, as we know, we’ve seen plenty of examples of a police officer who committed misconduct in one jurisdiction and then goes to another jurisdiction and gets hired because there’s no place that’s tracking their misconduct,” Harris said, adding if elected she would press Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

That bill, which passed the House in March 2021, would have made substantial changes to how law enforcement officers at the local, state and federal level operate, including to racial profiling.

‘Running to be president for everybody’

Harris was asked during the interview how her policies would affect the Black community and whether she planned to establish ways for people to access new education and career opportunities.

“I am running to be president for everybody. But I am clear eyed about the history and the disparities that exist for specific communities. And I’m not going to shy away from that,” Harris said. “It doesn’t mean that my policies aren’t going to benefit everybody, because they are. Everything I just talked about will benefit everybody.”

“Small business owners — whatever their race, their age, their gender, their geographic location — are going to benefit from the fact that I’m going to extend tax deductions to $50,000,” she added.

“Every first time homeowner — wherever they are, whatever their race — will benefit if they are a first-time home buyer with a $25,000 down payment assistance. Everyone is going to benefit from my plan to extend the child tax credit to $6,000 for the first year of their child’s life. That’s going to benefit everybody.”

Trump vows to levy ‘horrible’ tariffs on imports, rejecting fears of inflation spike

Jennifer Shutt — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 02:17:24 +0000

The Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, Oct. 15, spoke to the Economic Club of Chicago. In this photo, he speaks to attendees during a campaign rally at the Mosack Group warehouse on Sept. 25 in Mint Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump defended his plans for steep tariffs on Tuesday, arguing economists who say that those higher costs would get passed onto consumers are incorrect and that his proposals would benefit American manufacturing.

During an argumentative hour-long interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago, Trump vehemently denied tariffs on certain imported goods would lead to further spikes in inflation and sour America’s relationship with allies, including those in Europe.

“The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States, and build a factory in the United States so it doesn’t have to pay the tariff,” Trump said.

Micklethwait questioned Trump about what would happen to consumer prices during the months or even years it would take companies to build factories in the United States and hire workers.

Trump responded that he could make tariffs “so high, so horrible, so obnoxious that they’ll come right away.” Earlier during the interview, Trump mentioned placing tariffs on foreign-made products as high as 100% or 200%.

Harris-Walz 2024 spokesperson Joseph Costello wrote in a statement released following the interview that “Trump showed exactly why Americans can’t afford a second Trump presidency.”

“An angry, rambling Donald Trump couldn’t focus, had to be repeatedly reminded of the topic at hand, and whenever he did stake out a position, it was so extreme that no Americans would want it,” Costello wrote. “This was yet another reminder that a second Trump term is a risk Americans simply cannot take.”

Smoot-Hawley memories

Micklethwait noted during the interview that 40 million jobs and 27% of gross domestic product within the United States rely on trade, questioning how tariffs on those products would help the economy.

He also asked Trump if his plans for tariffs could lead the country down a similar path to the one that followed the Smoot-Hawley tariff law becoming law in June 1930. Signed by President Herbert Hoover, some historians and economists have linked the law to the beginning of the Great Depression.

Trump disagreed with Micklethwait, though he didn’t detail why his proposals to increase tariffs on goods from adversarial nations as well as U.S. allies wouldn’t begin a trade war.

The U.S. Senate’s official explainer on the Smoot-Hawley tariffs describes the law as being “among the most catastrophic acts in congressional history.” And the Congressional Research Services notes in a report on U.S. tariff policy that it was the last time lawmakers set tariff rates.

Desmond Lachman, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank, wrote last month that Trump’s proposal to implement tariffs of at least 60% on goods imported from China as well as 10 to 20% on all other imports could have severe economic consequences.

“It is difficult to see how such a unilateral trade policy in flagrant violation of World Trade Organization rules would not lead to retaliation by our trade partners with import tariff increases of their own,” Lachman wrote. “As in the 1930s, that could lead us down the destructive path of beggar-my-neighbor trade policies that could cause major disruption to the international trade system. Such an occurrence would be particularly harmful to our export industries and would heighten the chances of both a US and worldwide economic recession.”

CRS notes in its reports that while the Constitution grants Congress the authority to establish tariffs, lawmakers have given the president some authority over it as well.

The United States’ membership in the World Trade Organization and various other trade agreements also have “tariff-related commitments,” according to CRS.

“For more than 80 years, Congress has delegated extensive tariff-setting authority to the President,” the CRS report states. “This delegation insulated Congress from domestic pressures and led to an overall decline in global tariff rates. However, it has meant that the U.S. pursuit of a low-tariff, rules-based global trading system has been the product of executive discretion. While Congress has set negotiating goals, it has relied on Presidential leadership to achieve those goals.”

The presidency and the Fed

Trump said during the interview that he believes the president should have more input into whether the Federal Reserve raises or lowers interest rates, though he didn’t answer a question about keeping Jerome Powell as the chairman through the end of his term.

“I think I have the right to say I think he should go up or down a little bit,” Trump said. “I don’t think I should be allowed to order it. But I think I have the right to put in comments as to whether or not interest rates should go up or down.”

Trump declined to answer a question about whether he’s spoken with Russian leader Vladimir Putin since leaving office.

“I don’t comment on that,” Trump said. “But I will tell you that if I did, it’s a smart thing. If I’m friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Journalist Bob Woodward wrote in his new book “War” that Trump and Putin have spoken at least seven times and that Trump secretly sent Putin COVID-19 tests during the pandemic, which the Kremlin later confirmed, according to several news reports.

Trump said the presidential race will likely come down to Pennsylvania, Michigan and possibly Arizona.

The Economic Club of Chicago has also invited Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for a sit-down interview.

‘You pick the next president’: Pivotal Erie County, Pennsylvania, rallies for Harris

Ashley Murray — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 02:36:45 +0000

The Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks during a campaign rally at Erie Insurance Arena on Oct. 14, 2024 in Erie, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

ERIE, Pa. — Vice President Kamala Harris packed an arena Monday night in Erie, Pennsylvania, a swing corner of the key swing state in the 2024 presidential election.

Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, told thousands of spectators, “You are a pivot county.”

“How you all vote in presidential elections often ends up predicting the national result,” Harris said.

Harris, attacking the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, urged the crowd to watch Trump’s recent rallies and interviews.

“Please roll the clip,” she said before compilations of Trump appearances showed on two big screens in the arena.

Several showed him talking about the “enemy from within,” including a Sunday interview on Fox News where he said “radical left lunatics” could be “very easily handled, if necessary, by the National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.”

Obama to Trump to Biden

Erie County, at the northwestern tip of Pennsylvania, with just under 270,000 residents, has been a “pivot” county in the battleground state for the last several presidential elections.

Former President Barack Obama won the majority of the lakeside county’s voters in 2012. The county turned for Trump in 2016. And, in 2020, just 1,319 voters delivered a win for President Joe Biden over Trump, turning the county blue again.

This is Harris’ seventh visit to the western side of Pennsylvania, according to her campaign.

Trump was on the other side of the state Monday night, speaking in Upper Providence Township, 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Mail-in voting is already underway in the Keystone State — one of a handful that will decide who wins the Oval Office. The others include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Both the Harris and Trump campaigns are blanketing Pennsylvania — Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, Trump’s running mate, stumped in Johnstown Saturday, where in response to a question, he told States Newsroom he considered what happened in January 2021 to be a “peaceful transfer of power.”

Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will hold a campaign rally in Pittsburgh Tuesday.

Party-like atmosphere

Long lines began to snake outside the arena as early as four-and-a-half hours before Harris’ Monday rally.

A DJ played party music inside as spectators filled the floor and the stands of the roughly 9,000-seat arena.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania told the loud crowd, “Erie, my God, have you showed up.”

“The national media’s here, and you want to know why?? Because you pick the next president,” Fetterman said.

“Erie is the ultimate bellwether county, not just in Pennsylvania, in the nation right now. Right now the nation is all thinking about you and wondering where you’re gonna go,” Fetterman continued, to cheering. “And we know what you’re gonna do, and you’re gonna make sure that Harris and Walz is the team that’s gonna lead our nation.”

‘Born from personal experience’

Harris spoke for just under a half hour, highlighting her usual themes of a middle-class upbringing and her vision for an “opportunity economy.”

She outlined her platform of tax cuts for new parents, first-time home buyers and entrepreneurs, and a policy plan to “take out corporate price gouging.”

Harris also laid out her plan to expand Medicare to help pay for in-home senior care so “more seniors can live at home with dignity.”

“And like so many of my priorities it is born out of a personal experience,” she said, prefacing the story of how she cared for her mother, who died of colon cancer in 2009.

“But far too many people who want and need to take care of family members — either you have to leave your job or spend down everything you have to be able to qualify for Medicaid. That’s not right.”

“I will always put middle-class and working families first. I came from the middle class, and I will never forget where I come from,” Harris said as the crowd broke into chants of “U.S.A.”

Harris also told the crowd that Trump threatens health insurance for tens of millions of Americans with his platform to overhaul the Affordable Care Act.

During the single presidential debate of the election cycle, the former president said he had “concepts of a plan” to replace the insurance program that ushered in an era of covered medical care for pre-existing conditions.

“The seriousness of this cannot be overlooked. Think about that, taking us back to a time we all remember when insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions, you remember what that was? Well, we are not going back,” she said, repeating a common rally cry at her events.

‘Brutally serious’ consequences

Harris slammed Trump as an “unserious man” with a “very different plan” if he wins in November.

“But the consequences of him ever being president again are brutally serious,” she said.

The vice president highlighted the July U.S. Supreme Court opinion that granted former presidents immunity for core constitutional duties, and presumptive immunity for other actions, except for personal ones.

“Now just imagine Donald Trump with no guard rails,” she said. “He who has vowed that he would be a dictator on day one, that he would weaponize the Department of Justice against his enemies.”

Republican response

The Republican National Committee issued a statement ahead of Harris’ rally in Erie, attacking her specifically on energy policy.

“The Keystone State will reject another four years of Kamala Harris’ dangerously liberal policies because Pennsylvanians trust President Trump to unleash American energy and provide economic relief,” read a statement from RNC Chairman Michael Whatley.

The Trump campaign attacked the vice president on two fronts in its daily press release Monday. The campaign accused her of being on an “anti-fracking crusade” and of failing “to deliver to Black voters.”

Harris earlier Monday unveiled an “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men” that would legalize recreational marijuana and introduce a “regulatory framework for cryptocurrency,” according to a release from the Harris campaign.

Immigration: Where do Trump and Harris stand?

Ariana Figueroa — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 09:40:56 +0000

Aerial view of the Bridge of the Americas Land Port of Entry. One of four crossings in El Paso, the Bridge of the Americas is located on the international border separating El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico and connects with the Mexican port of “Cordova” in Juarez, Chihuahua. (Photo by Jerry Glaser/U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

This is one in a series of States Newsroom reports on the major policy issues in the presidential race.

WASHINGTON — Immigration remains at the forefront of the 2024 presidential election, with both candidates taking a tougher stance than in the past on the flow of migrants into the United States.

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has made immigration a core campaign issue, as he did in his two previous bids for the White House, and has expanded his attacks this time around to include false claims about migrants with legal status in specific locations like Springfield, Ohio.

He’s often demonized immigrants in speeches and at rallies, and has vowed to enact the mass deportation of millions of people living in the United States without authorization.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, like the Biden administration, has shifted to the right on immigration, embracing limits to asylum and advocating for added border security, as migrant encounters hit a record high at the end of 2023. With those new policies in place, migrant encounters have sharply fallen this year.

Vice President Harris in her remarks on immigration has mainly stuck to her promise to sign into law a bipartisan border security deal that three senators struck earlier this year. That legislation, if enacted, would have been the most drastic change in U.S. immigration law in decades.

The deal never made it out of the Senate. Once Trump expressed his displeasure with the bill, House Republicans pulled their support, and the GOP in the upper chamber followed suit.

Harris has not detailed her positions on immigration beyond her support of the border security bill.

Regardless of who wins the White House, the incoming administration will be tasked with the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects a little over half a million undocumented people brought into the United States as children without authorization. A Texas legal challenge threatens the legality of the program, and the case could make its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Additionally, work visas, massive backlogs in U.S. immigration courts and renewing those individuals in Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, will fall to the next administration. Neither candidate has laid out how they would handle those issues.

The Trump campaign did not respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.

The Harris campaign pointed to the vice president’s remarks from an Arizona campaign rally where she acknowledged the U.S. has a broken immigration system and put her support behind border security and legal pathways to citizenship.

Harris also took a September trip to the southern border.?

Promise: border security deal

Harris has made the bipartisan border deal a centerpiece of her campaign. She’s often promised to sign it into law and has used the proposal to criticize Trump.

“We can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border,” Harris said during the Democratic National Convention in August.

The bill negotiated by senators would need to reach the 60-vote threshold to advance through the chamber. But after Trump came out against it and it was brought to the floor, the Republican who handled negotiations with Democrats and the White House, Oklahoma’s James Lankford, voted against his own bill.

Additionally, House Democrats in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and immigration groups were not supportive of the bill.

“I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law,” Harris said at the DNC.

The measure raises the bar for asylum, and would require asylum seekers to provide greater proof of their fear of persecution.

The bill would have also provided $20 billion for the hiring of more than 4,000 asylum officers, legal counsel for unaccompanied minors and the purchase of drug screening technology at ports of entry. It would also have provided $8 billion for detention facilities to add 50,000 detention beds.

The plan did include some legal pathways to citizenship for Afghans who aided the U.S. and fled in 2021 after the U.S. withdrew from the country. It also provided up to 10,000 special visas for family members of those Afghan allies.

It also would have added 250,000 green-card employee and family-based visas over the next five years.

Promise: mass deportations

“Send them back,” is chanted at Trump’s rallies, where he often promises to carry out mass deportations.

There are roughly 11 million people in the U.S. without legal authorization.

“We’re going to have the largest deportation,” Trump said at a June campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin. “We have no choice.”

Under Trump’s vision, mass deportation would be a broad, multipronged effort that includes invoking an 18th-century law; reshuffling law enforcement at federal agencies; transferring funds within programs in the Department of Homeland Security; and forcing greater enforcement of immigration laws.

Promise: an end to birthright citizenship

In a May 2023 campaign video, Trump said if he wins the White House, one of his first moves would be to issue an executive order ending birthright citizenship, which means anyone born in the U.S., regardless of their parents’ status, is an American citizen.

This is enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution and would likely face legal challenges.

“As part of my plan to secure the border, on Day One of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship,” Trump said.

Promise: deportation of pro-Palestinian students on visas

Across the country, students on college campuses during the past year have set up encampments and protests calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and an end to the Israel-Hamas war.

In the initial attack on Oct. 7, 2023, more than 1,200 people were killed in Israel and hundreds taken hostage. As the war has continued, researchers estimate that as many as 186,000 Palestinians have been killed, directly and indirectly.

At a private dinner in May, Trump told donors that “any student that protests, I throw them out of the country,” according to the Washington Post.

“You know, there are a lot of foreign students,” Trump said. “As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave.”

Trump also made that vow during a campaign rally in October 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We’ll terminate the visas of all of Hamas’ sympathizers, and we’ll get them off our college campuses, out of our cities and get them the hell out of our country, if that’s OK with you,” he said.

The Republican party made it part of its party platform in July.?

Promise: an end to parole programs

With immigration reform stalled in Congress, one way the Biden administration has handled mass migration is the use of humanitarian parole programs. Those humanitarian parole programs have been used for Ukrainians fleeing the war with Russia, Afghans fleeing after the U.S. withdrawal and for Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans.

More than 1 million people have been paroled into the U.S. under the executive authority extended by the Biden administration.

Trump said in a November 2023 campaign video? he would end this policy on his first day in office.

“I will stop the outrageous abuse of parole authority,” Trump said.

Promise: green cards for foreign students

In a June podcast interview, Trump said that he was supportive of giving green cards to foreign students if they graduate from a U.S. college.

“What I will do is, if you graduate from a college, I think you should get, automatically as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country,” Trump said. “That includes junior colleges, too.”

This would be done through rulemaking from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

On the podcast, Trump also said he would extend H-1B visas for tech workers. Those visas allow employers to hire foreign workers for specialized occupations, usually for a high skill role.

Promise: more screenings of immigrants

On social media, the Trump campaign said it would put in place an “ideological screening” for all immigrants and bar those who have sympathies toward Hamas.

Promise: Trump-era immigration policies?

Trump has stated in various campaign speeches that he plans to reinstate his immigration policies from his first term.

That would include the continuation of building a wall along the southern border; reissuing a travel ban on individuals from predominantly Muslim countries; suspending travel of refugees; reinstating a public health policy that barred migrants from claiming asylum amid the coronavirus pandemic; and reinstating the remain in Mexico policy that required asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while awaiting their cases.

Vance in Pennsylvania says there was a ‘peaceful transfer of power’ in January 2021?

Ashley Murray — Sat, 12 Oct 2024 23:07:50 +0000

Vance in Pennsylvania says there was a ‘peaceful transfer of power’ in January 2021?

CAPTION: Republican vice presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, of Ohio, speaks at a rally at JWF Industries on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance campaigned Saturday in the key battleground of Pennsylvania, where early mail-in voting is already underway as just 25 days remain in the heated 2024 race that will be decided by a handful of states.

Former President Donald Trump’s running mate rallied a crowd of a few hundred at a sprawling riverside manufacturing facility in Johnstown, adhering to the ticket’s main themes of immigration and the economy.

During a question-and-answer session with the press following his prepared remarks, States Newsroom asked Vance if he will commit to the peaceful transfer of power no matter the winner in November.

The coming presidential election is the first since a mob of Trump supporters violently breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, delaying Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election results. More than 1,500 defendants have been charged with crimes associated with the attack on the Capitol, during which 140 police officers were assaulted.

“Yes, of course,” Vance replied. “Look, this is very simple. Yes, there was a riot at the Capitol on January 6, but there was still a peaceful transfer of power in this country, and that is always going to happen.”

Vance, Ohio’s junior U.S. senator, in his speech painted Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, as “a tax-and-spend San Francisco liberal who wants to open our borders and destroy American manufacturing.”

“Are we going to give Kamala Harris a promotion to president of the United States? Hell no. We are going to tell Harris ‘You are fired,’ and we are voting Donald J. Trump to be our next president,”? Vance said to cheers.

Vance spoke from a stage inside JWF Industries, a local plant that manufactures transportation, energy and defense equipment and vehicles.

Four military tactical utility vehicles framed the stage, where roughly 80 spectators lined the stage behind and to each side of Vance. A couple hundred people sat below the stage, with several empty rows behind them and an empty section to the left.

New poll numbers

Both campaigns and their surrogates are blanketing seven must-win swing states, as the presidential contest remains incredibly tight.

Trump holds an advantage in Arizona, while Harris has a slight lead in Pennsylvania, according to the latest poll results for the key battleground states released Saturday morning by The New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena College.

Vance urged the crowd to check their voter registration status and talk to family and friends about going to the polls.

“It’s the only way that we’re going to make Donald Trump the next president, so let’s get out there and vote, my friends,” he said.

Vance spent the majority of his remarks faulting Harris and President Joe Biden for economic suffering, including inflation and credit card debt delinquency.

A consumer price index report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed inflation is at its lowest since February 2021.

Vance also attacked Harris for participating in “softball interviews,” citing her recent appearances on podcasts, as well as daytime and late-night TV.

Vance took credit for the Trump campaign ad that features a clip from Harris’ interview on “The View” in which she declined to distance herself from decisions of the Biden presidency.

“The problem with a softball interview is that you still have to be able to hit a softball,” Vance said.

In addition to appearances this week on the podcast “Call Her Daddy” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” as well as a town hall for Univision, Harris also sat for an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on Monday. Trump backed out of his own promised appearance on “60 Minutes.”

Jan. 6 protesters ‘knuckleheads’

Vance implied accusations of voter fraud during his speech, telling the crowd that “you have to make the margins so big in Pennsylvania that it doesn’t matter what shenanigans Democrats pull at the last minute.”

“We will never have the fake media or the Democrats telling the truth. We do have our own voices, and our own networks, our family and friends. That is the people power that is going to make Donald Trump the next president,” Vance said.

During the reporter Q and A, the crowd jeered when a student journalist from a Pittsburgh university asked if Vance condemned the Jan. 6 violence.

Vance defended Trump’s actions on that day, saying the former president encouraged the crowd to protest “peacefully.”

“And the fact that a few knuckleheads went off and did something they shouldn’t do, that’s not on him. That’s on them,” Vance said to cheers.

Vance chafed at journalists asking more than once about Trump’s refusal to accept that Biden won the 2020 race. The former president continues to repeat the falsehood that he won. Trump challenged election results across dozens of lawsuits in multiple states following the 2020 election and lost them all.

“What Kamala Harris and the media are doing is trying to tell us that we should hear more about what happened four years ago than about her failure in governance,” Vance said. “I think that on November the 5th, we are going to reject it.”

Other questions from the press focused on western Pennsylvania, veterans’ benefits and Project 2025, the 900-page “mandate” for the next government, produced by the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Vance said the conservative project has “no relation” to the Trump campaign. An CNN investigation in June found at least 140 several former Trump administration officials were involved in the project.

Vance spoke for 23 minutes and addressed reporter questions for just under the same amount of time.

Harris pursues undecided Latino voters in wide-ranging Univision town hall

Shauneen Miranda — Sat, 12 Oct 2024 12:44:48 +0000

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, answers questions at a Univision town hall on Oct. 10, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Felipe Cuevas/TelevisaUnivision)

Vice President Kamala Harris fielded a series of questions from undecided Latino voters on Thursday during an emotional town hall in Las Vegas hosted by Univision.

Harris continues to court this key voting bloc as Election Day rapidly approaches and she and former President Donald Trump vie for the Oval Office in an extremely close race.

Thursday’s town hall — featuring questions on subjects ranging from immigration and health care, to abortion and the economy — came as the Harris campaign launched the “Hombres con Harris” initiative this week to mobilize Latino men in battleground states.

Trump’s town hall with Univision was postponed to next week due to Hurricane Milton.

A ‘broken’ immigration system?

Harris heard from one audience member who said her mother died six weeks ago without being able to obtain legal status and could not get the medical care she needed.

The veep expressed her sympathy and pointed to the country’s “broken immigration system.”

“The reality is that in terms of having access to health care, had your mother been able to gain citizenship, she would have been entitled to health care that may have alleviated her suffering and yours,” she said.

Harris also mentioned her own mother and her immigration to the United States, saying: “I know what it is like to have a hardworking mother who loves you and to lose that, but I know that her spirit is alive.” Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, emigrated from India and was a cancer researcher.

During the town hall, Harris also repeated her vow she would, if elected, bring back and sign into law a major bipartisan border security bill, while blaming its legislative failure on Trump.

She also said she will “do the work of focusing on what we must do to have an orderly and humane pathway to earn citizenship for hardworking people.”

Harris was also asked about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that is currently under threat and designed to protect children — also known as Dreamers — who were brought into the country illegally from deportation.

“I just think it’s important that we recognize who this population of young people are and agree that they have been so productive, they are prepared to do what is necessary by law, and I think it should compel us to agree they should not have to live in fear, but should have an ability to be on a pathway to earn their citizenship,” she said.

“So, it is one of my priorities, and I’ve worked on this in terms of Dreamers for many, many years, and I’ll continue to fight for them.”

Health care, abortion access and the economy?

Harris said she firmly and deeply believes “access to health care is a right and should be a right, and not just a privilege of those who can afford it or have access to it easily” when asked how she plans to improve the health care system.

She also echoed her commitment to reproductive rights, saying if elected, she will “probably sign back into law the protections of Roe v. Wade, which basically just says it’s the person’s decision, not the government’s decision.”

Harris also touched on the broad Medicare plan she unveiled earlier this week that would strengthen the insurance program’s coverage to include long-term care for seniors in their homes.

The plan focuses on the “sandwich generation,” which refers to Americans who are raising their children while also caring for their aging parents.

Asked about how she would help the middle class, Harris highlighted her economic plan, including $6,000 in tax relief for new parents for the first year of their child’s life, as much as $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers and an up to $50,000 tax break for first-time small businesses.

Trump in Aurora, Colorado?

Trump was set to appear at a rally Friday in Aurora, Colorado — which he falsely claims is overrun by Venezuelan gangs.

Last month, Trump pledged to carry out the “largest deportation in the history of our country” if elected — noting that Aurora would be one of the two places he’d start with.

The other, Trump said back in September, would be Springfield, Ohio — the center of false claims he’s made surrounding legal Haitian migrants.

Trump is set to hold several other rallies this weekend, including in: Reno, Nevada, later on Friday; Coachella, California, on Saturday; and Prescott Valley, Arizona, on Sunday.

Foreign policy: Where do Harris and Trump stand?

Ashley Murray — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 09:40:20 +0000

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds an American flag as he addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 21, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

This is one in a series of States Newsroom reports on the major policy issues in the presidential race.

WASHINGTON — The next U.S. president must steer the nation through crises across the globe, including worsening violence in the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to retreat from Ukraine and U.S-China trade relations.

The Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, largely built her career as a prosecutor, but once in Washington she sat on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a position that comes with access to highly classified national security files.

As vice president she’s represented the U.S. at high-profile international meetings, including the Munich Security Conference and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

The Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, who followed his wealthy father’s path into real estate and ascended to the status of celebrity businessman, has already held the elected position of Commander-in-Chief for four years — though high-ranking officials who served under him say he should not occupy that seat again.

Trump and Harris’ track records can provide clues on how, if elected, they would handle complex and challenging national and economic security policies.

But overall on the campaign trail, foreign policy “has played a back seat role to domestic politics in the 2024 election,” James M. Lindsay, a senior fellow in U.S. foreign policy for the Council on Foreign Relations, told States Newsroom in an interview.

That’s not unusual, Lindsay said, as presidential year politics generally tend to have a domestic focus.

“This has been more a campaign about personalities than about specific policy prescriptions. It’s safe to say that the two candidates have very different world views,” Lindsay said.

Relationships with allies

Harris centers relationship building, and promised in her Democratic National Convention acceptance speech to “stand strong” with NATO allies.

In Trump’s convention speech he lamented that the U.S. has “long been taken advantage of” by “so-called allies.”

Observers say the former president leads with a transactional outlook: In other words, nations must pay for access to U.S. markets and security.

It’s safe to say that the two candidates have very different world views,” said James M. Lindsay, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, in an interview with States Newsroom.

“Trump thinks that U.S. support to allies is a bad deal for America, whereas Harris realizes that the United States benefits immensely from them,” Matthew Waxman, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and chair of Columbia Law School’s National Security Law Program, told States Newsroom.

But predicting how a presidential candidate would act on the global stage, if elected, is tricky. Conflicts continue to evolve, and those in top defense and diplomatic jobs are likely to turn over.

“It’s partly because a President Harris or President Trump could face a very different situation in the Middle East or in Ukraine come Inauguration Day, but it’s also because in Washington personnel are policy, people are policy,” Lindsay said.

Here are some of the serious international situations either administration will face:

Middle East

The deadly Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, launched from the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, reignited smoldering regional tensions and highlighted the inextricable U.S. role. Hamas militants killed roughly 1,200 in the brutal and unexpected incursion, and took 250 hostages, many of whom still remain in captivity.

President Joe Biden immediately surged weapons and security aid to the key U.S. defense partner, and in April Congress approved his request for $8.7 billion more in foreign military financing and missile defense.

Israel’s year-long campaign to completely eliminate Iranian-allied Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip has resulted in a staggering death toll, now over 41,000, according to Gaza health officials.

Hamas’ assault also set in motion attacks from other Iranian-backed militias, opening up a war front between Israel and Hezbollah fighters to the north in Lebanon. And for months, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis have terrorized commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Biden has faced fierce criticism for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war tactics.

Harris, as early as March, publicly criticized Israel over the humanitarian “catastrophe” in Gaza and called for an immediate six-week cease-fire.

Harris, who became the Democratic presidential nominee in mid-summer after Biden dropped his bid, has repeatedly said she defends Israel’s right to defend itself but that “how it does so matters.”

Protesters could be heard in the distance Monday as Harris planted a memorial tree at the vice president’s residence to mark the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack. Pro-Palestinian activists protesting the death toll in Gaza have marched and rallied throughout the U.S. during the past year.

Harris told reporters that the administration is “not giving up” on negotiating a cease-fire deal and release of hostages, an effort that has so far floundered.

“It’s one of the most important ways we will be able to end this war and bring any type of stability to the region. It’s one of the highest priorities of this administration,” she said.

She has not indicated any slowdown or conditions on assistance to Israel if elected — though she continues to advocate for a two-state solution.

“Trump may give Jerusalem less public chastising and criticism, but I’m not sure the policy differences would be that great either,” Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow and foreign policy research director at the Brookings Institution, told States Newsroom. O’Hanlon recently published an article arguing the Trump and Harris defense strategies would at least “partially” converge.

Trump maintains that Oct. 7 “would never have happened” had he been in office, and he accuses the Biden administration of inviting the attack because of its “weak” relationship with Iran.

“What is needed more than ever is a return of unwavering American leadership and unquestioned American strength. We were strong, we were powerful … That’s what I intend to deliver as the 47th president of the United States,” he said Monday while in Miami marking one year since the ambush on Israel.

The attack also wrecked any forward progress on the Abraham Accords — Trump’s signature Middle East achievement that created full diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. While those established channels remain steady, the Biden administration’s efforts to strike a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia are now at a standstill.

Trump is increasingly selling himself on the campaign trail as the candidate of stability who can quash Iran’s aggression — which is pretty much a “standard approach to campaigning,” Lindsay said.

“He is not the first challenger to argue that the incumbent president has been weak.”

But Lindsay said, “the important question isn’t whether he was tougher, it’s whether his policies were more effective.”

For example, the Iranian-backed so-called “axis of resistance” militias currently upending the Middle East were also operating during Trump’s presidency.

“(They) pre-dated his coming into office but it’s not that a Trump administration ended that network of anti-Western, anti-Israeli groups,” Lindsay said. “And during the Trump administration it was the case that Iran both underwrote attacks on American troops and actually launched attacks on American troops.”

Trump drew attention last week to an early January 2020 barrage on U.S. troops in Iraq when he again described the traumatic brain injuries they suffered as “headaches.”

U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, already a target, have come under increasing fire from Iran-backed militants, with more than 100 attacks on U.S. service members since Israel began its post-Oct. 7 offensive. A drone strike in January killed three U.S. soldiers and injured 30 at an outpost in Jordan on the Syrian border. The U.S. retaliated by launching more than 100 precision rockets at 85 of Iran military sites in Iraq and Syria.

The U.S. assisted Israel twice in 2024 in intercepting rockets fired directly from Iran — once in April following Israel’s bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, and again in September after Israel’s assassination of Iranian-backed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon.

“We’re in the last months of the Biden presidency, and Biden’s own, I think, personal influence here is quite diminished. And you know, I can’t predict what Trump policy really would be. I assume he would be less likely to be trying to restrain the Israelis, but so is the Biden administration. And maybe that is a Biden-Harris policy,” Elliott Abrams, CFR’s senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, told reporters on Oct. 2, the day after Iran launched its second direct attack.

Ukraine and NATO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with both Harris and Trump in recent weeks to shore up continued U.S. support for his country’s ongoing war against Russia’s occupation.

Harris’ meeting with the Ukrainian leader was her seventh, and she pledged continued aid for the eastern European nation on the principle that Putin would continue marching into Europe if allies relent on Ukraine.

Harris supports continued U.S. assistance, which has totaled roughly $175 billion since 2022. At the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland in June, Harris pledged nearly $2 billion, some new and some redirected, to bolster the country’s energy sector and add to humanitarian efforts.

The vice president has represented the U.S. three times at the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany, where she praised the NATO alliance and said the U.S. commitment to its principles is “ironclad.”

When facing Harris on the presidential debate stage in September, Trump refused to answer whether he wants Ukraine to be victorious over Russia.

Trump’s rhetoric and past behavior “spells bad news for Ukraine,” Waxman said.

“He is likely to reduce American support for Ukraine and push Ukraine to make concessions to Russia. Overall, Trump’s transactional approach to leader-to-leader diplomacy is likely to benefit Putin,” Waxman continued. “Whereas Harris wants to invest in alliances like NATO, Trump is skeptical of them.”

That type of leader-to-leader communication was notoriously highlighted in 2019 when U.S. House lawmakers impeached Trump for directly threatening to withhold Ukraine aid if Zelenskyy did not announce an investigation into Biden — Trump’s presidential campaign rival at the time. The Senate acquitted Trump.

Like his campaign line on the Israel attack, Trump also repeatedly claims that had he been in office, instead of Biden, Russia would have never launched its February 2022 attack on Ukraine.

“The war in Ukraine did not begin in February of ‘22, it began back in 2014,” Lindsay said, referring to Putin’s forced annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

Trump’s own administration expanded Obama-era sanctions meant to punish Russia’s actions in Crimea.

“Experts can argue about how to dole out criticism across administrations, but clearly the issue of Russian support for a notionally independent insurrection in eastern Ukraine was not solved during the Trump presidency,” Lindsay continued.

China and trade

Foreign trade is a “political hot potato,” and neither Harris nor Trump are offering much clarity for U.S. trading partners around the world, Mary E. Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told States Newsroom in an interview.

Lovely described the Biden-Harris approach as multipronged, in that they’ve instituted policies to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. while also aiming to maintain good trade relationships with partner nations.

The tightrope walk becomes even trickier as U.S. policy also disincentivizes materials and components from China — one of the world’s largest trading nations — in the final products imported from trading partners. Think: components in solar panels and electric vehicles.

The Biden administration’s major legislative accomplishments — the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act — provided major subsidies for “reshoring,” or returning to the U.S., clean energy and semiconductor production. But the policies were not without risks to U.S. trading partners.

“We had a lot of things (in the legislation), including things that upset the allies — you know, subsidies for American businesses, that they saw potentially as pulling investment out of their economies,” Lovely said.

“These are things that the European Union, Japan, Korea were concerned about,” Lovely continued. “So we’ve seen it there — this tension between foreign policy and this idea of economic security.”

While Lovely said she worries about how some of the Biden-Harris trade policies might affect competition and the nation’s ability to sign timely trade agreements, she said Trump’s plans are overall “destabilizing.”

“The increased use of tariffs is misguided at best,” Lovely said.

Trump’s promise to not only increase tariffs on Chinese imports to 60%, but also to slap flat 10% to 20% tariffs on all imports across the board is akin to “starting a trade war with the entire world.”

“We’re not going to see those kinds of tariffs without retaliation,” Lovely said.

If enacted, the tariffs would be particularly challenging for Indo-Pacific countries that rely on U.S. partnership in the face of China’s regional dominance.

“I mean, you can imagine how this will go down in, say, Japan and Korea, two countries which rely on the U.S. for a security umbrella, which is why Trump thinks that he can do stuff to them. But they also have to protect their own economies,” Lovely said. “So it’s going to put them in a really terrible position because it’s very important for them to maintain their alliance with the U.S., economic as well as military.”

But one thing is for sure, Lovely said: “Everybody wants to know what’s going to happen. Everybody in every embassy here in Washington.”

Trump labels Detroit a ‘mess,’ pledges to make car loan interest fully deductible

Ashley Murray — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 22:38:09 +0000

The Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks at the Detroit Economic Club on October 10, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. Trump is campaigning in Michigan, a key battleground state, ahead of the upcoming presidential election. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump promised to “save the American auto industry” Thursday during a meandering speech to the Detroit Economic Club, during which he insulted his host city as a “mess” and announced a new plan to make car loan interest payments fully deductible.

Trump unveiled the new plank of his tax plan near the close of his remarks that included berating the United States as “dumb” on trade and pledging, if elected, to “have a lot of fun” renegotiating a trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.

The former president spoke for nearly two hours to the economic club in Michigan, a key swing state.

Trump is already running on a platform to impose across-the-board tariffs, up to 20%, on all imported goods, and at 60% on goods from China. On Thursday he said cars imported from Mexico could see tariffs as high as 200% if he wins in November.

He told the crowd that his newest plan to make interest on car loans fully deductible is “going to revolutionize your industry.”

“This will stimulate massive domestic auto production and make car ownership dramatically more affordable for millions and millions of working American families. This is a phenomenal thing, if I do say so myself,” Trump said.

However, it’s unclear whether the deduction would only be available to taxpayers who itemize, or also to those who take the standard deduction. For example, some deductions, like student loan interest, can be a special exception.

Another question would be the price tag of Trump’s proposal: Americans owe about $1.6 trillion in car loans, according to the quarterly consumer report issued in February by the Federal Reserve of New York.

R&D tax credits

The former president also promised — to applause from the crowd — that U.S.-based carmakers “will be rewarded with expanded research and development tax credits, very substantial, where they will be able to write off 100% of their cost of heavy machinery and other equipment necessary to build a plant in the first year, and full expensing for manufacturing investments.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to emails asking whether the proposals were new, or would be an extension of expiring policies enacted under Trump’s signature 2017 tax law, titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Erica York, senior economist and research director for the Tax Foundation, wrote on X that “R&D tax credits are an entirely separate policy from deductions for R&D expenses or capital expenditures.”

“(B)ut if I had to guess, Trump is probably talking about bringing back immediate R&D expenses and restoring 100 percent bonus depreciation,” wrote York, who’s been closely following the tax debate during the 2024 presidential election.

Except for wanting to change the corporate tax rate — lowering it to 15% — Trump is campaigning on fully renewing the TCJA, which cleared Congress strictly along party lines. The law sunsets at the end of 2025.

‘Take a look at Detroit’

Trump also used his speech to attack trading partners and competitors, at one point describing the European Union as “brutal” and recalling an alleged conversation with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“‘Angela, how many Chevrolets do we have in the middle of Berlin?’ ‘Oh, I do not know. Perhaps, perhaps none.’ ‘You’re right. Angela,’” Trump said he recalled.

“And yet, they send their cars to us. Like a bunch of dummies we are — BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, by the millions and millions and millions. We’re not doing that crap anymore,” Trump said. “Now they’re gonna have to play by our rules.”

It is a fact that American cars are on the streets of Europe.

But China was the “biggest abuser” of trade while he was president, he said.

“They were a professional abuser. They did things to us, and they go down as a ‘developing nation,’” he said, as if talking in another’s voice. “‘We are a developing nation.’ But we’re (the U.S. is) a developing nation too — just take a look at Detroit.”

His campaign did not answer an email asking for clarification about the remark.

Harris campaign responds to Detroit visit

Ahead of Trump’s Detroit appearance, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign organized a press call featuring Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers.

Fain told reporters Trump “has done nothing” to help autoworkers.

“The job-killer-in-chief is once again back in Michigan to do what he does best. He’s going to lie about bringing our jobs back,” Fain said.

The union leader endorsed President Joe Biden in January, and promptly endorsed Harris in July when Biden exited the race.

Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to walk a picket line when he joined striking UAW members in September 2023.

Harris was in Las Vegas, Nevada, Thursday to record a live town hall for Spanish-language network Univision. The question-and-answer session for undecided Hispanic voters was organized by the network’s news division and moderated by TelevisaUnivision’s Enrique Acevedo.

Harris was scheduled to speak at a campaign event Thursday night in Phoenix, Arizona.

‘There will be no rematch!’?

Once again, the question of another presidential debate has come, and apparently gone.

Fox News on Wednesday issued a final offer to host a live 90-minute presidential debate in Pennsylvania on either Oct. 24 or 27, with moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.

“THERE WILL BE NO REMATCH!” Trump posted Wednesday evening on his online platform Truth Social.

On Thursday, CNN offered to host live town halls with each candidate.

Ahead on the campaign trail

Harris returns to Washington, D.C., Friday while Trump continues west for rallies in Aurora, Colorado, and Reno, Nevada.

The former president then travels for rallies in Coachella, California, on Saturday and in Prescott, Arizona, on Sunday.

Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, will host a rally in Johnston, Pennsylvania, Saturday.

Harris is also set to visit Pennsylvania, hosting a rally Monday in the commonwealth’s northwestern city of Erie.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will campaign in Wisconsin on Monday, hitting both Eau Claire and Green Bay.

Biden slams Trump as ‘damn un-American,’ urges Congress to speed up hurricane aid

Jennifer Shutt — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 21:40:57 +0000

President Joe Biden speaks about the federal government’s response and recovery efforts to hurricane season in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building’s South Court Auditorium on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday urged Congress to end its recess early and return to Capitol Hill to approve emergency funding for hurricane recovery, even though his budget office hasn’t released the supplemental request that would kick off the process.

Biden also rebuked Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for spreading misinformation about the federal government’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, saying it was irresponsible.

“Mr. President Trump, former President Trump, get a life man, help these people,” Biden said, later adding he has no plans to speak directly with Trump.

Biden criticized Trump and others for saying the $750 payment people in the hardest-hit areas are eligible for from the Federal Emergency Management Agency would be the only aid they get from the federal government.

“Mr. Trump and all those other people know it’s a lie to suggest that’s all they’re going to get. That’s bizarre,” Biden said. “They’ve got to stop this. I mean, they’re being so damn un-American with the way they’re talking about this stuff.”

Biden said the public would hold Trump accountable and then told the small group of reporters allowed to listen to his remarks in person that journalists better “hold him accountable, because you know the truth.”

Helene brought devastation to multiple states including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and? Virginia . More than 230 deaths have been reported.

At least 12 deaths ?have been reported after Milton struck Florida this week.

Trump video

Trump released a video on social media Thursday addressed to Florida residents, saying that he was praying for them and that they would receive help if he’s elected president. Trump is in the last weeks of a tight contest with the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Hopefully on January 20th you’re going to have somebody that’s really going to help you and help you like never before because help is on the way,” Trump said. “Together we will rebuild, we will recover and we will come back stronger, bigger, better than ever before.”

Trump has repeatedly claimed that FEMA doesn’t have enough funding to help natural disaster survivors because money is being directed to noncitizens.

FEMA wrote that is not true, on a webpage designed to address a spike in misinformation and disinformation following the hurricanes.

“No money is being diverted from disaster response needs. FEMA’s disaster response efforts and individual assistance is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts.”

Misinformation and disinformation about natural disaster recovery have been spreading through other avenues as well, including social media and podcasts.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said earlier this week she expected combating rumors and lies will become a regular part of natural disaster recovery.

SBA in need of funding

Speaking from the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Biden said the cost of recovery would be in the billions of dollars, but declined to put a specific number on how much emergency funding he’ll ask lawmakers to approve.

While FEMA has the funding it needs for now, with about $20 billion in its disaster relief fund, Biden said the Small Business Administration is in urgent need of emergency money from Congress so that it can provide assistance to natural disaster survivors.

“In terms of the SBA, it’s pretty right at the edge right now,” Biden said. “And I think the Congress should be coming back and moving on emergency needs immediately. They’re going to have to come back after the election as well because this is going to be a long haul for total rebuilding.”

Congress left Capitol Hill in late September for a six-week election break and isn’t scheduled to return until Nov. 12.

Numerous lawmakers have called on congressional leaders to bring the two chambers back into session to approve emergency spending legislation.

So far, Republican leadership in the House and Democratic leaders in the Senate have decided against summoning lawmakers back to Washington, D.C., in part, because they don’t yet have a request from the Biden administration.

Typically, emergency spending bills begin to move forward in Congress after the White House budget office sends lawmakers a supplemental spending request.

That agency, also known as the Office of Management and Budget, hasn’t yet released the request, which will detail how much in extra funding it would like Congress to approve for various agencies, like the Small Business Administration and FEMA.

The Office of Management and Budget didn’t respond to a request from States Newsroom asking when it plans to send lawmakers the supplemental spending request.

Federal appeals court weighs fate of DACA program

Ariana Figueroa — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 21:33:34 +0000

Protesters in front of the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol urged Congress to pass the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, in December 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — After concluding oral arguments Thursday, a panel of federal judges will determine the fate of a program that has shielded from deportation more than half a million immigrants lacking permanent legal status who came into the United States as children.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a 12-year program that was meant to be temporary during the Obama administration while Congress passed a pathway to citizenship, has been caught in a years-long battle after the Trump administration moved to end the program.

Greisa Martinez Rosas, the executive director for the youth immigration organization United We Dream, said in a statement that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit should reject the “baseless lawsuit” brought by Texas and other states.

“DACA recipients have withstood over a decade of attacks by violent, anti-immigrant officials and have kept DACA alive through their courage and resilience,” Rosas said. “I urge President (Joe) Biden and every elected official to treat this moment with the urgency it requires and to take bold and swift action to protect all immigrants once and for all. ”

A panel of three judges on the appeals court heard oral arguments on behalf of the program from the Justice Department, the state of New Jersey and an immigration rights group, all advocating the legality of the Biden administration’s 2021 final rule to codify the program.

Last year the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas declared it unlawful and allowed current DACA recipients to continue renewing their status, but barred new applicants.

The Justice Department and the others asked the appeals court judges to consider three things. They are challenging whether the state of Texas has standing to show it was harmed by DACA; whether the regulation is lawful within presidential authority; and whether the trial court had the authority to place a nationwide injunction on the program.

The judges are Jerry Edwin Smith, appointed by former President Ronald Reagan; Edith Brown Clement, appointed by former President George W. Bush; and Stephen A. Higginson, appointed by former President Barack Obama.

The 5th Circuit in New Orleans covers Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, and typically delivers conservative rulings.

Joseph N. Mazzara, arguing on behalf of the state of Texas, said that DACA harmed the state because there is a “pocketbook cost to Texas with regard to education and medical care.”

He said that the end of DACA would likely lead recipients to self-deport and “return to their country of origin,” which he argued would alleviate Texas’ financial costs.

It could take weeks or months for a ruling, which is likely to head to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the fate of DACA may be left to the incoming administration.

In a statement on Thursday’s oral arguments, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, slammed the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, for “targeting young people who grew up pledging allegiance to America.”

“Regardless of the outcome of this case, we should be very clear about what is at stake in this election,” she said. “Donald Trump tried to end DACA once, and if given the chance, he will not rest until he is successful.”

The Supreme Court in 2020 overturned the Trump administration’s decision to end the program, but on the grounds that the White House didn’t follow the proper procedure. The high court did not make a decision whether the program itself was unlawful or not.

States’ standing

Brian Boynton argued on behalf of the Biden administration.

He argued that the eight states that sued the Biden administration along with Texas have no standing because they did not demonstrate any harm caused by DACA.

Those other states challenging DACA include Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas and Mississippi.

“Any person in the state of Texas, citizen or noncitizen, is entitled to precisely the same types of services, emergency health care services and public K through 12 education,” he said. “It’s not a situation where only someone with DACA is entitled to the services.”

Boynton asked the panel to uphold U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s policy of keeping DACA in place for current recipients – about 535,000 people – if the court decides to strike the program down while DACA continues to undergo the appeals process.

Hanen ruled in 2021 that DACA was unlawful, determining that the Obama administration exceeded its presidential authority in creating the program. He allowed current DACA recipients to remain in the program, but barred the federal government from accepting new applicants.

It’s estimated that there are 95,000 applicants that are blocked due to that order, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data.?

The Biden administration then went through the formal rulemaking, which Hanen reviewed and again deemed unlawful, prompting the appeal before the three judges.

Boynton argued against a nationwide injunction on DACA recipients being able to apply for the program.

“With respect to the propriety of nationwide injunctions, it’s very clear that an injunction should be narrowly crafted to provide a remedy only to the party that is injured, and here that would be Texas,” he said.

Nina Perales, of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, argued that Texas in its legal arguments is including spending costs for students in K-12 schools who cannot be DACA recipients because those recipients are over 18 and have aged out of the program.

Perales addressed the health care argument from Texas and said Texas did not show the incurred health costs of just DACA recipients.

“Texas points to health care spending on the entire undocumented immigrant population, as Texas estimates it,” she said. “Not DACA recipients.”

“It’s been widely understood that DACA recipients overall provide a net benefit to their state,” she added.

This story has been updated with comments from Vice President Kamala Harris.

Reproductive rights: Where do Trump and Harris stand?

Jennifer Shutt — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 09:40:22 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which was issued electronically, is seen on June 24, 2022 in Washington, D.C. The court’s decision overturned the landmark Roe v Wade case and erases a federal right to an abortion. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

This is one in a series of States Newsroom reports on the major policy issues in the presidential race.

WASHINGTON — This year’s election marks the first time voters are casting ballots for president since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion and made reproductive rights a pivotal issue for many voters.

Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump have spoken about reproductive rights and abortion access numerous times during the last few months.

Trump’s stance has evolved during his bid for the White House. He now contends he wouldn’t sign legislation implementing nationwide abortion restrictions and wants regulation left up to the states.

Harris has consistently said a nationwide law guaranteeing access would ensure the choice is left up to women, not politicians.

“I pledge to you, when Congress passes a bill to put back in place the protections of Roe v. Wade, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” Harris said during the September presidential debate.

Trump patted himself on the back during the same debate for nominating three justices to the Supreme Court who later ruled with their conservative colleagues that the Constitution didn’t provide the privacy rights that two former high court rulings said insulated women’s choices about abortion.

“I did something that nobody thought was possible,” Trump said about nominating the three justices. “The states are now voting. What she says is an absolute lie. And as far as the abortion ban, no, I’m not in favor of (an) abortion ban. But it doesn’t matter because this issue has now been taken over by the states.”

Harris had just said that Trump would sign a nationwide abortion ban if elected and cited Project 2025, the blueprint for a second Trump administration released by the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation. Trump and his campaign have repeatedly tried to distance themselves from the document and many of its proposals.

Many politicians have misrepresented the Supreme Court’s ruling two years ago as sending abortion regulation back to the states. What the conservative justices wrote was that ending Roe v. Wade meant the “authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”

That, of course, includes Congress and the president.

Trump position varies

Trump’s stance on abortion hasn’t always been linear or consistent. He told Republicans earlier this year that they should avoid discussing the topic in order to win elections, while also courting organizations that view him as one avenue to ending abortion outright.

Trump got himself into hot water with several anti-abortion organizations and conservative Republicans in April when he announced he didn’t want Congress to take action on a nationwide law.

Trump had previously said he would support a 16-week nationwide ban. He reiterated in his April announcement that he supported exceptions to state abortion bans in cases of rape, incest and the life of the pregnant patient.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser released a statement following Trump’s April announcement that she was “deeply disappointed.”

“Saying the issue is ‘back to the states’ cedes the national debate to the Democrats who are working relentlessly to enact legislation mandating abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy,” Dannenfelser wrote. “If successful, they will wipe out states’ rights.”

About a month later, in May, Trump, Dannenfelser, President of the Family Research Council Tony Perkins and South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham had a “terrific meeting,” according to a statement released afterward.

Then, this summer, Trump muddied the waters on his abortion stance yet more, when he spoke to an organization in June that describes abortion as the “greatest atrocity facing” the United States that should be “eradicated entirely.”

“These are going to be your years because you’re going to make a comeback like just about no other group,” Trump said to The Danbury Institute’s inaugural Life & Liberty Forum. “I know what’s happening. I know where you’re coming from and where you’re going. And I’ll be with you side by side.”

Then, most recently, Trump posted on social media during the vice presidential debate in early October that he would veto any nationwide abortion restrictions.

Trump wrote in all capital letters that he “would not support a federal abortion ban, under any circumstances, and would, in fact, veto it, because it is up to the states to decide based on the will of their voters (the will of the people!).”

Trump added that he didn’t support access to abortion during the seventh, eight or ninth months of pregnancy, nor did he support killing babies, which is already illegal.

During 2021, about 93% of abortions took place within the first 13 weeks of gestation, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed by the Pew Research Center.

Another 6% of abortions took place between 14 and 20 weeks with the remaining 1% taking place after 21 weeks gestation, according to the data.

“Almost half of individuals who obtained an abortion after 20 weeks did not suspect they were pregnant until later in pregnancy, and other barriers to care included lack of information about where to access an abortion, transportation difficulties, lack of insurance coverage and inability to pay for the procedure,” according to analysis from KFF Health.

Viewers watch former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris debate for the first and only time Sept. 10. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Harris position?

Harris has repeatedly criticized Trump for celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision to end Roe v. Wade and said during the presidential debate that state restrictions have harmed women in innumerable ways.

“Trump abortion bans that make no exception even for rape and incest,” Harris said. “Understand what that means — a survivor of a crime, a violation to their body, does not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next. That is immoral.

“And one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government, and Donald Trump certainly, should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.”

Harris has called for Democrats to eliminate the Senate’s legislative filibuster to ease the passage of a bill that would restore nationwide abortion protections.

That Senate rule requires at least 60 lawmakers vote to advance legislation before that bill can move on to a simple majority passage vote. It is different than the so-called talking filibuster, when one senator, or a group of like-minded lawmakers, talk on the floor for hours to delay a vote.

Democrats would have to maintain their majority in the Senate against long odds to actually carve out an exception to the legislative filibuster, in order to pass a bill restoring Roe v. Wade. Democrats would also need to regain control of the House of Representatives.

A divided Congress, or a few Democrats objecting to rule changes in the Senate, would hinder Harris’ efforts to sign nationwide abortion protections.

Democrats tried to pass legislation through the Senate that would have provided nationwide protections for abortion when they had unified control of government in 2022, but were blocked by the filibuster.

Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema later introduced a bipartisan bill that would have had a similar result, but it wasn’t scheduled for a floor vote.

The legislation of two years ago likely would again fail to advance if Democrats sweep in the November elections, unless they carved out an exception in the Senate filibuster.

Swing state voters

Harris’ and Trump’s stance on abortion access will likely play a role in determining which candidate wins the Electoral College in crucial swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Democrats are optimistic that abortion access ballot questions in 10 states will bolster Harris’ chances through increased voter turnout and higher spending by reproductive rights organizations.

While many of the referendums are in solidly blue or red states, the proposals in Arizona and Florida could affect turnout and motivation.

Louis Jacobson, senior columnist at Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, wrote earlier this month that a key question on Election Day will be whether “abortion-rights advocates extend their perfect 7-for-7 record since Roe v. Wade was overturned.”

Voters will decide on numerous other ballot questions as well, including recreational cannabis, increases in the minimum wage and ranked-choice voting.

In an earlier post about the abortion ballot questions, Jacobson and Samantha Putterman wrote that “(e)very post-Roe measure has been on the ballot during a relatively low turnout election—either the November midterm, a primary ballot, or an off-year election.”

“Any measure that makes the ballot in 2024 will face voters in November of a presidential year, when turnout is far higher,” they wrote. “This has the potential to hurt abortion rights backers, because moderate and liberal voters have recently flexed their electoral muscles more when turnout is low.”

Public opinion polls conducted by the Pew Research Center for the past three decades have consistently shown support for keeping abortion legal outpacing support for making the procedure illegal in most or all cases.

The 2024 survey showed that 63% of people want abortion legal in most or all cases while 36% believe it should be illegal in all or most cases.

How do you vote amid the hurricane damage? States are learning as they go.

Jennifer Shutt — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 20:50:33 +0000

People toss buckets of water out of a home as the streets and homes are flooded near Peachtree Creek after Hurricane Helene brought in heavy rains over night on Sept. 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Hurricane season has not only wreaked havoc on people’s lives throughout much of the country, but could also make it more difficult for voters to cast their ballots in hard-hit regions.

Other election threats include misinformation and even terrorism, with warnings from the Department of Homeland Security and an arrest in Oklahoma allegedly connected with an Election Day plot.

Election officials in states regularly affected by hurricane season have considerable experience ensuring residents can vote following natural disasters, but those in other parts of the country less accustomed to the destruction this year are learning as they go.

Voters used to a quick drive to their polling place or a drop box might need to spend more time getting there amid washed-out roads, while some may be so bogged down in rebuilding their lives, they simply choose not to cast a ballot. Regular mail service may be disrupted for mail-in ballots.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said earlier this week he didn’t expect recovery from Hurricane Helene to have a significant impact on voting, lauding county election officials for troubleshooting power outages and a loss of internet during the storm, the Georgia Recorder reported.

Local election officials throughout the state, he said, were ready to ship mail-in ballots on time and didn’t expect any delays to the start of early voting on Oct. 15.

County election officials “really put public service first because they understand how important voting is in 53 counties that so far have been declared federal disaster areas,” he said during a press briefing.

North Carolina’s legislature unanimously passed an emergency funding package Wednesday that includes $5 million for the Board of Elections to help it recover from the hurricane and ensure the election goes forward somewhat smoothly, according to NC Newsline.

Elections officials in the state will be allowed to make changes to early voting and polling locations throughout 25 western counties, an increase from the 13 counties previously authorized to make changes.

“While the Board of Elections made a good effort, we want to extend it to additional counties that were impacted,” Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said during a press conference.

The Trump campaign released a list of 10 requests for voting in North Carolina on Tuesday evening, including that voters “who have been displaced to another North Carolina county to have the ability to vote a provisional ballot on election day, which will be delivered back to and processed at the voter’s correct County Board of Elections.”

That specific request was not approved by the state, according to NC Newsline.

In Florida, where residents barely began addressing damage from Hurricane Helene before Hurricane Milton emerged, there are disagreements about how best to proceed, the Florida Phoenix reported.

The League of Women Voters of Florida Education Fund and the Florida State Conference of the NAACP have filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to extend the voter registration deadline, which ended on Monday.

The organizations argue that Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis should have allowed more time for voter registration, since residents have been focused on storm preparation, evacuation and recovery.

“While issuing mandatory evacuation orders, he has refused to extend the voter registration deadline, disenfranchising many Floridians who were unable to register due to a disaster beyond their control,” the organizations wrote in a statement. “Voters should not have to worry about registering to vote while they are trying to protect their lives and communities.”

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett announced Wednesday that there would be changes throughout six counties to address impacts from Hurricane Helene, though he committed to ensuring residents in the state would be able to vote in person or by mail.

“The devastation experienced in northeast Tennessee is heartbreaking and unimaginable,” Hargett said in a written statement. “However, I continue to be amazed at the planning and resiliency of our local election officials.

“We have been working with our local elections administrators — Josh Blanchard, Sarah Fain, Tracy Harris, Dana Jones, Cheri Lipford, and Justin Reaves — throughout the entirety of this disaster, and their unwavering leadership and commitment will ensure this election proceeds as planned, so registered voters have the opportunity to vote.”

Hargett reiterated in the statement that early voting would still begin on Oct. 16 and run through Oct. 31.

Specific changes to voting throughout the six counties were posted on the Secretary of State’s website, which will be updated with any additional alterations in the days ahead. Tennessee voters who sent in absentee ballots can track the status here or by calling 877-850-4959.

Elections and artificial intelligence

Kentucky secretary of state urges lawmakers to protect election officials from AI impersonations

In Kentucky, elections officials are warning state lawmakers that artificial intelligence has the “potential for significant impact” on elections in the months and years ahead, the Kentucky Lantern reported.

Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams urged lawmakers during a meeting of the General Assembly’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force to take the technology seriously.

“Should you take up AI legislation when you return in 2025, I would encourage you to consider prohibiting impersonation of election officials,” Adams said during the meeting. “It is illegal to impersonate a peace officer, and for good reason. It should be equally illegal to impersonate a secretary of state or county clerk and put out false information in any format about our elections.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a report earlier this month saying officials expected “state actors will continue to pose a host of threats to the Homeland and public safety,” including through artificial intelligence.

“Specifically, China, Iran, and Russia will use a blend of subversive, undeclared, criminal, and coercive tactics to seek new opportunities to undermine confidence in US democratic institutions and domestic social cohesion,” the 46-page report states.

“Advances in AI likely will enable foreign adversaries to increase the output, timeliness, and perceived authenticity of their mis-, dis-, and malinformation designed to influence US audiences while concealing or distorting the origin of the content.”

Terrorism and the election?

Oklahoma City man faces charges related to planned Election Day terrorist attack, authorities say

DHS also expects threats from terrorism to remain high throughout the year, including around the elections, according to the report.

“Lone offenders and small groups continue to pose the greatest threat of carrying out attacks with little to no warning,” the report states.

That appears to be the case in Oklahoma, where federal officials allege a 27-year-old Afghanistan national living in the state purchased an AK-47 and ammunition as part of a plot to conduct an attack on Election Day in the name of ISIS, the Oklahoma Voice reported.

Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi and a co-conspirator under the age of 18 allegedly met with an FBI asset in rural western Oklahoma to purchase two AK-47 assault rifles, 10 magazines and 500 rounds of ammunition, according to the criminal complaint.

An FBI search of Tawhedi’s phone found communications with a person who Tawhedi believed was affiliated with ISIS. He also “allegedly accessed, viewed, and saved ISIS propaganda on his iCloud and Google account, participated in pro-ISIS Telegram groups, and contributed to a charity which fronts for and funnels money to ISIS,” according to the complaint.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign has sought to blame Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris for Tawhedi’s presence within the United States.

Trump Campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released a written statement claiming that Harris “rolled out the red carpet for terrorists like Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi.”

“President Donald Trump will deport illegal immigrants on the terror watch list and secure our borders from foreign threats,” Leavitt wrote.

Tawhedi entered the United States on Sept. 9, 2021, on a special immigrant visa and “is currently on parole status pending adjudication of his immigration proceedings,” according to the criminal complaint.

The co-defendant is Tawhedi’s wife’s younger brother. While unnamed because he is a juvenile, the criminal complaint says he is a citizen of Afghanistan with legal permanent resident status who entered the United States on March 27, 2018, on a special immigrant visa.

Leavitt’s statement didn’t comment on the co-defendant entering the United States during the Trump administration.

Harris has not yet commented publicly on the arrest.

This story has been updated with new information from North Carolina.

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Republican women falling behind when it comes to running for Congress, experts say

Jennifer Shutt — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 22:37:49 +0000

Republican women are falling behind in candidacies, nominations and primary contest success when it comes to running for Congress, political experts said Tuesday. In this photo, the U.S. Capitol Building is seen on Oct. 22, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Republicans are struggling to recruit and elect women to Congress, lagging behind Democrats in ensuring women, who make up half the population, have a strong voice in the halls of power, experts on women in politics said Tuesday.

“This year’s data shows clearly that Republican women are falling behind in candidacies, nominations and even primary contest success,” Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said on a call with reporters.

Democratic women, on the other hand, “are not only outperforming their male counterparts, but are also reaching near parity with Democratic men in nominations and office holding.”

The 435-member U.S. House currently has 126 women, 34 of whom are Republicans. The 100-member Senate has 25 female lawmakers, with nine belonging to the GOP.

CAWP Director of Data Chelsea Hill explained on the call that while women overall account for just 31.1% of general election nominees for the House, the breakdown shows a stark difference for Democratic and Republican politicians.

“Women continue to be significantly underrepresented as a percentage of all U.S. House and Senate candidates and nominees,” Hill said. “But Republican women are a significantly smaller percentage of their party’s candidates and nominees than are Democratic women.”

Democratic women running for the House represent 45.9% of candidates within their party, coming close to parity with their male colleagues and increasing female candidate percentages over 2022, she said.

Republican women, however, make up 16.2% of GOP House candidates this election cycle, a lower share than during 2020 and 2022, Hill said.

In the Senate, female candidates account for 30.9% of general election nominees, with a similar split between Democrats and Republicans.

Democratic women account for 46.9% of the party’s candidates for that chamber of Congress, also near parity, though women make up 17.6% of Republican Senate nominees, “a smaller share than in the three previous cycles,” according to Hill.

Why are fewer Republican women running?

CAWP experts said the difference in female candidates is predominantly due to structural differences as well as differing beliefs about the importance of women holding office among leadership and voters.

CAWP Director of Research Kelly Dittmar said if party leadership doesn’t believe women’s underrepresentation in government is a problem in need of a solution, that will make “it hard to build the type of support infrastructure — whether it be for women’s PACs, trainings, recruitment programs — that would ensure that those numbers stay high.”

Dittmar said one example of this was House Republican leaders’ decision to roll a program called “Project Grow” that was aimed at recruiting female GOP lawmakers into the “Young Guns” program, which is focused more on general recruitment.

“Young Guns” is also the title of a book published in 2010 by former House Republican leaders Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy, all of whom are men.

Dittmar said the evolution of the Republican Party under former President Donald Trump and the change in abortion access stemming from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022 are not significant factors accounting for the lower numbers of female Republican candidates.

“I would suggest that when we get to the candidate level, there are enough conservative Republican women in the country that could be recruited and supported as candidates,” Dittmar said.

Walsh said one of the reasons GOP leaders don’t focus on recruiting and encouraging women in public office is that there is a “reluctance” within the Republican Party to engage in identity politics.

“The Democratic Party places value on that, versus the Republican Party, which says the best candidate will rise to the top and let the best person win,” Walsh said. “So it is a deeply philosophical difference that plays out in candidate recruitment, candidate support.”

Dittmar added that Democrats aren’t necessarily recruiting and advancing female candidates “out of the goodness of their hearts,” but are doing so because it’s expected by their voters.

“There’s an electoral incentive, partly due to the gender gap in voting, as well as racial and ethnic differences in terms of the Democratic base, where there is more demand on the Democratic Party to say, ‘Look, we’re bringing you votes, you need to prioritize and value this level of representation.’”

Harris rolls out broad Medicare plan to provide long-term care in the home

Shauneen Miranda — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 21:50:38 +0000

Medicare open enrollment is underway until Dec. 7. (Photo by Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a plan Tuesday that would strengthen Medicare coverage to include long-term care for seniors in their homes, tackling one of the biggest challenges in U.S. health care.

The Democratic presidential nominee revealed the proposal while on “The View” — one of several high-profile media appearances this week as she and the GOP presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, sprint to the November finish line.

“There are so many people in our country who are right in the middle: They’re taking care of their kids and they’re taking care of their aging parents, and it’s just almost impossible to do it all, especially if they work,” Harris said during the live interview. “We’re finding that so many are then having to leave their job, which means losing a source of income, not to mention the emotional stress.”

Harris is focusing on the “sandwich generation,” which refers to Americans who are caring for their children while also caring for aging parents.

Under the plan, Medicare — the nation’s health insurance program for people 65 and older and some under 65 with certain disabilities or conditions — would cover an at-home health benefit for those enrolled in the program, as well as hearing and vision benefits, according to her campaign in a Tuesday fact sheet.

Medicare for the most part now does not cover long-term care services like home health aides.

The benefits would be funded by “expanding Medicare drug price negotiations, increasing the discounts drug manufacturers cover for certain brand-name drugs in Medicare, and addressing Medicare fraud,” per her campaign.

Harris also plans to “crack down on pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) to increase transparency, disclose more information on costs, and regulate other practices that raise prices,” according to her campaign, which said she will also “implement international tax reform.”

The campaign did not cite a price tag but noted similar plans have been estimated to cost $40 billion annually, “before considering ??savings from avoiding hospitalizations and more expensive institutional care, or the additional revenues that would generate from more unpaid family caregivers going back to work if they need to.”

The proposal comes along with the nominee’s sweeping economic plan, part of which involves cutting taxes for more than 100 million Americans, including $6,000 in tax relief for new parents in the first year of their child’s life.

Trump responds

In response to the proposal, the Trump campaign said the former president “will always fight for America’s senior citizens — who have been left behind by Kamala Harris,” per a Tuesday news release.

The campaign also cited Medicare Advantage policies extended by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Trump’s first term.

The campaign reiterated the 2024 GOP platform’s chapter on protecting seniors, saying Trump will “prioritize home care benefits by shifting resources back to at-home senior care, overturning disincentives that lead to care worker shortages, and supporting unpaid family caregivers through tax credits and reduced red tape.”

Harris and Howard Stern

While appearing live on “The Howard Stern Show” on Tuesday shortly after “The View,” Harris dubbed Trump an “unserious man,” saying the consequences of him serving another term are “brutally serious.”

She also again criticized Trump for nominating three of the five members to the U.S. Supreme Court who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022 — a reversal that ended nearly half a century of the constitutional right to abortion.

“And it’s not about abortion, you have basically now a system that says you as an individual do not have the right to make a decision about your own body. The government has the right to make that decision for you,” she said.

Harris, who said she would appoint a Republican to her Cabinet if elected, was asked whether she would choose former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.

Cheney was the vice chair of the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee tasked with investigating the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Harris did not disclose a preference, but said Cheney is “smart,” “remarkable” and a “dedicated public servant.”

Cheney is among some prominent Republicans to endorse Harris. She campaigned with the veep in Ripon, Wisconsin — the birthplace of the Republican Party — just last week.

Trump talks with Ben Shapiro

Meanwhile, Trump said Harris is “grossly incompetent” during an interview that aired Tuesday on “The Ben Shapiro Show.”

“Biden was incompetent, she is equally incompetent and in a certain way, she’s more incompetent,” Trump told Shapiro, a conservative political commentator and co-founder of The Daily Wire, referring to President Joe Biden.

Trump also criticized Harris’ Monday interview on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” saying the veep “answers questions like a child.”

“She’s answering questions in the most basic way and getting killed over it,” Trump added.

Look ahead for Harris, Trump campaigns

Harris was also set to also appear on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Tuesday night. She will also appear at a Univision town hall in Las Vegas, Nevada, that airs Thursday.

Trump was slated to participate in a roundtable with Latino leaders and a Univision town hall on Tuesday in Miami, but both events were postponed due to Hurricane Milton.

Trump is set to give remarks Wednesday in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Later that day, he will continue campaigning in the Keystone State with a rally in Reading.

U.S. Supreme Court considers Biden administration regulation of ‘ghost guns’

Ariana Figueroa — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 21:42:04 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday considered a federal firearm regulation aimed at reining in ghost guns, untraceable, unregulated weapons made from kits. In this photo, a ghost gun is displayed before the start of an event about gun violence in the Rose Garden of the White House April 11, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court justices Tuesday grappled with whether the Biden administration exceeded its authority when it set regulations for kits that can be assembled into untraceable firearms, and a majority of justices seemed somewhat skeptical the rule was an overreach.

In Garland v. VanDerStok, the nine justices are tasked with determining whether a rule issued by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in 2022 overstepped in expanding the definition of “firearms” to include “ghost guns” under a federal firearms law.

Ghost guns are firearms without serial numbers and can be easily bought online and quickly assembled in parts, usually through a kit. Law enforcement officials use serial numbers to track guns that are used in crimes.

Arguing on behalf of the Biden administration, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices that there has been an “explosion in crimes” with untraceable guns across the U.S.

She added that the federal government has for years required gun manufacturers and sellers to mark firearms with a serial number.

“The industry has followed those conditions without difficulty for more than half a century, and those basic requirements are crucial to solving gun crimes and keeping guns out of the hands of minors, felons and domestic abusers,” Prelogar said.

She said with the kits to make untraceable homemade guns in as little as 15 minutes, those manufacturers “have tried to circumvent those requirements.”

Prelogar said untraceable guns “are attractive to people who can’t lawfully purchase them or who plan to use them in crime.”

Because the ATF saw a spike in crimes committed with those firearms, Prelogar said it promulgated the 2022 rule. The Biden administration said since 2016, it’s seen a tenfold increase in ghost guns.

What the rule does

The regulation does not ban ghost guns, but requires manufacturers of those firearm kits or parts to add a serial number to the products, as well as conduct background checks on potential buyers. The regulation also clarified those kits are considered covered by the 1968 Gun Control Act under the definition of a “firearm.”

The Biden administration is advocating for the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s decision that favored gun rights groups and owners that argued the agency exceeded its authority.

Pete Patterson on Tuesday represented those gun rights groups, such as the Firearms Policy Coalition and clients, and argued the ATF expanded the definition of a firearm to “include items that may readily be converted to a frame or receiver.”

A frame or receiver is the primary structure of a firearm that holds the other components that cause the gun to fire.

“Congress decided to regulate only a single part of a firearm, the frame or receiver, and Congress did not alter the common understanding of a frame or receiver,” he said. “ATF has now exceeded its authority by operating outside of the bounds set by Congress.”

The case has already been before the high court on an emergency basis in 2023. The three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, and two conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Amy Coney Barrett, allowed the regulation to remain in place while going through legal challenges.

The case is similar to the Supreme Court decision that struck down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks from the ATF, but that was on the grounds of a Second Amendment argument.

Omelets and turkey chili kits

Justice Samuel Alito questioned Prelogar whether the kits were defined as weapons.

“Here’s a blank pad and here’s a pen,” he said. “Is this a grocery list?”

She said it wasn’t because “there are a lot of things you could use those products for to create something other than a grocery list.”

Alito asked her if he had eggs, chopped up ham, peppers and onions, “is that a Western omelet?”

“No, because, again, those items have well known other uses to become something other than an omelet,” Prelogar said. “The key difference here is that these weapon parts kits are designed and intended to be used as instruments of combat, and they have no other conceivable use.”

Barrett asked if her answer would change if “you ordered it from HelloFresh and you got a kit and it was like turkey chili, but all of the ingredients are in the kit?”

Prelogar said it would.

“We are not suggesting that scattered components that might have some entirely separate and distinct function could be aggregated and called a weapon, in the absence of this kind of evidence that that is their intended purpose and function,” she said.

“But if you bought, you know, from Trader Joe’s, some omelet-making kit that had all of the ingredients to make the omelet, and maybe included whatever you would need to start the fire in order to cook the omelet, and had all of that objective indication that that’s what’s being marketed and sold, we would recognize that for what it is,” Prelogar continued.

Roberts asked Patterson what the purpose would be of selling a receiver without a hole in it, meaning the gun is not complete.

Patterson argued that the kits are mainly for gun hobbyists, who would have to drill their own holes to put the product together.

“Some individuals enjoy, like working on their car every weekend, some individuals want to construct their own firearms,” Patterson said.

Roberts seemed skeptical.

“I mean drilling a hole or two, I would think doesn’t give the same sort of reward that you get from working on your car on the weekends,” Roberts said.

Patterson argued that putting together a homemade gun was somewhat difficult, especially if an individual had no experience.

“Even once you have a complete frame, it’s not a trivial matter to put that together,” he said. “There are small parts that have to be put in precise locations.”

No hobbyists

In her rebuttal, Prelogar pushed back on the notion that hobbyists were using those kits, arguing that “if there is a market for these kits, for hobbyists, they can be sold to hobbyists, you just have to comply with the requirements of the Gun Control Act.”

“What the evidence shows is that these guns were being purchased and used in crime. There was a 1,000% increase between 2017 and 2021 in the number of these guns that were recovered as part of criminal investigations,” she said. “The reason why you want a ghost gun is specifically because it’s unserialized and can’t be traced.”

FEMA chief decries rumors, disinformation about hurricane recovery?as worst ever

Jennifer Shutt — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 19:23:55 +0000

The Rocky Broad River flows into Lake Lure and overflows the town with debris from Chimney Rock, North Carolina after heavy rains from Hurricane Helene on Sept. 28, 2024, in Lake Lure, North Carolina. Approximately 6 feet of debris piled on the bridge from Lake Lure to Chimney Rock, blocking access. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — ? Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell said Tuesday that rumors and disinformation will become a regular part of natural disaster response moving forward, and rebuked those seeking to benefit politically from spreading false information.

The volume and type of disinformation spreading about FEMA, as Southeast states struggle to recover from Hurricane Helene, is the worst Criswell said she has ever seen, following a “steady increase” in rumors following previous natural disasters.

Incorrect information about FEMA and its response to natural disasters has been spreading through numerous avenues, including social media, podcasts and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s numerous comments and posts. Criswell did not name any politicians or other individuals during the call with reporters.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Milton is barrelling toward Florida’s Gulf Coast and expected to make landfall by Wednesday night. Meteorologists are warning the storm could be one of Florida’s worst. Thousands of people were evacuating Tuesday.

Criswell said she’s concerned the lies about various aspects of FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene may have a chilling effect on whether people harmed by natural disasters apply for assistance. It could also potentially endanger first responders on the ground.

“It’s just really demoralizing to them. It hurts their morale and they’ve left their families to be able to come in here and help people,” she said of first responders and FEMA staff.

While no one has physically attacked FEMA staff or other emergency responders so far, Criswell said, she and others are closely monitoring misinformation as well as how people in areas hit by natural disasters react to it.

FEMA’s collaboration with local law enforcement can help to monitor safety and security issues, though rumors and disinformation could make matters worse, she said.

“If it creates so much fear that my staff don’t want to go out in the field, then we’re not going to be in a position where we can help people,” Criswell said, adding that she does have concerns about “the safety of our folks that are walking around in neighborhoods that may or may not have full confidence in the government.”

“And so we are watching that closely to make sure that we’re providing for their safety as well,” she said.

Helene brought devastation to multiple states including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and ?Virginia . ?More than 230 deaths have been reported.

Storm victims

The rumors and inaccurate information about FEMA’s response and recovery efforts are “creating fear in some” people who are trying to navigate their way through the hurricane recovery process, Criswell said.

“I worry that they won’t apply for assistance, which means I can’t get them the necessary items they need,” Criswell said. “And so those are the biggest impacts I see as a result of this constant narrative that is more about politics than truly helping people.”

She said the current situation is worse than ever.

“We have always put up rumor control pages because there’s always been people that have been out there trying to take advantage of those that have just lost so much in creating false websites and trying to get their information and defrauding people and the federal government,” Criswell said. “And so not something that’s new, but the level of rhetoric just continues to rise.”

Following the Maui wildfires in August 2023, federal officials worked with local officials to help reassure Hawaiians the rumors and disinformation that spread following that disaster were not true.

Some of the disinformation about the Maui wildfires was from “foreign state actors,” Criswell said.

FEMA was eventually able to get federal assistance to everyone who needed it, but it took much longer than it would have otherwise, she said.

The first assistance people in hard-hit areas often receive from FEMA is a $750 payment meant to help with immediate needs like water, food, clothing and medicine.

There has been significant misinformation around that amount. Criswell clarified on the call that it’s the first installment from FEMA and that more assistance goes out to people affected by natural disasters as the recovery process moves forward.

“We know that they have immediate needs in the first few days, and it’s just an initial jump start to help them replace some of that,” Criswell said.

As FEMA gathers more information about property damage and other problems related to natural disasters, people will likely receive additional assistance for home repairs as well as the cost of staying in a hotel if their home was badly damaged.

FEMA then continues to work with people on longer-term needs, like rental assistance, if that’s needed.

FEMA has set up a webpage seeking to dispel rumors and disinformation about its response and recovery efforts.

It says that in most cases the money FEMA gives to disaster survivors does not have to be paid back and notes that the agency “cannot seize your property or land.”

“There are some less common situations in which you may have to pay FEMA back if you receive duplicate benefits from insurance or a grant from another source. For example, if you have insurance that covers your temporary housing costs, but you ask FEMA to advance you some money to help you pay for those costs while your insurance is delayed, you will need to pay that money back to FEMA after you receive your insurance settlement.”

The webpage also says that no funding for disaster recovery was diverted to address border security or immigration issues.

“This is false. No money is being diverted from disaster response needs. FEMA’s disaster response efforts and individual assistance is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts.”

Funding questions

FEMA has plenty of funding to cover response and recovery efforts for the 100-plus open natural disasters throughout the country, but will need supplemental funding from Congress in the months ahead.

“I have enough funding to continue to support the response efforts for both of these events, and then continue to support the recovery efforts from all of the storms across the nation,” Criswell said, referring to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

“However, I’m not going to be able to support those recoveries for long without a supplemental,” she added. “And we anticipate needing additional funding in the December, January time frame, or I’ll have to go back into what we call immediate needs funding again, where we pause obligations in our recovery projects to ensure that I can respond to an event like we’re seeing today.”

The first step for Congress to approve emergency funding for FEMA or any other federal agency is typically when the Office of Management and Budget sends a supplemental spending request to lawmakers on behalf of the White House.

Lawmakers can then choose to write legislation providing some, all, or more money than requested. They can also choose not to fund the emergency request, though that appears unlikely this time.

For the moment, FEMA has about $20 billion in its disaster relief fund, she said.

People who need assistance from FEMA should call 1-800-621-3362, register on https://www.disasterassistance.gov/ or fill out an application on the FEMA app.

Harris on ‘60 Minutes’ says Congress would work with her as president if she’s elected

Jennifer Shutt — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 12:30:18 +0000

Vice President Kamala Harris was interviewed on the CBS news show “60 Minutes” that aired Monday night. In this photo, she speaks at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th National Convention on July 25, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Montinique Monroe/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris said during an interview with the CBS News show “60 Minutes” that aired Monday she believes Congress would work with her to implement economic and tax policies if she’s elected.

She also criticized Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for declining to sit for an interview with the news program, but noted that voters interested in his goals for the country should just listen to one of his rallies.

“You’re going to hear conversations that are about himself and all of his personal grievances — and what you will not hear is anything about you, the listener,” Harris said. “You will not hear about how he’s going to try to bring the country together, find common ground. And that is why I believe in my soul and heart, the American people are ready to turn the page.”

Harris reinforced her support for Ukraine during the interview, saying she wouldn’t sit down to bilateral talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin about the conflict.

“Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine,” Harris said, though she declined to say if her administration would support bringing Ukraine into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Harris argued that were Trump president when Russia invaded Ukraine, “Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now,” the Ukrainian capital.

“He talks about, ‘Oh, he can end it on day one.’ You know what that is? It’s about surrender,” Harris said of Trump.

Trump and immigration

Harris focused many of her answers to questions about immigration and border security on Trump, criticizing him for working behind the scenes to scuttle bipartisan legislation that took months to negotiate.

She also noted more than once that Congress is responsible for writing laws governing immigration policy and questioned why lawmakers didn’t approve a bill President Joe Biden sent up in the first days of his administration.

Harris said she believes Americans will vote for her over Trump, in part, because they want a president who doesn’t make the types of comments about immigrants that Trump regularly makes on the campaign trail.

“I believe that the people of America want a leader who’s not trying to divide us and demean,” Harris said. “I believe that the American people recognize that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down, it’s based on who you lift up.”

Harris said she was confident that members of Congress would work with her, if she’s elected president, to implement some of her core policy proposals, including expanding the Child Tax Credit and establishing a tax credit for first-time home buyers.

She said paying for those proposals could be achieved through making “sure that the richest among us, who can afford it, pay their fair share in taxes.”

“It is not right that teachers and nurses and firefighters are paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and the biggest corporations, and I plan on making that fair,” she said.

When Harris talks with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, many of them understand the points she’s making about the tax code, she said.

“There are plenty of leaders in Congress who understand and know that the Trump tax cuts blew up our federal deficit,” Harris said. “None of us, and certainly I, cannot afford to be myopic in terms of how I think about strengthening America’s economy.”

Harris provided more details during the interview on her gun ownership, revealing that she owns a Glock and has fired it at shooting ranges.

“I have a Glock, and I’ve had it for quite some time,” Harris said. “And I mean, look, Bill, my background is in law enforcement. And so there you go.”

Harris and Trump turn to podcasts, radio and TV as campaign hurtles into final month

Ariana Figueroa — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 22:31:22 +0000

Vice President Kamala Harris took part in an interview with the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that was released Sunday. In this photo, the “Call Her Daddy” host, creator and executive producer, Alex Cooper, participates in The Art of The Interview session at Spotify Beach on June 20, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify)

WASHINGTON — In an interview released Sunday on a widely heard podcast geared toward young women, Vice President Kamala Harris stressed the importance of reproductive rights, a central topic in her bid for the White House.

The “Call Her Daddy” host, Alex Cooper, specifically centered the 40-minute interview around issues affecting women such as domestic violence and access to abortion.

Meanwhile, the GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump, joined the Hugh Hewitt radio show Monday, a conservative talk show that has about 7.5 million weekly listeners.

The interview with Trump was mostly about the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. In the attack, 1,200 people — including 46 U.S. citizens — were killed in Israel and hundreds were taken hostage.

On “Call Her Daddy,” Cooper noted before the interview that she does not have politicians on her show because it is not focused on politics, but “at the end of the day, I couldn’t see a world in which one of the main conversations in this election is women, and I’m not a part of it.”

“The conversation I know I am qualified to have is the one surrounding women’s bodies and how we are treated and valued in this country,” Cooper said.

She added that her team reached out to Trump and invited him on the show. “If he also wants to have a meaningful, in-depth conversation about women’s rights in this country, then he is welcome on ‘Call Her Daddy’ any time,” she said.

The podcast is the second-most listened-to on Spotify, with an average of 5 million weekly listeners. The demographics are about 90% women, with a large chunk of them Gen Z and Millennials? — an important voting bloc for Harris to reach with less than a month until the election concludes Nov. 5.

The podcast is part of Harris’ media marathon this week. Late Monday, she will appear on “60 Minutes” for an interview. On Tuesday she is scheduled to be in New York to appear on the daytime show “The View,” “The Howard Stern Show” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Victims of sexual assault

Harris on the podcast touched on several stories she tells on the campaign trail, such as how a high school friend ended up staying with her and her family because the friend was being sexually assaulted at home.

“I decided at a young age I wanted to do the work of protecting vulnerable people,” Harris said.

She added that it’s important to destigmatize survivors of sexual assault.

“The more that we let anything exist in the shadows, the more likely it is that people are suffering and suffering silently,” Harris said. “The more we talk about it, the more we will address it and deal with it, the more we will be equipped to deal with it, be it in terms of schools, in terms of the society at large, right, and to not stigmatize it.”

Cooper asked Harris how the U.S. can be safer for women.

Harris talked about domestic violence and the bind that women can be in if they have children and are financially reliant on an abuser.

“Most women will endure whatever personal, physical pain they must in order to make sure their kids have a roof over their head or food,” she said. “One of the ways that we know we can uplift the ability of women to have choices is uplift the ability of women to have economic health and well-being.”

Cooper asked Harris about the aftermath of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court two years ago and the recent story of Amber Thurman, a Georgia woman who died after not being able to receive an abortion following complications from taking an abortion pill.

Harris said states that pass abortion bans will argue there are exceptions “if the life of the mother is at risk,” but that it’s not a realistic policy in practice.

“You know what that means in practical terms, she’s almost dead before you decide to give her care. So we’re going to have public health policy that says a doctor, a medical professional, waits until you’re at death’s door before they give you care,” Harris said. “Where is the humanity?”

Trump criticizes protesters?

Besides the appearance with Hugh Hewitt, Trump is also scheduled late Monday to speak with Jewish leaders in Miami.

During the interview with Hewitt, Trump slammed the pro-Palestinian protests across college campuses and argued that those institutions should do more to quell the student protests.

“You have other Jewish students that are afraid,” Trump said. “Yeah, that’s true, and they should be afraid. I never thought I would see this in my life with the campus riots and what they’re saying and what they’re doing. And they have to put them down quickly.”

Hewitt asked Trump, because of his background as a real estate developer, if he could turn Gaza, which has been devastated by the war, into something like Monaco. The Principality of Monaco is an independent, affluent microstate along the coast of France that attracts wealthy tourists.

“It could be better than Monaco. It has the best location in the Middle East, the best water, the best everything,” Trump said, noting the Mediterranean Sea bordering the Gaza Strip. “You know, as a developer, it could be the most beautiful place — the weather, the water, the whole thing, the climate.”

The war has drawn massive protests in the United States, and more than 40,000 people in Gaza have been killed, but researchers estimate the death toll is as high as 186,000.

Hewitt asked Trump about Harris’ housing policy that, if approved by Congress, would give first-time homebuyers up to $25,000 for a down payment. Both candidates have made housing a top issue.

Trump said he opposed the plan and instead advocated for the private sector to handle housing. He then veered off topic into immigration and without evidence accused migrants at the southern border of being murderers.

“Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they’re now happily living in the United States,” he said. “You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we’ve got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”

Trump has often invoked white supremacist language when talking about immigrants, accusing them of “poisoning the blood” of the U.S. He’s also made a core campaign promise of enacting mass deportations of millions of immigrants in the country who are in the country without authorization.

Hurricane interrupts campaign

Some campaign events have been postponed due to Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm barreling toward Florida. It comes after the devastating Hurricane Helene that caused severe damage in western North Carolina and other states in the Southeast.

A Tuesday roundtable with Trump and Latino leaders was postponed, as well as a town hall in Miami, Florida with Univison for undecided Hispanic voters. The Univision town hall with Harris is scheduled for Thursday in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, on Tuesday is scheduled to give remarks in Detroit, Michigan.

Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is heading to Reno, Nevada, Tuesday for a campaign reception.

One year since Oct. 7 attack on Israel, U.S. leaders honor victims and protesters march

Ashley Murray — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 22:23:18 +0000

On Monday, U.S. leaders marked the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel. In this photo, photographs of some of those taken hostage by Hamas during the attacks are seen on Oct. 18, 2023 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — U.S. leaders marked one year Monday since Hamas militants launched a shocking attack on Israel, murdering more than 1,000 civilians, taking hundreds prisoner and igniting an all-but-declared regional war and a deadly Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that the U.S. has failed to halt despite months of cease-fire negotiations.

Demonstrations against Israel’s continued retaliatory bombing of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory cropped up again ahead of the anniversary, including one man attempting to set himself on fire outside the White House Sunday during an otherwise peaceful protest.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation warned that synagogues, mosques and vigil gatherings could be targeted by violent extremists.

President Joe Biden lit a yahrzeit candle Monday at the White House alongside first lady Jill Biden and Rabbi Aaron Alexander of the Washington-based Adas Israel Congregation, who recited a Jewish prayer to honor those who died.

Biden also spoke by phone to Israeli President Isaac Herzog to express his condolences and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security, according to a White House readout of the call.

“On this day last year, the sun rose on what was supposed to be a joyous Jewish holiday. By sunset, October 7 had become the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Today marks one year of mourning for the more than 1,200 innocent people of all ages, including 46 Americans, massacred in southern Israel by the terrorist group Hamas,” Biden said in a statement early Monday, also acknowledging Hamas’ “horrific acts of sexual violence.”

Twelve Americans were among the hostages forcefully taken and still held by the militants, though many have died in captivity.

The past 12 months have been punctuated by protests against a U.S. surge in weapons to Israel since the attack. Health officials in Gaza say over 41,000 have been killed in the strikes that critics describe as indiscriminate to civilians, but Israel maintains are targeted at Hamas, an ally of Iran.

Prior to dropping his bid for reelection, Biden’s campaign events were regularly interrupted by demonstrators who accused the president of supporting “genocide” of Palestinians.

A pomegranate tree for hope

The chanting of protesters and sirens could be heard as Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff honored the Oct. 7 victims Monday by planting a pomegranate tree, an important symbol in the Jewish faith, at the vice president’s residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, according to reporters who were present.

Harris said during brief remarks that “we must uphold the commitment to repair the world” and “work to relieve the immense suffering of innocent Palestinians in Gaza who have experienced so much pain and loss over the year.”

“For years to come, this pomegranate tree will stand here, spreading its roots and growing stronger to remind future vice presidents of the United States, their families and all who pass through these grounds, not only of the horror of October 7, but the strength and the endurance of the Jewish people. It will remind us all not to abandon the goal of peace, dignity and security for all, and it will remind us all to always have faith,” Harris said.

Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of any U.S. president or vice president, said he is “still filled with pain and despair.”

In response to a shouted question about a cease-fire, Harris replied: “We’re not giving up. We’re doing everything we can possibly do to get the cease-fire hostage deal done. It’s one of the most important ways we will be able to end this war and bring any type of stability to the region. It’s one of the highest priorities of this administration.”

Earlier in the day Harris issued a statement saying she will “never forget the horror” that occurred on this day last year.

“Women raped on the side of the road. 250 people kidnapped. … What Hamas did that day was pure evil — it was brutal and sickening,” she said.

Harris has repeatedly said her commitment to Israel’s security is “unwavering.”

Schumer at Brooklyn synagogue

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York spent the morning at his synagogue in Brooklyn continuing to call for the release of hostages.

“When I went to Israel days after October 7th to express American solidarity with the Israeli people and Israel’s right to self-defense, we gathered with the families of American victims of Hamas’s attack. I will never forget the meeting. I still remember when one of the family members told me every minute is an hour, every day is a year not knowing the fate of their loved ones held in Hamas’s captivity,” Schumer said in a statement.

“We must not and we cannot waver in our efforts to bring the hostages home. It is long past time.”

Schumer, who on the Senate floor in March heavily criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of Israel’s retaliatory bombardment of Gaza, honored the death of American Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was murdered after nearly 11 months in captivity. Goldberg-Polin was taken hostage as Hamas militants terrorized and killed hundreds at a desert music festival as part of their surprise attack.

The Senate majority leader also listed the names of several of his New York constituents who remain in captivity, including three whose bodies Hamas hasn’t returned.

GOP slams Biden, Harris

The Republican National Committee hosted a “remembrance press call” ahead of former President Donald Trump’s attendance at an Oct. 7 memorial event in Miami, Florida, Monday night.

The call largely focused on blaming Biden and Harris for the gruesome Hamas attack and for the rise of antisemitism.

“None of this happened under President Trump when he was in office, because America was respected in the eyes of this world, and President Trump created peace through his strength, strong foreign policy,” Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, said.

The call featured former Democratic Florida Congressman Peter Deutsch announcing his endorsement of Trump for president.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said time “has not dulled the pain inflicted on the people of Israel one year ago today, nor eased the grief left in its wake.

“October 7th confronted the world with the irredeemable evil of Iran-backed terror, and drew emboldened strains of the world’s oldest hatred out of the shadows,” the Kentucky Republican continued in a statement issued Monday.

McConnell’s comments did not mention Biden, Harris or Trump.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson released a video featuring footage from the Hamas attack and clips of him shaking hands with Netanyahu when the Israeli leader visited the Capitol to address a joint session of Congress.

“The terror and antisemitism we’ve witnessed have demanded full resolve from America’s leaders, which is why Congress passed legislation in the spring to provide Israel with necessary military aid and support,” Johnson, of Louisiana, said in a statement.

“Today, at this critical time, following a second direct attack by Iran and ongoing terror from Hezbollah, Americans must insist that the Biden-Harris Administration stand unequivocally with Israel and against the terrorist regime in Iran, as we continue to pray for peace and security in Israel,” Johnson continued.

Johnson’s video also featured footage of protesters carrying Palestinian flags on college campuses, and of him speaking at Columbia University.

In the months following the Oct. 7 attack, House Republicans fixated on anti-war university encampments and demonstrations — some, but not all, of which featured blatant antisemitism and violence. The party continues to laud GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik’s heated questioning in December about antisemitism to University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill and Harvard’s Claudine Gay, which contributed to both the university presidents’ resignations.

The next big dilemma for the U.S. Senate GOP: Who should lead them in 2025 and beyond?

Jennifer Shutt — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 09:40:16 +0000

Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, joined by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks at the Capitol on Sept. 29, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans shortly after Election Day will face a major decision for their chamber as well as the national party when they pick a new leader.

Once the dust from the election clears and the balance of power in the Senate is decided, senators will gather behind closed doors to choose who will lead their conference. Come January, that person will step into one of the more important and influential roles in the U.S. government, as well as becoming a prominent figure for messaging and fundraising for the GOP.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, Florida Sen. Rick Scott and South Dakota Sen. John Thune have all publicly announced they’re seeking the post. Thune is currently the minority whip, the No. 2 leader in the Senate GOP, and Cornyn held the whip job before him.

U.S Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and wife Elaine Chao arrive at the Graves County Republican Breakfast, part of the Fancy Farm Picnic political weekend, Aug. 3, 2024. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Austin Anthony)

The lawmaker who secures the support of his colleagues will replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who since 2007 has led his party through three presidencies, numerous votes on natural disaster aid packages, the COVID-19 pandemic, two impeachments and the Jan. 6 insurrection.

McConnell, who served as majority leader when Republicans controlled the Senate, has been at the center of dozens of pivotal negotiations and ensured his position was a boon for his home state of Kentucky.

The Republican who takes his place will have to navigate choppy political seas in the years ahead as the GOP continues to hold onto the Reagan-era policies many still value, while adjusting to the brand of conservatism that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump champions.

States Newsroom interviewed Republican senators to find out what characteristics they believe the next GOP leader needs to have to earn their vote, and about the challenges that person will face in the years ahead.

While only one senator would volunteer an opinion on a favorite candidate, many said they are interested in a leader who will emphasize moving legislation through the chamber, listen closely to members and forge strong ties with what they hope is a Trump administration.

In search of a workhorse?

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said he’s looking for a “competent” Republican leader who will listen to members and work behind the scenes.

“I don’t want to see leaders on television commercials, I don’t want to see them featured in Senate races, I don’t want them as the deciding factor days before an election,” Hawley said. “I want somebody who is going to be a workhorse and who’s going to work with members to achieve our priorities and then get stuff accomplished.”

West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said the next GOP leader should hold the line on conservative priorities while also being able to negotiate bipartisan deals during what is expected to be a divided government. Democrats narrowly control the Senate, but Republicans are projected to possibly take the majority in the election.

“I would like somebody who can be strong in the face of opposition, present a strong argument, not afraid to take it to the other side when needed, but then also somebody that could get in the room and negotiate right when it gets tough,” she said.

Capito acknowledged the outcome of the presidential election could have an impact on who becomes the next Republican leader.

“(It) just depends on who wins,” she said.

Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall said his choice will “be the most important vote that I take.”

“You vote for the president, that’s important, but mine is one vote out of 150 million votes, or whatever it is. But this vote will be one out of, hopefully 53, so I think it has a lot of weight,” Marshall said. “And I think it’s really important that we elect a majority leader that shares the same priorities as, hopefully, President Trump.”

Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty said the overarching criteria for the next GOP leader is their “ability to get along well with President Trump and the incoming administration.”

“The first 100 days are going to count, and we need to have very close alignment to make certain we’re successful,” Hagerty said.

There is no guarantee that voters will elect Trump as the next president during this year’s presidential election. The next Senate GOP leader could end up working with an administration led by the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

That would require whomever Republican senators elect to walk a tightrope on Cabinet secretary confirmation votes, judicial nominees, must-pass legislation and potentially a Supreme Court nominee.

Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said he’s vetting the candidates based on which one would be the most savvy, strategic, patient and inclusive.

That person, Kennedy said, must also be “willing to test his assumptions against the arguments of his critics and willing to ask God for money if necessary.” McConnell has been known as a prodigious fundraiser for Republicans.

Chairmanship clout

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, said she’ll vote for the candidate willing to devote significantly more floor time to debating and voting on bipartisan legislation.

“I think that’s a real problem,” Collins said. “I’d like us to go back to the days where power was vested in the committee chairs. And if they and their ranking members are able to produce a bill, that it gets scheduled for floor consideration.”

Collins, a moderate in a Senate conference packed with more conservative members, said she wants the next Senate Republican leader to recognize “that we’re a big tent party and that we need to be inclusive in our approach.”

North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven, the top Republican on the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, said he wants a GOP leader to follow “regular order on appropriations.”

“We get them through committee with bipartisan votes, but they’re not getting to the floor,” Hoeven said of the dozen annual government funding bills. “We need to get them to the floor, there needs to be an amendment process, and we need to act on the bills and get back to voting on bills and that’s called regular order. And I think that’s the biggest key for our next leader is to be able to do that.”

Alabama Sen. Katie Britt has begun talking with the candidates and is evaluating their plans for the Senate floor schedule, especially for bringing the annual government funding bills up for debate and amendment.

“I want to know how we’re going to get the appropriations process back working; like, how we’re actually going to move the ball down the field on that,” Britt said. “I want to know how we’re going to actually embolden the committees and the committee process.”

Britt, ranking member on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, expressed frustration with how much floor time goes toward confirming judicial nominees, something that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, and McConnell have both championed.

Senate floor procedures are much more time-consuming than the rules that govern debate in the House. Legislation can take weeks to move through the filibuster process, which requires 60 votes for bills to advance, and for leaders to negotiate which amendments will receive floor votes.

The Senate, unlike the House, is also responsible for vetting and confirming executive branch nominees, like Cabinet secretaries, as well as judicial nominees. With a new president in place, 2025 will mean many confirmation votes.

“When we have a leader that really knows how to lead, they’ll put appropriations bills on the floor, they’ll figure out how to embolden members,” Britt said, adding that “a weak leader consolidates all the power, and that’s, unfortunately, what I think we have right now when it comes to Chuck Schumer.”

‘Getting stuff done’

Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford said whomever he votes for needs to “be successful at getting stuff done, finished, completed.”

“We have to be able to get our committees working and get legislation up, negotiated and moved,” Lankford said.

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said whoever takes over as the next GOP leader must be able to communicate well with senators.

That person “needs to be someone that has strategy, and knows how to work the floor, certainly. And then, also fundraising is a portion of that, too.”

Arkansas Sen. John Boozman said his vote will go to the person he believes can best build consensus and listen to members, though he hasn’t yet decided which of the three contenders he’ll support.

“I’m a true undecided,” Boozman said. “I think the reality is most members just want to get the election over. They don’t want to deal with this until then.”

Boozman said the results of the battle for control of the Senate in the November elections could influence which candidate he and his colleagues pick to lead them during the next Congress.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said that the next GOP leader should be in tune with Republican voters and the issues important to them.

“It’s someone who I think has an affinity and is in touch with where our voters are,” Rubio said.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley declined to list off any characteristics he believes the next leader needs, saying he doesn’t want any of the three to figure out his choice.

“I wouldn’t want to tell you that, because this is what I told all three people that came to my office — I said, ‘I’m not going to tell either one of you. You’re all friends of mine. You ain’t going to know who I vote for,’” Grassley said. “And if I answered your question, they’re going to start figuring out who I’m going to vote for.”

Grassley said the next leader’s first major challenge will be negotiating a tax bill during 2025 that addresses expiring elements from the 2017 Republican tax law.

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran said character matters in determining who he’ll vote for, but said he hadn’t created a score sheet just yet.

“I’ll have an idea of who I’m voting for before the November election,” Moran said. “Those characteristics that I think are important would be important regardless of what the makeup of the House, Senate and the White House is.”

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson threw his support behind Scott for GOP leader, saying he prefers someone who previously served as a governor and worked in the private sector. He was the only senator interviewed by States Newsroom to reveal his vote, which will be conducted via secret ballot.

He said that Scott “is willing to tackle tough issues.”

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said that Republicans have “a lot of good choices” among the three men and that he wants someone who can carry the GOP message.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

Obama to hit the trail for Harris, while Trump returns to site of attempted assassination

Jennifer Shutt — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 21:58:22 +0000

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage by U.S. Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump will return to the site in Butler on Saturday, Oct. 5 2024 for a rally. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesImages)

WASHINGTON — Saturday marks one month until Election Day, giving the presidential campaigns little time before voting closes to convince voters that their vision for the country offers the best path forward.

Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump will spend much of that time attacking each other, though they are also leaning on high-profile allies to support voter turnout efforts and help sway the dwindling number of undecided voters.

Former Democratic President Barack Obama is set to rally supporters in battleground states throughout the next month after starting off in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 10.

Obama is expected to make the case that Harris “is ready for the job.”

“This is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion,” Obama will say, according to prepared remarks shared by the campaign. “Kamala wasn’t born into privilege. She had to work for what she’s got, and she actually cares about what other people are going through.”

The campaign didn’t disclose which other states Obama is likely to visit, though it’s a safe bet he’ll be traveling to swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Trump is set to rally supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, returning to the location where a gunman climbed onto a roof before taking several shots at Trump in July.

The rally will include numerous members of Congress as well as the family of Corey Comperatore, who was killed by the gunman.

Comperatore’s widow, daughters and sisters are all expected to attend the Trump rally, as are several people who attended the one where the shooting broke out, according to an announcement from the campaign.

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, is expected to attend along with billionaire businessman Elon Musk; Missouri Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt; Pennsylvania Reps. Mike Kelly, Dan Meuser, Guy Reschenthaler and Glenn Thompson; Florida Rep. Cory Mills; Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson; and several Pennsylvania officials.

Separately on Saturday, Vice President Harris will travel to North Carolina to receive a briefing on recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene and survey storm damage.

On Sunday, former President Trump is expected to give a speech in Juneau, Wisconsin.

Biden warns of election denial

President Joe Biden said Friday during a surprise appearance at the White House press briefing that he expects the November elections will be fair and free, though he expressed concern about the possibility of violence.

“I don’t know whether it will be peaceful,” Biden said. “The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out, when he didn’t like the outcome of the election, were very dangerous.”

Biden criticized Vance for declining to say during this week’s vice presidential debate that he would accept the outcome of the election.

“They haven’t even accepted the outcome of the last election,” Biden said. “So I’m concerned about what they’re going to do.”

Trump has falsely claimed for years that he won the 2020 presidential election, despite multiple lawsuits failing in the court system due to a lack of evidence and numerous Republican officials saying there was no evidence of widespread fraud.

Special counsel Jack Smith is pursuing a case against Trump for attempting to overturn the results of the election that includes actions he took leading up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The latest filing in that case, which included new details, was released this week.

Control of Congress

Democrats and Republicans are also focusing on the race for control of Congress during the final weeks of campaign season.

Republicans are projected to reclaim the Senate, most likely through picking up seats in West Virginia and Montana, with races in Michigan and Ohio ranked as toss-ups by the Cook Political Report with Amy Walters.

The House could also go either way, though Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has repeatedly said he expects to keep that chamber red and increase his razor-thin majority.

There are 26 toss-up races that will determine control of the House for the next two years, according to the Cook Political Report. The remaining 409 House districts are rated as either leaning, likely or solidly favoring Republicans or Democrats.

Which party controls the House and Senate will determine how much the next president can actually accomplish.

Leaders of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said on a call Friday they are coordinating their efforts to boost Harris and Democratic candidates during the weeks ahead.

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, DSCC Chair Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan and DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington highlighted some of those efforts to mark nearly one month out from Nov. 5.

“I think we have probably one of the most coordinated efforts we’ve seen, at least in my memory, where three committees are working together to make sure that we use our resources as effectively and as efficiently as possible, to make sure that we win all across the board,” Peters said.

Harrison said party leaders were focused on dozens of races ranging from “the school board to the White House.”

“When I became the chair of the DNC, I committed to a 57-state-and-territory strategy,” Harrison said, adding that he’s proud to say “we’ve taken that commitment to the next levels, rounding out our mission, again, sending electoral investments to all 57 states and territories to bolster down-ballot races in a single cycle.”

CDC conducting extensive probe into bird flu contracted by Missouri resident

Jennifer Shutt — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 19:28:52 +0000

A case of bird flu in a Missouri resident is the only diagnosis in the United States this year where the person did not have contact with infected dairy cattle or poultry. (Photo by Stephen Ausmus/Animal Research Services, USDA)

WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should have results later this month that provide more insight into how a Missouri resident, who hadn’t had any contact with infected animals or food, contracted a case of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, said on a call with reporters Friday the agency is working through its investigation of that bird flu case, while providing several more details.

“As we previously reported, CDC would be able to perform partial sequencing of the avian influenza H5 virus from the case in Missouri, despite a nearly undetectable level of viral RNA in the patient sample,” Daskalakis said.

That process is complex and time-consuming, in part because the patient had rather small amounts of the virus in their system when the test was taken.

Another contributing factor, he said, is “that the virus has two potentially important mutations, meaning two amino acid differences, in comparison with the viruses previously characterized during this event that could affect antigenicity.”

Daskalakis explained that antigenicity is when someone is able to produce “a specific immune response, such as creation of specific antibodies.”

Both the mutations and small sample size have presented challenges for the CDC, but the agency expects to announce results of the test later this month after completing the complicated lab process, he said.

Two cases in California

The Missouri case is the only bird flu diagnosis in the United States this year where the person hadn’t had direct contact with infected poultry or dairy cattle.

The remainder of the 16 people diagnosed with H5N1 during this calendar year had direct contact with farm animals, with nine of those cases linked to poultry and six related to dairy cows.

One of those cases was diagnosed in Texas, two in Michigan, two in California just this week and 10 in Colorado.

Public health officials on the call emphasized that the risk to the general public remains low and that several studies undertaken by the Food and Drug Administration show pasteurized dairy products as well as other foods remain safe to eat.

Since February, the CDC has tested more than 50,000 samples that would have “detected Influenza A, H5 or other novel influenza viruses,” Daskalakis said.

The Missouri case was the first case of bird flu detected through that influenza surveillance system, he said.

Public health officials at the state and federal level have been trying to determine how the Missouri patient, who officials are not identifying for their privacy, contracted the virus through a series of “intense interviews,” Daskalakis said.

That is how they learned someone living in the same house had been symptomatic with various gastrointestinal issues at the same time the patient had been ill.

That simultaneous onset of symptoms implied “a common exposure, rather than human-to-human transmission,” Daskalakis said, before reinforcing that the second person never tested positive for the virus and isn’t considered a case of bird flu.

“At the time of the interview, the household contact had also completely recovered and had not been tested for influenza while they were sick,” he said. “To be clear, there is only one case of H5N1 influenza detected in Missouri.”

Because the person living in the same house as the Missouri patient had been symptom-free for more than 10 days when they were interviewed by public health officials, Daskalakis said there was “no utility in testing the contact for acute influenza.”

Instead, officials in Missouri took blood samples from the two people so the CDC could test for “antibodies against H5 to assess for possible infection with this virus,” he said.

A separate investigation was taken at the hospital where the Missouri patient had been diagnosed to see if any health care workers had contracted H5N1.

Out of 118 health care workers who interacted with the patient in some way, 18 had higher-risk interactions before the patient was diagnosed and began using what Daskalakis referred to as “droplet precautions.”

Six of those health care workers later developed respiratory symptoms, though only one of them had symptoms by the time the public health investigation had begun retroactively, he said.

That one person’s PCR test for acute influenza came back negative and the other five health care workers, who had recovered, did not require a PRC test, he said.

“Since exposures could only be assessed retrospectively, Missouri has also obtained blood specimens from these individuals for antibody or serology testing at CDC to search for any evidence to support the unlikely possibility that their symptoms were related to H5 infection resulting from their interaction with the patient,” Daskalakis said. “Despite the low risk, this testing is important to complete the public health investigation of this case.”

The CDC began working on that serology testing in mid-September when it received the samples from Missouri, though the complicated process likely won’t conclude until later in October.

“For serology testing to be conclusive, it needs to be done using a virus that is genetically identical to the one obtained from the human case from Missouri or there is a risk of a false negative test,” Daskalakis said. “Since this H5 virus was not recoverable, we could not grow it because there was not enough for the Missouri specimen.”

The CDC, he explained, has to “create the right virus for the test using reverse genetics to match the one from Missouri, so that we can use it in these serology tests.”

“We realize people, including all of us at CDC, are anxious to see results from this testing,” he said. “CDC is moving at a very accelerated pace while conducting rigorous science to assure the validity of these results.”

Poultry, dairy cases

In addition to human cases, bird flu continues to infect poultry flocks and dairy herds within the United States.

While the poultry industry has had years of experience supplying its workers with personal protective equipment and culling affected farms, the dairy industry has had to figure out how to address the virus this year.

Eric Deeble, deputy under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs at USDA, said on the call Friday that Colorado’s mandatory testing program of bulk milk tanks, which began in July, offered a hopeful case study for ridding farms throughout the country of H5N1.

“Initially, this revealed a significant local prevalence, about 72% of dairies, centered in Weld County,” Deeble said.

But following months of hard work by farmers and public health officials, Colorado has just one dairy herd that’s currently affected by H5N1 out of 86 dairy herds within the state, he said.

“Mandatory surveillance in the state allows for continuous monitoring of herds and helps detect any instances of non-negative results early on, ensuring timely intervention,” Deeble said. “This decrease in Colorado cases, even in the absence of a vaccine, gives us further confidence that H5N1 can be eliminated in the national herd, even in places where we have seen an initial rapid increase in cases.”

Data from the USDA show that during the past month, three dairy herds in Idaho and 53 in California have tested positive for H5N1.

Biden’s student loan relief plan suffers another setback in Missouri ruling

Shauneen Miranda — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 17:44:35 +0000

A Thursday ruling in federal court in Missouri further hinders the administration’s efforts to promote its work on student loans ahead of the November election. (Photo by Getty Images)

The Biden administration was hit with the latest blow to its student debt relief efforts on Thursday after a federal judge in Missouri temporarily blocked the administration from putting in place a plan that would provide student debt relief to millions of borrowers.

The ruling further hinders the administration’s efforts to promote its work on student loans ahead of the November election and comes amid persistent Republican challenges to President Joe Biden’s student debt relief initiatives.

The administration, which unveiled the plans in April, said these efforts would provide student debt relief to more than 30 million borrowers. The proposals were never finalized.

In a September lawsuit, Missouri led Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota and Ohio in challenging the administration over the plan.

Their suit, filed in a Georgia federal court, came just days after a separate student debt relief effort — the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan — continued to be put on pause after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to lift a block on the plan in late August.

Following the September filing of the suit, U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall of Georgia paused the plan through a temporary restraining order on Sept. 5 and extended that order on Sept. 19 while the case could be reviewed.

But on Wednesday, Hall let that order expire, dismissed Georgia from the suit and moved the case to a Missouri federal court.

Once the suit moved to Missouri and the restraining order was not extended, the remaining six states in the case quickly sought a preliminary injunction.

U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp granted the states’ request on Thursday, writing that the administration is barred from “mass canceling student loans, forgiving any principal or interest, not charging borrowers accrued interest, or further implementing any other actions under the (debt relief plans) or instructing federal contractors to take such actions.”

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey praised Schelp’s decision, saying in a Thursday post on X that it’s a “huge win for transparency, the rule of law, and for every American who won’t have to foot the bill for someone else’s Ivy League debt.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Department of Education said the agency is “extremely disappointed by this ruling on our proposed debt relief rules, which have not yet even been finalized,” per a statement.

“This lawsuit was brought by Republican elected officials who made clear they will stop at nothing to prevent millions of their own constituents from getting breathing room on their student loans,” the spokesperson said.

The department will “continue to vigorously defend these proposals in court” and “will not stop fighting to fix the broken student loan system and provide support and relief to borrowers across the country,” they added.

The Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group, also lambasted the Missouri decision.

“With this case, the Missouri Attorney General continues to put naked political interest and corporate greed ahead of student loan borrowers in Missouri and across the country,” Persis Yu, deputy executive director and managing counsel for the advocacy group, said in a Thursday statement.

“This is a shameful attack on tens of millions of student loan borrowers and our judicial system as a whole,” Yu said. “We will not stop fighting to expose these abuses and ensure borrowers get the relief they deserve.”

Education: Where do Harris and Trump stand?

Shauneen Miranda — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 09:40:11 +0000

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have widely divergent views on education. In this photo, students are shown in a classroom. (Photo by Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images)

This is one in a series of States Newsroom reports on the major policy issues in the presidential race.

As former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris sprint to the November finish line, one sprawling policy area has largely fallen out of the spotlight — education.

Though the respective GOP and Democratic presidential candidates have spent comparatively more time campaigning on issues such as immigration, foreign policy and the economy, their ideas surrounding K-12 and higher education vastly differ.

Trump’s education platform vows to “save American education,” with a focus on parental rights, universal school choice and a fight for “patriotic education” in schools.

“By increasing access to school choice, empowering parents to have a voice in their child’s education, and supporting good teachers, President Trump will improve academic excellence for all students,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national press secretary, said in a statement to States Newsroom.

Trump “believes students should be taught reading, writing, and math in the classroom — not gender, sex and race like the Biden Administration is pushing on our public school system,” Leavitt added.

Meanwhile, the Harris campaign has largely focused on the education investments brought by the Biden-Harris administration and building on those efforts if she is elected.

“Over the past four years, the Administration has made unprecedented investments in education, including the single-largest investment in K-12 education in history, which Vice President Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass,” Mia Ehrenberg, a campaign spokesperson, told States Newsroom.

Ehrenberg said that while Harris and her running mate, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, “will build on those investments and continue fighting until every student has the support and the resources they need to thrive, Republicans led by Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda want to cut billions from local K-12 schools and eliminate the Department of Education, undermining America’s students and schools.”

Harris has repeatedly knocked the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 — a sweeping conservative agenda that includes education policy proposals like eliminating Head Start, ending time-based and occupation-based student loan forgiveness and barring teachers from using a student’s preferred pronouns different from their “biological sex” without written permission from a parent or guardian.

Trump has fiercely disavowed Project 2025, although some former members of his administration crafted the blueprint.

Closing the U.S. Department of Education

Trump has called for shutting down the U.S. Department of Education and said he wants to “move education back to the states.” The department is not the main funding source for K-12 schools, as state and local governments allocate much of those dollars.

In contrast, Harris said at the Democratic National Convention in August that “we are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our public schools.”

Living wage for school staff; parental bill of rights

Trump’s education plan calls for creating a “new credentialing body to certify teachers who embrace patriotic values, and understand that their job is not to indoctrinate children, but to educate them.”

He also wants to implement funding boosts for schools that “abolish teacher tenure” for grades K-12 and adopt “merit pay,” establish the direct election of school principals by parents and “drastically cut” the number of school administrators.

In contrast, the Democratic Party’s 2024 platform calls for recruiting “more new teachers, paraprofessionals and school related personnel, and education support professionals, with the option for some to even start training in high school.”

The platform also aims to help “school-support staff to advance in their own careers with a living wage” and improve working conditions for teachers.

Trump also wants to give funding boosts to schools that adopt a “Parental Bill of Rights that includes complete curriculum transparency, and a form of universal school choice.”

He’s threatening to cut federal funding for schools that teach the primarily collegiate academic subject known as “critical race theory,” gender ideology or “other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.”

The Democrats’ platform opposes “the use of private-school vouchers, tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarships, and other schemes that divert taxpayer-funded resources away from public education,” adding that “public tax dollars should never be used to discriminate.”

Title IX?

Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris administration released a final rule for Title IX extending federal protections for LGBTQ+ students.

The updated regulations took effect Aug. 1, but a slew of GOP-led states challenged the measure. The legal battles have created a policy patchwork and weakened the administration’s vision for the final rule.

The updated regulations roll back Title IX changes made under the Trump administration and then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Trump vowed to terminate the updated regulations on his first day back in office if reelected.

Student debt and higher education?

Harris has repeatedly touted the administration’s record on student loan forgiveness, including nearly $170 billion in student debt relief for almost 5 million borrowers.

The administration’s most recent student loan repayment initiative came to a grinding halt in August after the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan.

Although little is mentioned about education in Harris’ extensive economic plan, the proposal makes clear that the veep will “continue working to end the unreasonable burden of student loan debt and fight to make higher education more affordable, so that college can be a ticket to the middle class.”

She also plans to cut four-year degree requirements for half a million federal jobs.

Trump — who dubbed the Biden-Harris administration’s student loan forgiveness efforts as “not even legal” — sought to repeal the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program during his administration.

His education platform also calls for endowing the “American Academy,” a free, online university.

Trump said he will endow the new institution through the “billions and billions of dollars that we will collect by taxing, fining, and suing excessively large private university endowments.”

Democrats flaunt Republican endorsements for Harris presidential bid

Shauneen Miranda — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 19:45:47 +0000

Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Aug. 22, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney will campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris Thursday in Ripon, Wisconsin — the birthplace of the Republican Party.

As Nov. 5 rapidly approaches, the Democratic presidential nominee continues to rack up support from prominent Republicans as she and former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, battle it out for the Oval Office in a tight contest.

Thursday’s campaign event also coincides with two dozen Wisconsin Republicans endorsing the veep in an open letter.

“We, the undersigned, are Republicans from across Wisconsin who bring the same message: Donald Trump does not align with Wisconsin values,” they wrote. The group included a sitting GOP district attorney for the Badger State’s Buffalo County as well as everyday Wisconsinites, former state lawmakers and elected officials.

“To ensure our democracy and our economy remain strong for another four years, we must elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the White House,” the letter said, adding that the choice for Republicans in November is “a choice between the Wisconsin values of freedom, democracy, and decency that Vice President Harris and Governor Walz represent, and Donald Trump’s complete lack of character, divisive rhetoric, and extremism.”

Wisconsin is a critical swing state that’s flipped between red and blue in recent elections — with Biden narrowly winning in 2020 after Trump secured a GOP victory in 2016.

Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, endorsed Harris last month, saying: “As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”

Cheney — a vocal Trump critic? — served as vice chair of the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee tasked with investigating the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

She lost her reelection bid for Wyoming’s lone House seat to Harriet Hageman in 2022 during the state’s GOP primary.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, father of Liz Cheney, also said he would vote for Harris. The prominent GOP figure served as veep during the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2009.

More GOP endorsements

Harris has received endorsements from over 230 Bush-McCain-Romney alums and more than 100 Republican national security officials, per the Harris campaign, a backing they describe as a “historic GOP mobilization for Harris.”

Part of the growing group of Republicans backing Harris includes Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump.

During an interview on MSNBC Wednesday night, Hutchinson said she’s “really proud, as a conservative, to have the opportunity to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in this election.”

Hutchinson also disclosed that she’ll be voting for Democrats in the House and Senate, saying she thinks it’s “so important that we get past this period of Donald Trump for America to begin healing.”

Trump in Michigan

Meanwhile, Trump is also heavily campaigning in swing states. He was set to hold a Thursday afternoon rally in Saginaw, Michigan.

The Democratic National Committee released multiple billboards in Michigan ahead of his rally, with a focus on Trump and his running mate, Ohio GOP Sen. J.D. Vance, continuing to deny the 2020 election results.

During Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vance circumvented a question on whether Trump lost the 2020 election, saying he, himself, is “focused on the future.”

Walz, who posed the question to Vance, called his response a “damning non-answer.”

A version of the DNC billboard is also set to debut in the coming days in Wisconsin and North Carolina to coincide with Trump’s upcoming rallies in those swing states.

Congress left D.C. with little done. They’ll be back Nov. 12 to give it another try.

Jennifer Shutt — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 18:22:28 +0000

Congress is in recess in the leadup to Election Day, but will return afterward for a lame-duck session. Pictured is the U.S. Capitol on March 14, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress left Capitol Hill last week to focus their attention on the campaign trail during the six weeks leading up to Election Day, leaving much of their work unfinished.

The Republican House and Democratic Senate are scheduled to remain on recess until Nov. 12, though the urgent needs created in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which are fully funded for the moment, could bring the chambers back into session before then.

When lawmakers do return to Washington, D.C., they’ll need to address the must-pass legislation they’ve left on autopilot instead of negotiating new bipartisan compromises.

So far this year, lawmakers have pushed off reaching brokering agreement on must-pass measures like the farm bill as well as this year’s batch of government funding bills and the annual defense policy legislation.

Kids’ online safety, radiation exposure

There are also a handful of measures that have passed one chamber with broad bipartisan support, but haven’t been taken up on the other side of the Capitol that leadership could decide to move forward during November or December.

For example, an interesting combination of senators, led by Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn, are advocating for House Republican leaders to hold votes on a pair of online safety bills designed to better protect children from the darker side of the internet.

The rail safety bill drafted by a bipartisan group of senators from Ohio and Pennsylvania after the train derailment in East Palestine remains unaddressed following more than a year of intransigence.

And legislation to reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, which passed the Senate on a broadly bipartisan vote earlier this year, sits on a shelf collecting dust in the House.

Cancer victims, Indigenous communities and many others have pressed House GOP leadership to hold a vote to reauthorize the program after it expired this summer, but they have avoided it due to cost.

Five-week lame duck

Lawmakers interviewed by States Newsroom and congressional leaders all indicated the outcome of the November elections will have significant sway on what Congress approves during the five-week lame-duck session that spans November and December.

All interviews took place before Hurricane Helene made landfall and Israel was directly attacked by Iran, both of which are likely to be at the top of congressional leaders’ to-do lists.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune said it’s “hard to say” what, if anything, Congress will approve during the lame-duck session.

“I think a lot will be shaped by what happens in November,” the South Dakota Republican said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said just a day before Hurricane Helene made landfall that Democrats would advocate for passing natural disaster response funding previously requested by the Biden administration.

“Extreme weather events are on the rise and they affect everyone — in blue states, purple states and red states,” Jeffries said. “This is not a partisan issue, it’s an American issue in terms of being there, in times of need for everyday Americans, who have had their lives and livelihood upended.”

Other House Democratic priorities during the lame duck include approving the dozen full-year government funding bills that were supposed to be completed before Oct. 1, the defense policy bill that had the same deadline and the farm bill, which is more than a year overdue.

Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley said he “sure hopes” the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act reauthorization bill reaches the president’s desk before the end of the year.

He didn’t rule out lobbying to attach it to a must-pass government funding bill, but said the real hurdle is House GOP leaders.

“It doesn’t need help in the Senate. It just needs the House,” Hawley said. “I’ve had good, productive conversations with Speaker (Mike) Johnson in the last few weeks, and I appreciate his personal engagement on this, and I hope that that will lead to action.”

Haley said the House allowing RECA to expire, preventing people who qualify for the program from receiving benefits, was “outrageous.”

Defense priorities, farm bill

Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said staff would work during October to bridge the differences between the two chambers on the annual defense policy bill, called the National Defense Authorization Act.

Those staff-level talks will lay the foundation for Republicans and Democrats to meet once they return to Capitol Hill following the elections.

“We have to be ready when we come back to go right to the ‘Big Four’ meeting,” he said, referring to the top leaders in both chambers. “That’s our objective.”

Reed said many of the differences between the House and the Senate aren’t typical Defense Department policy issues per se, but are “more political, cultural, social.”

Congress may begin to debate additional military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine this year, though said that’s more likely to happen next year, Reed said.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said she was making a “big push” for the House and Senate to reach agreement on the farm bill in the months ahead, though she cautioned talks don’t actually constitute a conference.

“I wouldn’t call it a conference; technically to have a conference, you have to have a bill passed by the House and a bill passed by the Senate, which will not happen,” Stabenow said.

“But I believe that there is a way,” Stabenow added. “I believe there’s a way to get a bipartisan bill.”

Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, the top Republican on the Agriculture panel, said lawmakers didn’t need the election results to “start working through our disagreements” on the farm bill, adding there’s some new momentum in talks.

“I think what’s changed is that there is a recognition among members, all members, how difficult it is right now as a farmer,” Boozman said. “So that’s really what’s changed in the last three or four months. It’s developing a real sense of urgency for these folks.”

Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said the election outcome could influence what lawmakers choose to accomplish during the lame-duck session.

“There’s any number of scenarios, whether it’s NDAA, whether it’s farm bill, whether it’s anything else,” she said. “But it comes down to Leader Schumer.” New York Democrat Chuck Schumer is the majority leader in the Senate.

Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said he expects Congress will broker some agreement on government funding legislation and the NDAA, but not necessarily anything else.

“In an odd way, the better the Dems do on Nov. 5, the more we’ll get done,” Kaine said. “Because I think if the House is going to flip back to Dem, I think the Rs will say, ‘Well, let’s get a whole lot of stuff done before the House goes down.’ So I think the better we do, the more we’ll get done in the lame duck.”

Kaine said if Democrats do well in the elections, they might not need to approve additional aid for Ukraine this Congress, since that funding can last into next year.

“If we don’t do well in the (elections), we might need to do it in the lame duck,” Kaine said. “So that’ll all depend.”

Special counsel Jack Smith reveals new evidence against Trump in 2020 election case

Ashley Murray — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 01:04:54 +0000

Special counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump at the Justice Department on Aug. 1, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed a lengthy and partly redacted motion Wednesday that charts special counsel Jack Smith’s final argument before November that former President Donald Trump acted in a private capacity when he co-conspired to overturn the 2020 election.

Much of the motion concerns Trump’s interactions with individuals in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as he sought to disrupt election results, Smith alleged.

The document, due on Chutkan’s desk late last month, is central to reanimating the case after months of delay as Trump argued for complete criminal immunity from the government’s fraud and obstruction charges related to his actions after the 2020 presidential contest, which Joe Biden won.

The U.S. Supreme Court returned Trump’s case to Chutkan after ruling that former presidents enjoy criminal immunity for core constitutional acts, presumed immunity for acts on the perimeter of official duties, and no immunity for personal ones. At that point it became clear that the case against the Republican presidential nominee would not be tried prior to Election Day.

Smith’s superseding indictment shortly thereafter retained all four felony counts against Trump, and Chutkan is tasked with parsing which allegations can stand in light of the Supreme Court decision.

In his unsealed 165-page motion, Smith outlines Trump’s alleged plots with private lawyers and political allies — names redacted — to ultimately deliver false slates of electors to Congress so that he appeared the winner over Biden in the seven states.

“Working with a team of private co-conspirators, the defendant acted as a candidate when he pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt, through fraud and deceit, the government function by which votes are collected and counted — a function in which the defendant, as President, had no official role,” Smith wrote.

Trump slammed the court filing on social media in numerous posts, writing in a mix of upper and lowercase letters that “Democrats are Weaponizing the Justice Department against me because they know I am WINNING, and they are desperate to prop up their failing Candidate, Kamala Harris.”

“The DOJ pushed out this latest ‘hit job’ today because JD Vance humiliated Tim Walz last night in the Debate. The DOJ has become nothing more than an extension of Joe’s, and now Kamala’s, Campaign. This is egregious PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT, and should not have been released right before the Election,” he continued in just one of his many reactions on his platform, Truth Social.

Trump’s running mate, Ohio GOP Sen. J.D. Vance, faced Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, in a vice presidential debate on Tuesday night.

Here are key arguments from Smith’s filing, which alleges efforts by Trump and allies to subvert voters’ will during the last presidential election:

Arizona

Smith detailed calls to and communications with various Arizona officials, including the governor and speaker of the Arizona state House, arguing the interactions were made in Trump’s “capacity as a candidate.”

“The defendant and his co-conspirators also demonstrated their deliberate disregard for the truth — and thus their knowledge of falsity — when they repeatedly changed the numbers in their baseless fraud allegations from day to day. At trial, the Government will introduce several instances of this pattern, in which the defendant and conspirators’ lies were proved by the fact that they made up figures from whole cloth. One example concerns the defendant and conspirators’ claims about non-citizen voters in Arizona. The conspirators started with the allegation that 36,000 non-citizens voted in Arizona; five days later, it was ‘beyond credulity that a few hundred thousand didn’t vote’: three weeks later, ‘the bare minimum [was] 40 or 50,000. The reality is about 250,000’; days after that, the assertion was 32,000; and ultimately the conspirators landed back where they started at 36,000 — a false figure that they never verified or corroborated.”

Georgia

Smith plans to introduce into evidence Trump’s communications, in his personal capacity, with Georgia’s attorney general, including a call on Dec. 8, 2020, and to the secretary of state.

Trump “had early notice that his claims of election fraud in Georgia were false. Around mid-November, Campaign advisor [redacted] told the defendant that his claim that a large number of dead people had voted in Georgia was false. The defendant continued to press the claim anyway, including in a press appearance on November 29, when he suggested that a large enough number of dead voters had cast ballots to change the outcome of the election in Georgia.”

“In the post-election period, [redacted] also took on the role of updating the defendant on a near-daily basis on the Campaign’s unsuccessful efforts to support any fraud claims…. He told the defendant that if the Campaign took these claims to court, they would get slaughtered, because the claims are all ‘bullshit.’ [Redacted] was privy in real time to the findings of the two expert consulting firms the Campaign retained to investigate fraud claims — [redacted] and [redacted] — and discussed with the defendant their debunkings on all major claims. For example, [redacted] told the defendant that Georgia’s audit disproved claims that [redacted] had altered votes.”

Michigan

The document details an Oval Office meeting Trump held with Michigan’s Senate majority leader and speaker of the House on Nov. 20, 2020, during which Trump tried to acquire evidence of voter fraud in Detroit.

“Despite failing to establish any valid fraud claims, [redacted] followed up with [redacted] and [redacted] and attempted to pressure them to use the Michigan legislature to overturn the valid election result.”

Michigan and Pennsylvania

The filing said that directly following the 2020 election, Trump and his “private operatives sought to create chaos, rather than seek clarity, at polling places where states were continuing to tabulate votes.”

“For example, on November 4, [redacted]—a Campaign employee, agent, and co-conspirator of the defendant—tried to sow confusion when the ongoing vote count at the TCF Center in Detroit, Michigan, looked unfavorable for the defendant.”

“When a colleague suggested that there was about to be unrest reminiscent of the Brooks Brothers Riot, a violent effort to stop the vote count in Florida after the 2000 presidential election, [redacted] responded ‘Make them riot’ and ‘Do it!!!’ The defendant’s Campaign operatives and supporters used similar tactics at other tabulation centers, including in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the defendant sometimes used the resulting confrontations to falsely claim that his election observers were being denied proper access, thus serving as a predicate to the defendant’s claim that fraud must have occurred in the observers’ absence.”

Michigan voting machines

Smith will argue that Trump, outside his official presidential duties, tried to persuade political allies in Michigan to sway the election in his favor.

Among the evidence he will introduce: The former president held a meeting, “private in nature,” with Michigan legislators at the White House.

Smith also wrote that “In mid-December, the defendant spoke with RNC Chairwoman [redacted] and asked her to publicize and promote a private report that had been related on December 13 that purported to identify flaws in the use of [redacted] machines in Antrim County, Michigan. [Redacted] refused, telling the defendant that she already had discussed this report with [redacted] Michigan’s Speaker of the House, who had told her that the report was inaccurate. [Redacted] conveyed to the defendant [redacted] exact assessment: the report was ‘f—— nuts.’”

Nevada

In Nevada, Trump allegedly ignored warnings about spreading lies about the state’s election results. Smith wrote: “Notwithstanding the RNC Chief Counsel’s warning, the defendant re-tweeted and amplified news of the lawsuit on November 24, calling it ‘Big News!’ that a Nevada Court had agreed to hear it. But the defendant did not similarly promote the fact that within two weeks, on December 4, the Nevada District Court dismissed Law v. Whitmer, finding in a detailed opinion that ‘there is no credible or reliable evidence that the 2020 General Election in Nevada was affected by fraud,’ including through the signature-match machines, and that Biden won the election in the state.”

Trump continued to repeat false claims in tweets and speeches “as a candidate, not as an office holder,” Smith wrote.

Pennsylvania?

In the Keystone State, officials warned Trump there was no smoke and no fire related to election fraud in the commonwealth, Smith wrote.

“Two days after the election, on November 6, the defendant called [redacted], the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party—the entity responsible for supporting Republican candidates in the commonwealth at the federal, state and local level. [Redacted] had a prior relationship with the defendant, including having represented him in litigation in Pennsylvania after the 2016 presidential election. The defendant asked [redacted] how, without fraud, he had gone from winning Pennsylvania on election day to trailing in the day afterward. Consistent with what Campaign staff already had told the defendant, [redacted] confirmed that it was not fraud; it was that there were roughly 1,750,000 mail-in ballots still being counted in Pennsylvania, which were expected to be eighty percent for Biden. Over the following two months, the defendant spread false claims of fraud in Pennsylvania anyway.”

“In early November, in a Campaign meeting, when the defendant suggested that more people in Pennsylvania voted than had checked in to vote, Deputy Campaign Manager [redacted] corrected him.”

Wisconsin

Smith wrote Trump ignored reality in Wisconsin as well.

“On November 29, a recount that the defendant’s campaign had petitioned and paid for confirmed that Biden had won in Wisconsin — and increased the defendant’s margin of defeat. On December 14, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected the Campaign’s election lawsuit there. As a result, on December 21, Wisconsin’s Governor signed a certificate of final determination confirming the prior certificate of ascertainment that established Biden’s electors as the valid electors for the state.”

Trump responded by rebuking the Wisconsin Supreme Court judge who had signed the majority opinion that rejected the lawsuit, forcing the state marshals responsible for the judge’s security to enhance protection due to a rise in “threatening communications.”

Fake electors?

Smith alleged that as Trump and co-conspirators faltered at overturning states’ official election results, they turned their attention to fake slates of electors.

As early as December 2020, Trump and his allies “developed a new plan regarding targeted states that the defendant had lost (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin): to organize the people who would have served as the defendant’s electors had he won the popular vote, and cause them to sign and send to Pence, as President of the Senate, certificates in which they falsely represent themselves as legitimate electors who had cast electoral votes for the defendant,” Smith wrote.

Trump and his allies lied to Vice President Mike Pence heading toward Jan. 6, “telling him that there was substantial election fraud and concealing their orchestration of the plan to manufacture fraudulent elector slates, as well as their intention to use the fake slates to attempt to obstruct the congressional certification.”

Trump’s alleged lies to Pence and the public “created a tinderbox that he purposely ignited on January 6.”

The filing details numerous people, including Trump, pressuring Pence for weeks to use his role overseeing Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote to overturn the election results.

On the morning of Jan. 6, Pence, once again, told Trump he would not go along with the plan.

“So on January 6, the defendant sent to the Capitol a crowd of angry supporters, whom the defendant had called to the city and inundated with false claims of outcome-determinative election fraud, to induce Pence not to certify the legitimate electoral vote and to obstruct the certification.”

“Although the attack on the Capitol successfully delayed the certification for approximately six hours, the House and Senate resumed the Joint Session at 11:35 p.m. But the conspirators were not done.”

The filing alleges a co-conspirator once again urged Pence to “violate the law” by delaying the certification for 10 days. He refused.

Pressure on Pence

Smith must prove that Trump’s pressure on Pence was outside of their official duties together, and therefore can not be considered immune from prosecution.

Smith plans to introduce evidence of private phone calls and conversations between Trump and his VP, including some with campaign staff, essentially tying their interactions to their interests as those seeking office again, “as running mates in the post-election period.” Smith also plans to highlight that Pence’s role in certifying the election was largely ceremonial and within the realm of the Senate, and strictly outside the bounds of the Oval Office.? Among Smith’s points made in his motion:

“Because the Vice President’s role is and has always been ministerial, rather than substantive or discretionary, it is difficult to imagine an occasion in which a President would have any valid reason to try to influence it. As such, criminalizing a President’s efforts to affect the Vice President’s role as the President of the Senate overseeing the certification of Electoral College results would not jeopardize an Executive Branch function or authority.”

No winner seen in Vance-Walz VP debate; Harris views Helene storm damage in Georgia

Ariana Figueroa — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 22:45:12 +0000

Vice President Kamala Harris headed to Augusta, Georgia, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 to view the damage from Hurricane Helene. In this photo, the streets are flooded near Peachtree Creek after the storm brought in heavy rains overnight on Sept. 27, 2024 in Atlanta. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — After the vice presidential debate, voters in one flash poll published Wednesday declared a draw in the meeting between Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Republican Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance.

Tuesday’s debate is the last scheduled in-person meeting between the presidential campaigns. Both Midwestern candidates were cordial and the debate was devoid of any major clashes. The two men even came to a general agreement on some policy issues, like providing families with support for child care and curbing the threat of gun violence.

Voters were split 50-50 on which candidate performed better, according to a flash poll by POLITICO/Focaldata of likely voters that was conducted after the CBS-sponsored event in New York City.

The mostly friendly exchange had some breakout moments, such as Walz pressing Vance on whether former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, which Vance didn’t answer.

“I’m pretty shocked by this,” Walz said during the debate. “He lost the election. This is not a debate.”

The next major televised interview with a presidential candidate will be Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, on the CBS news program “60 Minutes.”

“For over half a century, 60 Minutes has invited the Democratic and Republican tickets to appear on our broadcast as Americans head to the polls,” the show posted on social media. “This year, both the Harris and Trump campaigns agreed to sit down with 60 Minutes.”

However, after initially accepting, Trump “has decided not to participate,” the post continued.

The interview will air Monday night at 8 Eastern, but only with Harris.

“Our original invitation to former President Donald Trump to be interviewed on 60 Minutes stands,” according to the post.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote on social media that while there were initial discussions for an interview, “nothing was ever scheduled or locked in.”

He also took issue with live fact-checking.

Harris travels to Georgia

Harris on Wednesday headed to Augusta, Georgia, alongside Sen. Jon Ossoff, Democrat of Georgia, to survey the damage from Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm that hit Southeastern states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. At least 600 people are unaccounted for.

Harris gave an update late Wednesday about ongoing federal efforts in the recovery.

“I’ve been reading and hearing about the work you’ve been doing over the last few days, and I think it really does represent some of the best of what we each know can be done, especially when we coordinate around local, state, federal resources to meet the needs of people who must be seen, who must be heard,” she said during her visit to the Augusta Emergency Operations Center, according to White House pool reports.

Harris is also planning to make a trip to North Carolina in the coming days. The hurricane severely hit western North Carolina.

President Joe Biden was scheduled to visit North Carolina Wednesday and survey the damage in Asheville via a helicopter to avoid disturbing recovery efforts on the ground.

Trump on Monday visited a damaged furniture store in Valdosta, Georgia, where he delivered remarks.

“We’re here today to stand in complete solidarity with the people of Georgia, with all of those suffering in the terrible aftermath of Hurricane Helene,” Trump said.

Longshoremen’s strike

Harris issued a statement Wednesday in support of a strike of unionized dockworkers, part of the International Longshoremen’s Association, which has 85,000 members.

“This strike is about fairness,” she said. “Foreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown. The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits.”

They are striking for higher wages, more health care benefits and a ban on automation of port operations.

The Trump campaign also issued a statement, and said if Trump were president, the strike would have never happened.

“This is only happening because of the inflation brought on by Kamala Harris’ two votes for massive, out-of-control spending, and her decision to cut off energy exploration,” he said. “Americans who thrived under President Trump can’t even get by because of Kamala Harris – this strike is a direct result of her actions.”

Back to the battlegrounds

With less than five weeks to Nov. 5, new polling by the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter Swing State Project Survey shows that Harris is either narrowly leading or tied with Trump in nearly all seven battleground states, except for Georgia.

Harris has a lead within the margin of error in Arizona and Wisconsin, by 2 points; Michigan by 3 points; and in Nevada and Pennsylvania by 1 point. Trump is ahead in Georgia 49% to 47% and the candidates are tied at 49% in North Carolina.

Trump will deliver remarks at a campaign rally in Saginaw, Michigan, on Thursday afternoon.

Harris on Thursday will travel to Wisconsin for a campaign event in Fox Valley before heading to Detroit, Michigan.

On Friday, Vance will head to Lindale, Georgia, to give a speech and Trump will travel to Fayetteville, North Carolina, for a town hall.

Harris will be in Detroit for various campaign events Friday before returning to Washington, D.C.

Trump describes traumatic brain injuries sustained by U.S. troops in Iraq as a ‘headache’

Ashley Murray — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 20:16:44 +0000

Members of the U.S. military and international media survey the damage of Iranian missile attacks at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, on Jan. 13, 2020. Alaska Air National Guardsmen of the 211th Rescue Squadron evacuated many squadron members during the Jan. 7 and 8 attack. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Defense)

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that U.S. troops who suffered traumatic brain injuries after Iranian rocket fire in Iraq in 2020 only experienced a “headache,” dismissing the experiences of dozens of American soldiers who were later awarded the Purple Heart.

Trump’s comments came after a reporter in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, asked whether he should “have been tougher on Iran” after that nation launched ballistic missiles on Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq in January 2020, during Trump’s presidency. A couple thousand U.S. troops remain on an anti-ISIS mission at the Iraqi air base, one of the largest during the U.S. invasion.

“First of all, injured, what does injured mean? Injured means, you mean, because they had a headache because the bombs never hit the fort?” Trump responded.

“If you were a truthful reporter, which you’re not, you would tell the following: None of those very accurate missiles hit our fort. They all hit outside, and there was nobody hurt, other than the sound was loud, and some people said that hurt, and I accept that,” Trump continued.

Trump added that Iran did “a very nice thing” by missing the military base. Photographs taken after the attack show extensive damage on the base.

U.S. troops at the base, that housed roughly 2,000 soldiers at the time, were given notice to shelter in bunkers. The missiles carried warheads weighing well over 1,000 pounds, leaving impact craters that spanned several feet wide, according to CBS News’ “60 Minutes” and The Washington Post.

While no troops were killed in the attack, hundreds were exposed to blast waves, and many were evacuated to Germany for medical care. Weeks later, more than 100 troops were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries. Dozens were eventually awarded the Purple Heart, including one retired major interviewed by States Newsroom in May.

Soldiers described lasting effects from those injuries as including chronic migraines, vertigo, short-term memory issues and vision impairment.

Trump’s comments Tuesday came as he took questions from the press after delivering wide-ranging remarks at a campaign event at the Discovery World Science Museum on the city’s lakefront.

The reporter did not identify herself before asking her question. Trump’s remarks were recorded in full by the local Fox affiliate and live streamed by the Trump-focused YouTube channel “Right Side Broadcasting Network.”

Details of attack

This is not the first time Trump has downplayed the soldiers’ experiences and injuries stemming from that specific attack.

Iran fired 16 ballistic missiles at the air base and another Iraqi military site between Jan. 7 and 8, 2020. Roughly a dozen landed, according to reports. The attack was in retaliation for a U.S. strike days earlier in Baghdad that killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.

The 2020 attack on the base has been well documented. Images taken by photographers with National Public Radio and The Washington Post showed damaged buildings on the base. The New York Times and The Associated Press compiled video footage and compared satellite images before and after the attack.

CBS News’ “60 Minutes” aired drone footage of the attack and first-hand accounts from troops who described the experience in a nearly 14-minute news package for the television magazine program.

The National Institutes of Health collected medical data from nearly 40 soldiers for months after the attack and found persistent symptoms following concussions.

Military installations that still house U.S. troops in Iraq have been the target of Iranian attacks following the outbreak of violence on Oct. 7 when the Hamas militant group, one of Iran’s allies, launched a deadly surprise incursion into southern Israel, sparking a year-long war that has also drawn in Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants, according to the Pentagon.

Delayed farm bill punted until after election with Congress stuck on how to pay for it

Allison Winter — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 17:23:54 +0000

A farmer stores grain near Eldridge, Iowa, on Sept. 28, 2024. (Photo by Kathie Obradovich/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

WASHINGTON — Sweeping legislation that would set food and farm policy for the next five years is in limbo, waiting for lawmakers to decide its fate after the election.

The latest deadline for the farm bill passed unceremoniously at midnight on Sept. 30, without a push from lawmakers to pass a new farm bill or an extension.

Congress will have to scramble in the lame-duck session set to begin Nov. 12 to come up with some agreement on the farm bill before benefits run out at the end of the year — which if allowed to happen eventually would have major consequences.

The law began 90 years ago with various payments to support farmers but now has an impact far beyond the farm, with programs to create wildlife habitat, address climate change and provide the nation’s largest federal nutrition program.

Ag coalition in disarray

The omnibus farm bill is more than a year behind schedule, as the bipartisan congressional coalition that has advanced farm bills for the last half century has been teetering on the edge of collapse.

Congress must approve a new federal farm bill every five years. The previous farm bill from 2018 expired a year ago. With no agreement in sight at the time, lawmakers extended the law to Sept. 30, 2024.

The delay creates further uncertainty for farmers, who are facing declining prices for many crops and rising costs for fertilizer and other inputs.

Lawmakers have some buffer before Americans feel the consequences of the expiration.

Most of the key programs have funding through the end of the calendar year, but once a new crop year comes into place in January, they would revert to “permanent law,” sending crop supports back to policy from the 1938 and 1949 farm bills.

Those policies are inconsistent with modern farming practices and international trade agreements and could cost the federal government billions, according to a recent analysis from the non-partisan Congressional Research Service.

‘Groundhog Day’ cited by Vilsack

The stalemate between Democrats and Republicans over the farm bill has centered on how to pay for it and whether to place limits on nutrition and climate programs.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters in a press call on Saturday that the process “feels like Groundhog Day” — because he keeps having the same conversations about it. Vilsack said Republicans “just don’t have the votes” on the floor for legislation passed in the House Agriculture Committee, which is why it has sat dormant in the House for four months.

“If they want to pass the farm bill they’ve got to get practical, and they either have to lower their expectations or raise resources. And if they’re going to raise resources, they have to do it in a way where they don’t lose votes, where they actually gain votes,” Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, said.

The Republican-led committee approved its farm bill proposal largely on party lines at the end of May, amidst complaints from Democrats that the process had not been as bipartisan as in years past.

Partisan division is not uncommon in today’s Congress but is notable on the farm bill, which historically brought together lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. Bipartisan support can be necessary for final passage because the size of the $1.5 trillion farm bill means it inevitably loses some votes from fiscal conservatives and others.

Shutdown threat??

Lawmakers are on borrowed time with both the farm bill and the appropriations bills that fund the federal government.

The House and Senate both approved stopgap spending bills at the end of September to avoid a partial government shutdown. The short-term funding bill, sometimes referred to as a continuing resolution, or CR, will keep the federal government running through Dec. 20.

Some agriculture leaders had asked for the continuing resolution to not extend the farm bill, to help push the deadline for them to work on it when they return.

The day after they approved the CR and left the Capitol, 140 Republican House members sent a letter to congressional leadership asking to make the farm bill a priority in the waning weeks of 2024.

“Farmers and ranchers do not have the luxury of waiting until next Congress for the enactment of an effective farm bill,” the letter states, noting rising production costs and falling commodity prices that have put farmers in a tight spot.

House Democrats also say they want to pass a new farm bill this year.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, listed the farm bill as one of his top three priorities for the lame duck. Also on his list were appropriations and the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy for the Pentagon.

“It will be important to see if we can find a path forward and reauthorize the farm bill in order to make sure that we can meet the needs of farmers, meet the needs from a nutritional standpoint of everyday Americans and also continue the progress we have been able to make in terms of combating climate crisis,” Jeffries said in remarks to reporters Sept. 25.

Nearly 300 members of the National Farmers Union visited lawmakers in September to ask for passage of a new five-year farm bill before the end of 2024.

“Family farmers and ranchers can’t wait – they need the certainty of a new farm bill this year,” National Farmers Union President Rob Larew said in a statement after the meetings. “With net farm income projected at historic lows, growing concentration in the agriculture sector, high input costs and interest rates, and more frequent and devastating natural disasters, Congress can’t miss this opportunity to pass a five-year farm bill.”

Disagreements over SNAP formula

The key dispute for Democrats this year is a funding calculation that would place limits on the “Thrifty Food Plan” formula that calculates benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP.

It would keep SNAP payments at current levels but place a permanent freeze on the ability of future presidents to raise levels of food support. Democrats have characterized it as a sneaky cut to vital support for hungry Americans that makes the bill dead on arrival.

Republicans are using the limits as part of a funding calculation to offset other spending in the bill. The bill would raise price supports for some crops like cotton, peanuts and rice.

“They have to do one of two things,” Vilsack said of lawmakers. “They either have to recognize that they can’t afford all the things that they would like to be able to afford, if they want to stay within the resources that are in fact available … Or another alternative would be to find more money.”

Vilsack recommended finding other sources of funding outside the farm bill, like changes to the tax code.

“You close a loophole here or there in terms of the taxes or whatever, and you generate more revenue, and you have that revenue directly offset the increase in the farm bill. … That’s the correct way to do it. And that’s, frankly, the way Senator Stabenow is approaching the farm bill,” Vilsack said, referring to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

The Senate Agriculture Committee has had no public markup or formal introduction of a bill. But leaders say committee staff have been meeting weekly to discuss a path forward. Stabenow has not publicly disclosed the offsets for the money she says is available to be moved into the bill.

Top moments from the Walz-Vance veep debate

Jennifer Shutt — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 11:41:25 +0000

The Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, participate in a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on Oct. 1, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The vice presidential candidates outlined vastly different visions for the country and traded barbs about their qualifications Tuesday during their first and only debate before Election Day.

Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance, who’s on the ticket with former President Donald Trump, and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris, stuck to their rehearsed, scripted remarks to answer many questions, though they deviated from the talking points more than once.

Here are 10 telling moments from the vice presidential debate, moderated by “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan at CBS studios in New York City:

Vance on his past negative comments about Trump: “When you screw up, when you misspeak, when you get something wrong and you change your mind, you ought to be honest with the American people about it. It’s one of the reasons, Margaret, why I’ve done so many interviews, is because I think it’s important to actually explain to the American people, where I come down on the issues and what changed.“

“I’ve been extremely consistent that I think there were a lot of things that we could have done better in the Trump administration in the first round, if Congress was doing its job.”

Walz on bipartisan immigration bill and threats against Haitian immigrants: “We could come together and solve this if we didn’t let Donald Trump continue to make it an issue. And the consequences in Springfield (Ohio) were the governor had to send state law enforcement to escort kindergartners to school.”

Vance on the legislative branch: “Congress is not just a high-class debating society. It’s not just a forum for senators and congressmen to whine about problems. It’s a forum to govern. So there were a lot of things on the border, on tariffs, for example, where I think that we could have done so much more if the Republican Congress and the Democrats in Congress had been a little bit better about how they govern the country.”

Walz on access to fertility treatments: “Infertility treatments are why I have a child. That’s nobody else’s business.”

Vance on reproductive rights: “I want us as a Republican Party, to be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word. I want us to support fertility treatments. I want us to make it easier for moms to afford to have babies. I want to make it easier for young families to afford a home, so they can afford a place to raise that family. And I think there’s so much that we can do on the public policy front just to give women more options.”

Walz on trade and tariffs: “Look, I’m a union guy on this. I’m not a guy who wanted to ship things overseas. But I understand that, look, we produce soybeans and corn; we need to have fair trading partners. That’s something that we believe in. I think the thing that most concerns me on this is Donald Trump was the guy who created the largest trade deficit in American history with China.”

Vance on debating national health care policy: “You’re not going to propose a 900-page bill standing on a debate stage. It would bore everybody to tears, and it wouldn’t actually mean anything, because part of this is the give-and-take of bipartisan negotiation.”

Walz on previously saying he was in China during the Tiananmen Square massacre: “I’m a knucklehead at times.”

Vance on housing shortages: “What Donald Trump has said is we have a lot of federal lands that aren’t being used for anything, they’re not being used for a national park … and they could be places where we build a lot of housing. And I do think that we should be opening up building in this country.”

Walz on the peaceful transition of power following the election: “So America, I think you’ve got a really clear choice on this election of who’s going to honor that democracy and who’s going to honor Donald Trump.”

Tim Walz and J.D. Vance tangle in wonky, largely cordial vice presidential debate

Ashley Murray — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 11:35:20 +0000

The Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and the Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, speak after their debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on Oct. 1, 2024 in New York City. This is expected to be the only vice presidential debate of the 2024 general election. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Republican Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance squared off Tuesday night in a vice presidential debate that marked the last scheduled in-person meeting for the campaigns as Americans decide the country’s next chapter.

Meeting for the first time, Walz and Vance engaged in a policy-heavy, nearly two-hour back-and-forth hosted by CBS News at its studios in New York City. The debate was moderated by Norah O’Donnell, host of the “CBS Evening News,” and Margaret Brennan, who anchors the network’s Sunday political show “Face the Nation.”

The vice presidential candidates emphasized their modest upbringings and laid out their visions to lower high living costs, address charged issues like reproductive rights, immigration and gun violence, and navigate a quickly worsening conflict in the Middle East.

And, with the presidential contest marking the first since the violent aftermath of the 2020 election, and Trump’s continued false claims that he won, the moderators pressed the men on whether voters would see a peaceful transfer of power, no matter the winner. Vance would not provide a direct answer whether he would have certified the 2020 vote.

Walz is a second-term governor who previously served six terms in the U.S. House. Prior to his election, Walz worked as a public school teacher and football coach while also enlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard for 24 years.

Vance served in the U.S. Marines for four years before earning his Yale law degree and becoming a venture capitalist and bestselling memoirist. He was first elected to public office in late 2022 to serve as Ohio’s junior U.S. senator.

The mostly amicable debate, with some moments of tension, was a noticeable departure from the bitter polarization on display daily during the presidential campaign. Walz and Vance shook hands and lingered onstage afterward chatting and introducing each other to their wives.

The presidential nominees, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, met on the debate stage last month in a more acrimonious exchange during which the former president falsely claimed immigrants were eating pets in Ohio and Harris ripped into him for his remarks on race and abortion.

Trump has refused to debate again. Following the Vance-Walz exchange, the Harris campaign renewed its offer for another presidential meetup offered by CNN in Atlanta later this month.

Growing Middle East conflict

Answering the first question from the moderators Tuesday night, Walz and Vance sparred over which administration, if elected, would best quell signs of a widening war in the Middle East.

Tensions in the region escalated earlier Tuesday when Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, according to the Pentagon.

Walz accused Trump of being “fickle” on foreign policy and said the world is worse off since Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal. Walz argued for “steady leadership.”

“You saw it experienced today where, along with our Israeli partners and our coalition, (we were) able to stop the incoming attack,” Walz said.

“It’s clear, and the world saw it on that debate stage a few weeks ago, a nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes is not what we need in this moment,” the governor continued.

Vance maintained that Trump headed off heated global conflict by invoking fear.

“We have to remember that as much as Governor Waltz just accused Donald Trump of being an agent of chaos, Donald Trump actually delivered stability in the world, and he did it by establishing effective deterrence,” Vance said. “People were afraid of stepping out of line.”

The barrage in the Middle East followed Israel’s ground incursion into Southern Lebanon and its recent assassination in Beirut of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian proxy militant group Hezbollah.

While Israel intercepted the majority of the rockets Tuesday, U.S. Navy destroyers in the Middle East fired roughly a dozen interceptors at incoming Iranian missiles, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said.

The Biden administration promised “severe consequences,” though it has not provided details. Harris said late Tuesday that Iran poses a “destabilizing, dangerous force in the Middle East” and her commitment to Israel is “unwavering.”

Despite a visit to Washington less than a week ago from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the CBS moderators did not ask about the ongoing war in Ukraine, and neither candidate brought up the costly and ongoing fight against Russia’s continued invasion.

2020 election

Vance and Walz sparred over how Trump handled his loss in the 2020 presidential election and his actions leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol following a rally that Trump hosted.

Walz said while he and Vance found some areas of common ground at other points during the debate, the two were “miles apart” on Trump’s actions following the 2020 election.

“This was a threat to our democracy in a way that we had not seen, and it manifested itself because of Donald Trump’s inability to say – he is still saying he didn’t lose the election,” Walz said.

Vance didn’t directly answer whether he would have certified the electoral count for President Joe Biden had he been a member of Congress at the time, to Walz’s dismay.

“I’m pretty shocked by this,” Walz said. “He lost the election. This is not a debate.”

Walz said he was concerned that Vance wouldn’t follow the example set by former Vice President Mike Pence, who refused to go along with a scheme to recognize fake slates of electors and deny Biden the presidency.

Vance tried to pivot to Harris’ actions following the COVID-19 pandemic and whether she “censored Americans from speaking their mind” before saying that both he and Trump “think that there were problems in 2020.”

There was no evidence of widespread voter fraud during the last presidential election, during which Trump lost both the popular vote and the Electoral College.

Walz also criticized Trump and Vance for using the same narrative ahead of this November’s elections, saying they were “already laying the groundwork for people not accepting” the results should Trump lose.

Taxes and tariffs

Both Harris and Trump have released economic plans that would add trillions to the national deficit — though analysis after analysis shows Trump’s proposals outpacing Harris’ by at least a few trillion.

Harris and Walz are running on an “opportunity economy” theme that would permanently expand the Child Tax Credit, including giving $6,000 to new parents, and provide tax credits and deductions to first-time homebuyers and entrepreneurs.

Harris, following Biden’s earlier budget proposal, has said she would impose a minimum tax on high-wealth individuals, but vowed steeper levies on long-term capital gains.

Trump has promised to fund the Treasury’s coffers with money raised by taxing imported goods. Largely he wants to extend his signature 2017 tax law and permanently lower the corporate tax rate.

When asked by the moderators how the candidates could accomplish those goals without ballooning the national debt, both Vance and Walz sidestepped directly answering the question. Rather they touted Trump and Biden administration policies and then went on the attack.

“Donald Trump made a promise, and I’ll give you this: He kept it. He took folks to Mar-a-Lago (and) said, ‘You’re rich as hell. I’m gonna give you a tax cut,’” Walz said, adding that Trump’s tariff plan would be “destabilizing” for the economy.

Economists warn that Trump’s plan to slap tariffs on imports across the board —? as high as 60% on Chinese imports and 100% to 200% on cars and John Deere tractors manufactured in Mexico — could cause consumer prices to increase and invite retaliation.

But Vance said he wanted to “defend my running mate” on the issue.

“We’re going to be taking in a lot of money by penalizing companies for shipping jobs overseas and penalizing countries who employ slave laborers and then ship their products back into our country and undercut the wages of American workers. It’s the heart of the Donald Trump economic plan,” the senator said.

High costs and housing

Both candidates spent significant time addressing housing and child care costs.

Walz touted Harris’ “bold forward plan” that calls for construction of 3 million new homes and “down payment assistance on the front end to get you in a house.”

“A house is much more than just an asset to be traded somewhere. It’s foundational to where you’re at,” Walz said.

Vance said some of Walz’s ideas on housing were “halfway decent.”

One of the central pillars of Trump and Vance’s housing plans is to turn over federal lands to private hands for development.

“We have a lot of federal lands that aren’t being used for anything. They’re not being used for national parks. They’re not being used, and they could be places where we build a lot of housing,” Vance said.

On child care, Walz pledged a paid federal family and medical leave mandate as a priority for the Harris campaign, and advocated a parallel workforce development program for the care professions.

“We have to make it easier for folks to be able to get into that business, and then to make sure that folks are able to pay for that,” Walz said.

The dual goals, he said, “will enhance our workforce, enhance our families, and make it easier to have the children that you want.”

Vance said he sees an opportunity for a “bipartisan solution” to the high cost of child care, though he stopped short of agreeing with a federal paid leave law.

Instead he proposed expanding the potential recipients for federal child care grants.

“These programs only go to one kind of child care model. Let’s say you’d like your church maybe to help you out with child care. Maybe you live in a rural area or an urban area, and you’d like to get together with families in your neighborhood to provide child care and the way that makes the most sense. You don’t get access to any of these federal monies,” Vance said.

Immigration, again

Vance also repeatedly connected the housing shortage and high costs to immigration — the central issue for Trump’s campaign and a common answer from him for several of the nation’s woes.

The Ohio senator said housing is “totally unaffordable because we brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce homes.”

“The people that I’m most worried about in Springfield, Ohio, are the American citizens who have had their lives destroyed by Kamala Harris’ open border,” Vance said, referring to the town where he and Trump falsely claimed over and over that Haitian migrants were stealing and eating pets.

Debate moderator Brennan pressed Vance on his claim: “Senator on that point, I’d like for you to clarify. There are many contributing factors to high housing costs. What evidence do you have that migrants are part of this problem?”

Vance said he would share on social media following the debate a Federal Reserve study that supported his claim.

Reproductive rights?

Access to abortion and fertility treatments was one of the more contentious areas of disagreement, though neither candidate trod new ground for their party.

Vance maintained the Trump stance that abortion laws should be set by voters or state lawmakers, while Walz said women and their doctors are best suited to make those decisions.

Vance told a story about a woman he grew up with having an abortion, then telling him a few years ago that “she felt like if she hadn’t had that abortion, that it would have destroyed her life because she was in an abusive relationship.”

“And I think that what I take from that, as a Republican who proudly wants to protect innocent life in this country, who proudly wants to protect the vulnerable, is that my party, we’ve got to do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue, where they frankly, just don’t trust us,” Vance said. “And I think that’s one of the things that Donald Trump, and I are endeavoring to do.”

Walz rejected Vance’s position that state lawmakers should determine women’s access to the full slate of reproductive decisions, including fertility treatments.

Walz referenced some of the stories women have told in the last two years about being denied medical care for miscarriages or other dangerous pregnancy complications because of vaguely written state laws that banned or significantly restricted access to abortion.

“This is a very simple proposition: These are women’s decisions to make about their health care,” Walz said, later adding that people should “just mind their own business on this.”

Gun violence

The two vice presidential candidates had one of the more genuine exchanges of the debate after the moderators asked them about solutions for gun violence.

Vance conceded that he and Walz both want to reduce the number of people killed by guns every year, but said the solution should center around addressing illegal guns, including those used in drug trafficking, and through changing how schools are designed.

“Unfortunately, I think that we have to increase security in our schools. We have to make the doors lock better. We have to make the door stronger. We’ve got to make the windows stronger,” Vance said. “And of course, we’ve got to increase school resource officers, because the idea that we can magically wave a wand and take guns out of the hands of bad guys, it just doesn’t fit with recent experience.”

Walz said school shootings are every parent’s “worst nightmare” before telling a story about how his son witnessed a shooting at a community center while playing volleyball.

“Those things don’t leave you,” Walz said, before talking about meeting with parents of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, when he was a member of Congress.

“We understand that the Second Amendment is there, but our first responsibility is to our kids to figure this out,” Walz said. “In Minnesota, we’ve enacted enhanced red flag laws, enhanced background checks.”

Walz said he absolutely believes Vance hates it when children die from gun violence, but added that’s “not far enough when we know they’re things that work.”

“No one’s trying to scaremonger and say, ‘We’re taking your guns,” Walz said. “But I ask all of you out there, ‘Do you want your schools hardened to look like a fort?’ … when we know there’s countries around the world that their children aren’t practicing these types of drills.”

Vance expressed sympathy that Walz’s son had witnessed a shooting and thanked him for bringing up Finland as an example of a country with a high rate of gun ownership that doesn’t have school shootings.

“I do think it illustrates some of the, frankly, weird differences between our own country’s gun violence problem and Finland,” Vance said, before mentioning higher rates of substance abuse and mental health issues within the United States.

“I don’t think it’s the whole reason why we have such a bad gun violence problem, but I do think it’s a big piece of it,” Vance said.

Hurricane Helene response, climate change?

The two candidates expressed dismay about the destruction stemming from Hurricane Helene in states in the Southeast, but disagreed about how best to address climate change.

Vance said “a lot of people are justifiably worried about all these crazy weather patterns,” before criticizing how Democrats have drafted climate change laws.

“This idea that carbon emissions drive all the climate change; well let’s just say that’s true, just for the sake of arguments,” Vance said. “Well, if you believe that, what would you want to do? The answer is that you’d want to restore as much American manufacturing as possible, and you’d want to produce as much energy as possible in the United States of America, because we’re the cleanest economy in the entire world.”

Walz said that Biden and Harris have worked with Congress to enact legislation addressing climate change that also created jobs.

“We are producing more natural gas and more oil at any time than we ever have. We’re also producing more clean energy,” Walz said. “Reducing our impact is absolutely critical, but this is not a false choice. You can do that at the same time you’re creating the jobs that we’re seeing all across the country.”

Walz also said that farmers in Minnesota know climate change is real because some years they experience significant drought and other years they’re inundated with too much rain for their crops to handle.

“They’ve seen 500-year droughts, 500-year floods back-to-back,” Walz said. “But what they’re doing is adapting, and this has allowed them to tell me, ‘Look, I harvest corn, I harvest soybeans, and I harvest wind.’”

Housing: Where do Trump and Harris stand?

Ariana Figueroa — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 09:40:33 +0000

Both presidential candidates have said they have general plans to tackle the housing crisis. (Photo by Getty Images)

This is one in a series of States Newsroom reports on the major policy issues in the presidential race.

WASHINGTON — As the cost and supply of housing remain top issues for voters, both presidential candidates have put forth plans to tackle the crisis, in hopes of courting voters ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

The coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020 exacerbated problems in the housing market, with supply chain disruptions, record-low interest rates and? increased demand contributing to a rise in housing prices, according to a study by the Journal of Housing Economics.?

While housing is typically handled on the local level, the housing supply is tight and rents continue to skyrocket, putting increased pressure on the federal government to help. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump agree that it’s an issue that needs to be solved, but their solutions diverge.

The Harris and Trump campaigns did not respond to States Newsroom’s requests for details on the general housing proposals the nominees have discussed.

Promise: millions of new homes

Harris’ plan calls for the construction of 3 million homes in four years.

The United States has a shortage of about 3.8 million homes for sale and rent, according to 2021 estimates from Freddie Mac that are still relied upon.

Additionally, homelessness has hit a record-high of 653,100 people since January of last year, and a “record-high 22.4 million renter households spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities,” up from 2 million households since 2019, according to a study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

“This is obviously a multi-prong approach, because the factors contributing to high rents and housing affordability are many, and my plan is to attempt to address many of them at once, so we can actually have the net effect of bringing down the cost and making homeownership, renting more affordable,” Harris said during a September interview with Wisconsin Public Radio.?

Promise: single-family zoning

Trump has long opposed building multi-family housing and has instead thrown his support behind single-family zoning, which would exclude other types of housing. Such land-use regulation is conducted by local government bodies, not the federal government, though the federal government could influence it.

“There will be no low-income housing developments built in areas that are right next to your house,” Trump said during an August rally in Montana. “I’m gonna keep criminals out of your neighborhood.”

Promise: getting Congress to agree

Election forecasters have predicted that Democrats will regain control of the U.S. House, but Republicans are poised to win the Senate, meaning any housing proposals will have to be overwhelmingly bipartisan.

“How much money is going to really be available without substantial increases in revenue to be able to do all these things that both Trump and Harris are proposing?” Ted Tozer, a non-resident fellow at the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center, said in an interview with States Newsroom. “All the money comes from Congress.”

Many of Harris’ policies rely on cooperation from Congress, as historically the federal government has limited tools to address housing shortages.

“On the Democratic side, there’s a hunger for more action, for more direct government intervention in the housing market than we’ve seen in a long time,” said Francis Torres, the associate director of housing and infrastructure at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Nearly all proposals that Harris has put forth would require Congress to pass legislation and appropriate funds. The first is S.2224, introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, which would amend U.S. tax code to bar private equity firms from buying homes in bulk by denying “interest and depreciation deductions for taxpayers owning 50 or more single family properties,” according to the bill.

The second bill, S. 3692, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, would bar using algorithms to artificially inflate the cost of rents.

Both bills would need to reach the 60-vote threshold in order to advance in the Senate, whichever party is in control.

Promise: $25,000 down payment assistance

Harris has pledged to support first-time homebuyers, but Congress would need to appropriate funds for the $25,000 down payment assistance program she has proposed that would benefit an estimated 4 million first-time homebuyers over four years.

It’s a proposal that’s been met with skepticism.

“I’m really concerned that down payment assistance will actually put more pressure on home prices, because basically, you’re giving people additional cash to pay more for the house that they’re going to bid on,” Tozer said. “So by definition, they get in a bidding war, they’re going to spend more.”

Harris has also proposed a $40 billion innovation fund for local governments to build and create solutions for housing, which would also need congressional approval.

Promise: opening up federal lands

Both candidates support opening some federal lands for housing, which would mean selling the land for construction purposes with the commitment for a certain percentage of the units to be kept for affordable housing.

The federal government owns about 650 million acres of land, or roughly 30% of all land.

Neither candidate has gone into detail on this proposal.

“I think it’s a sign that at least the Harris campaign and the people in her orbit are thinking about addressing this housing affordability problem really through stronger government action than has happened in several decades,” Torres said.

Promise: expand tax credits

The biggest tool the federal government has used to address housing is through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, known as LIHTC. Harris has promised to expand this tax credit, but has not gone into detail about how much she wants it expanded.

This program awards tax credits to offset construction costs in exchange for a certain number of rent-restricted units for low-income households. But the restriction is temporary, lasting about 30 years.?

There is no similar program for housing meant to be owned.

“It’s an interesting moment, because then on the other side, on the Trump side, even though they diagnosed a lot of the similar problems, there’s not as much of a desire to leverage the strength of the federal government to ensure affordability,” Torres said.

Trump’s record on housing

The Trump campaign does not have a housing proposal, but various interviews, rallies and a review of Trump’s first four years in office provide a roadmap.

During Trump’s first administration, many of his HUD budget proposals were not approved by Congress.

In all four of his presidential budget requests, he laid out proposals that would increase rent by 40% for about 4 million low-income households using rental vouchers or for those who lived in public housing, according to an analysis by the left-leaning think tank the Brookings Institution.?

All four of Trump’s budgets also called for the elimination of housing programs such as the Community Development Block Grant, which directs funding to local and state governments to rehabilitate and build affordable housing. Trump’s budgets also would have slashed the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, which is a home energy assistance program for low-income families.

Additionally, Trump’s Opportunity Zones authorized through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which are tax incentives to businesses and real estate to invest in low-income communities, have had mixed results.

Promise: cut regulations and add tariffs

In an interview with Bloomberg, Trump said he wanted to focus on reducing regulations in the permitting process.

“Your permits, your permitting process. Your zoning, if — and I went through years of zoning. Zoning is like… it’s a killer,” he said. “But we’ll be doing that, and we’ll be bringing the price of housing down.”

During campaign rallies, Trump has often said he would impose a 10% tariff across the board on all goods entering the U.S. He’s also proposed 60% tariffs on China.

Trump said at a rally in Georgia that tariff is “one of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard.”

Tozer said adding trade policies, such as tariffs on construction materials like lumber, would drive up the cost of homes.

Promise: deport immigrants

Trump has argued that his plan for mass deportations will help free up the supply of housing. Karoline Leavitt, the Trump national press secretary, told the New York Times that deporting immigrants would lower the cost of housing because migration “is driving up housing costs.”

The former president has made a core campaign promise to deport millions of immigrants.

Tozer said housing and immigration are tied, because the ability to build houses comes down to workers, and roughly 30% of construction workers are immigrants.?

“By shutting down the border, you’re possibly shutting down your capacity to build these houses,” he said, adding that all those policies are intertwined.

Energy and climate: Where do Harris and Trump stand?

Jacob Fischler — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 09:40:39 +0000

Rivian Electric Delivery Vehicles (EDV) are seen connected to electric chargers during a launch event between Amazon and Rivian at an Amazon facility on July 21, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Mustafa Hussain/Getty Images)

This is one in a series of States Newsroom reports on the major policy issues in the presidential race.

Highlighted in Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign as one of the major crises facing the country, climate change has received much less attention in the 2024 race for the presidency.

The candidates, Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, share the twin goals of lowering energy costs and increasing U.S. jobs in the sector, but diverge widely in their plans to get there.

On the campaign trail, each has spent relatively little time detailing their own plans, instead criticizing the other as extreme.

Harris favors an expansion of renewable energy, which supplies power without the carbon emissions that are the primary driver of climate change.

She has touted her tie-breaking vote in the U.S. Senate to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, the broad domestic policy law Democrats pushed through along party lines that includes hundreds of millions in clean-energy tax credits.

Trump supports fossil fuel production, blaming policies to support renewable energy for rising energy prices. He has called for removing prohibitions on new oil and gas exploration to increase the supply of cheap fuel and reduce costs.

Promise: Promote fossil fuels

Both candidates promise to lower the cost of energy.

For Trump, that has involved hammering the Biden-Harris administration for encouraging renewable energy production.

Inflation was caused by “stupid spending for the Green New Deal, which was a green new scam, it turned out,” Trump said at a Sept. 26 press conference. “Do you notice that they never mention anything about environment anymore? What happened to the environment?”

The former president said at a Sept. 25 campaign stop he would “cut your energy (costs) in half,” by reducing regulations and cutting taxes.

He has not produced a detailed plan to achieve that goal.

Implicit in Trump’s argument is that the Biden administration’s focus on renewable energy has hampered oil and gas production, limiting supply and driving up prices.

But Harris has presented her support for renewable energy modes as part of a broader portfolio that includes fossil fuels.

Harris has highlighted the Inflation Reduction Act opened up new leases for oil and gas production while providing incentives for wind and solar power.

“I am proud that as vice president over the last four years, we have invested a trillion dollars in a clean energy economy while we have also increased domestic gas production to historic levels,” she said at a Sept. 10 ABC News debate with Trump.

A report this month from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that U.S. fossil fuel production reached an all-time high in 2023.

Promise: Promote renewables

Harris has also pointed to provisions of the IRA that provide consumers with tax benefits for green technology, such as home heat pumps, as a way to bring down costs.

“Thanks to tax credits on home energy technologies in the Inflation Reduction Act, more than 3.4 million American families saved $8.4 billion in 2023,” her campaign’s 82-page economic plan reads.

Trump also says he supports some climate-conscious technology, including megadonor Elon Musk’s Tesla brand of electric vehicles, but that Democrats have overinvested in non-fossil fuels.

He has called elements of the Inflation Reduction Act “giveaways,” and has singled out spending on electric vehicle charging infrastructure as wasteful.

Promise: Restore jobs

Biden has long talked about a transition away from fossil fuels as a benefit to U.S. workers, positioning them on the cutting edge of a growing industry.

Harris has similarly framed the issue in economic terms, saying the Inflation Reduction Act and other climate policies have created jobs.

“We have created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs while I have been vice president,” she said at the Sept. 10 debate. “We have invested in clean energy to the point that we are opening up factories around the world.”

At a campaign stop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this month, Harris said Trump’s focus on fossil fuels would hamper job growth, saying he would “send thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs overseas.”

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, have said Democrats’ focus on renewable energy sources has limited existing energy jobs.

“We’ve got great energy workers in Ohio and all across our country,” Vance said at an August campaign stop in his home state. “They want to earn a reasonable wage and they want to power the American economy. Why don’t we have a president that lets them do exactly that?

“Unleash American energy,” he said. “Drill, baby, drill and let’s turn the page on this craziness.”

Promise: Repeal Democrats’ climate law

Trump has had harsh words for Democrats’ climate law, blaming its spending for rising inflation.

“To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably,” he told the Economic Club of New York in a Sept. 5 speech.

He said as president he would redirect any unspent funds in the law.

Trump has sought to distance himself from the policy blueprint Project 2025, written by the Heritage Institute.

But there is some overlap between what the conservative think tank has laid out and what Trump said he plans to do in a second term in the White House.

Project 2025 calls for repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, describing it as a subsidy to special interests.

Harris often mentions her tie-breaking vote for the law and has described her plans as president to expand on the law’s objectives.

Harris’ policy plan said she “proudly cast” the tie-breaking vote for the climate bill and that, as president, she would “continue to invest in a thriving clean energy economy.”

She added she would seek to improve that spending by cutting regulations “so that clean energy projects are completed quickly and efficiently in a manner that protects our environment and public health.”

Walz, Vance prep for debate as hurricane politics swirl around presidential campaign

Ashley Murray — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 01:08:55 +0000

The entrance to the CBS Broadcast Center undergoes repairs on Sept. 30, 2024, the day before the television network will host the vice presidential debate in New York City. The Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will hold their only debate of the 2024 general election on Tuesday night. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will face off Tuesday night for a vice presidential debate, the final scheduled in-person exchange between the campaigns as polls continue to show a tight race just over five weeks out from November’s election.

The debate, hosted by CBS News, is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern and last for 90 minutes. The event will air live on local CBS affiliate stations?and stream on the CBS News app, CBSNews.com, YouTube and Paramount+.

The matchup between the running mates of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris brings together two men who both claim congressional records and previous service in the U.S. armed forces.

The debate also comes as the southeastern U.S. reels from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which barreled inland as a tropical storm that brought record-breaking flooding and claimed more than 100 lives — a third of them in North Carolina, a swing state in the 2024 presidential election.

Republican National Committee and Trump campaign officials said Monday that Vance, Ohio’s junior senator, plans to attack Walz during the debate on several fronts, including tying Walz to the Biden administration.

“No amount of Minnesota nice is going to make up for the fact that Walz embodies the same disastrous economic, open-border and soft-on-crime (record) Harris has inflicted on our country over the last four years,” said Minnesota GOP Congressman Tom Emmer, who has been standing in as Walz during Vance’s debate prep.

“J.D. Vance is prepared to wipe the floor with Tim Walz and expose him for the radical liberal he is,” Emmer told reporters on a Monday morning call.

But Jason Miller, senior adviser for the Trump campaign, warned “Walz is very good at debates. I want to repeat that Tim Walz is very good in debates, really good. He’s been a politician for nearly 20 years.”

Trump posted Monday on his Truth Social platform that he will be doing a “personal play by play” of the debate.

The Harris campaign has not revealed details about Walz’s debate preparation. CNN reported that Walz is nervous and has been practicing with Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as a stand-in for Vance.

Walz spent Saturday in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan Wolverines vs. University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football game, where he was greeted by local elected officials and rallied students about the importance of the youth vote, according to the campaign.

Military service, China

Trump campaign surrogates said debate watchers are guaranteed to see Vance attack Walz on his military service.

Vance touts his own four years in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007, during which he was deployed to Iraq in 2005 as a military journalist.

The Trump campaign maintains Walz retired to avoid being deployed to Iraq. Trump campaign officials featured two veterans on Monday’s call who slammed Walz for being a “turncoat.”

“He deserted his post and his unit after 24 years of military service,” said Tom Behrends, a retired Command Sergeant Major for the Minnesota National Guard.

Walz, a former six-term congressman who represented the state’s 1st Congressional District, served in the Army National Guard for 24 years prior to running for office. He deployed to Italy between 2003 and 2004 to support Operation Enduring Freedom, a non-combat post.

A fact check by PolitiFact found he filed his candidacy paperwork in February 2005, a month before the Walz battalion was notified of possible deployment within two years. Walz filed retirement paperwork five to seven months before the deployment notification, according to the fact check.

Walz led a U.S. House resolution in 2007 to honor the Minnesota service members for their deployment to Iraq, according to the National Guard.

Walz carries the distinction of being the highest-ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress, according to his congressional biography published in 2017.

Walz suffered hearing loss and tinnitus after specializing in heavy artillery for two decades, according to Department of Veterans Affairs records he shared with journalists when running for governor in 2018.

He wrote in a 2013 benefits application that blasts “would knock us down and after firing I had ringing in my ears,” according to the records reviewed by Minnesota Public Radio. Eventually Walz underwent surgery to improve his hearing loss.

Retired Sgt. 1st Class Tom Schilling, who joined the RNC call Monday, also attacked Walz’s trips to China and how the governor handled “the George Floyd thing,” referring to protests that rocked Minneapolis following the murder of Floyd, a Black man, by police.

“He had 30 trips to China that really haven’t been answered. As a governor, he let Minneapolis burn,” said Schilling, who served in the Minnesota National Guard.

Walz has said he’s proud of the way local, state and federal officials handled the protests in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Walz ordered full National Guard mobilization roughly three days into the protests. However, Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and state Republican officials both criticized parts of the response by Walz, according to a review by The Associated Press.

Walz taught for a year in the southern China city of Foshan. As a public school teacher in Minnesota he then took students on annual trips to China. In the past he said he visited China 30 times. When pressed for documentation of the trips by APM Reports, the Harris campaign said his visits totaled “closer to 15.”

Trump visits Helene’s destruction in Georgia

Trump delivered remarks Monday in front of a damaged furniture store in Valdosta, Georgia, wearing his signature red “Make America Great Again” hat.

“We’re here today to stand in complete solidarity with the people of Georgia, with all of those suffering in the terrible aftermath of Hurricane Helene,” Trump said, standing alongside American evangelist Franklin Graham, who was coordinating the delivery of supplies.

Trump also said the presidential campaigns should take a backseat to the storm response. “We’re not talking about politics now, we have to all get together and get this solved.”

Moments later he stated falsely that Biden had not taken calls from Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Biden had spoken with Kemp by phone Sunday.

Journalists traveling with Harris in Las Vegas, Nevada, reported in the wee hours of Monday that the vice president was canceling her campaign events to return to Washington. D.C., to be briefed on the response to Helene.

Harris issued a statement Saturday saying that her “heart goes out to everyone impacted by the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene.

“Doug and I are thinking of those who tragically lost their lives and we are keeping all those who loved them in our prayers during the difficult days ahead. President Biden and I remain committed to ensuring that no community or state has to respond to this disaster alone,” she continued.

At his campaign rally Sunday in Erie, Pennsylvania, Trump criticized Harris for being in San Francisco “at fundraising events with her Radical Left lunatic donors, when big parts of our country have been devastated by that massive hurricane and are underwater, with many, many people dead.”

President Joe Biden delivered remarks from the White House early Monday and pledged federal support to the affected areas. Biden has already issued emergency declarations for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. He also said he would visit the storm-ravaged areas as soon as his motorcade would not get in the way of response efforts.

Republicans for Harris

The Harris campaign continues to tout its growing endorsements from Republicans.

Former conservative Sen. Jeff Flake, of Arizona, announced his endorsement of Harris over the weekend.

“I’ve served with Kamala in the U.S. Senate. I’ve also served with Tim in the House of Representatives. I know them. I know first hand of their fine character and love of country,” Flake wrote on X Sunday.

Republican Voters Against Trump also announced on Sunday a new multi-million-dollar ad blitz in swing states.

The group launched a $5.8 million ad campaign in Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh media markets. The ad launch is part of a $15 million campaign that will also reach Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to a press release.

“Many swing voters are going to be making up their minds in the coming weeks, and it’s critical that we let them know what’s at stake,” Sarah Longwell, the political action committee’s executive director, said in a statement.

“You can repudiate him without renouncing your deeply held conservative values. We’re here to help establish a permission structure for right-leaning swing voters to do the right thing and vote their conscience,” the statement continued.

Ahead on the campaign trail

Trump is scheduled Saturday to return to Butler, Pennsylvania — the location of the first attempt on his life, during which he suffered a non-life-threatening ear injury and one spectator was killed by gunfire while two others were severely injured.

Trump also plans to hold a town hall Thursday in Fayetteville, North Carolina, well east of the devastation caused by Helene.

U.S. Department of Education begins testing of new FAFSA form

Shauneen Miranda — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 01:02:06 +0000

A sign reminding people to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — better known as FAFSA — appears on a bus near Union Station in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education is launching the first testing period for its phased rollout of the 2025-26 form to apply for federal financial student aid on Tuesday, with more students set to partake in this beginning testing stage than initially expected.

The department announced in August it would be using a staggered approach to launch the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid — or FAFSA — in order to address any issues that might arise before the form opens up to everyone by Dec. 1. The number of students able to complete the form will gradually increase throughout four separate testing stages, with the first one beginning Oct. 1.

The phased rollout makes the form fully available two months later than usual and comes as the 2024-25 form — which got a makeover after Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in late 2020 — faced a series of highly publicized hiccups that the department has worked to fix.

Earlier in September, the department announced six community-based organizations chosen to participate in the first testing period: Alabama Possible; Bridge 2 Life, in Florida; College AIM, in Georgia; Education is Freedom, in Texas; the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, in California; and the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, in Virginia.

“Thanks to the wonderful organizations, we expect closer to 1,000 students in Beta 1 as opposed to the 100 we initially thought,” FAFSA executive adviser Jeremy Singer said on a call with reporters Monday regarding the 2025-26 form.

During this first testing stage, U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said the department will process students’ FAFSAs, “give students an opportunity to make corrections, if needed, and send the records to colleges and state agencies.”

“Colleges will be able to use these same records when it’s time for them to make financial aid offers,” said Kvaal, who oversees higher education and financial aid, including the Office of Federal Student Aid.

Three more testing periods

The department on Monday also named 78 community-based organizations, governmental entities, high schools, school districts and institutions of higher education to participate in its three subsequent testing periods for the 2025-26 form. The Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority will participate in the 2025-26 testing periods.

Three of the community-based organizations chosen to take part in the first testing period — Florida’s Bridge 2 Life; Texas’ Education is Freedom; and Virginia’s? Scholarship Fund of Alexandria — will also participate in subsequent testing stages.

To help students and families prepare for the 2025-26 application cycle, the department said this week it’s releasing a revised Federal Student Aid Estimator, updated resources for creating a StudentAid.Gov account, including a “parent wizard,” as well as an updated prototype of the 2025-26 FAFSA.

Last week, the department released a report outlining 10 steps it’s taking to improve the FAFSA application process. Part of those efforts include the department strengthening its leadership team and working to address issues for families without Social Security numbers when completing the form, in addition to vendors adding more than 700 new call center agents.

Hundreds missing in Southeast states after Hurricane Helene, federal officials say

Jennifer Shutt — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:51:07 +0000

Ron Grindstaff, right, comforts his wife, Marie, as they remove belongings from their home in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 30, 2024 in Old Fort, North Carolina. According to reports, at least 100 people have been killed across the southeastern U.S., and millions are without power due to the storm, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — White House Homeland Security Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall said Monday during a press briefing there are 600 people unaccounted for following Hurricane Helene, as federal officials mount a response to the catastrophic storm in states across the Southeast.

Sherwood-Randall said that could lead the death toll to rise into the hundreds, but added officials are “very hopeful” some of those missing have cell phones that are not working and “actually are alive.”

“I’ll caution you, because we’ve seen this before, those numbers vary widely,” Sherwood-Randall said. “There’s a lot of reporting that doesn’t add up about the numbers.”

The Associated Press said Monday night more than 125 lives have been claimed.

President Joe Biden, who has held multiple briefings and calls on the hurricane, also announced late Monday he plans to travel to North Carolina on Wednesday. Biden had said he wanted to wait until his presence would not be disruptive to recovery operations.

Sherwood-Randall told reporters the Federal Emergency Management Agency and numerous other federal departments have moved staff and equipment into the Southeast to assist local and state emergency responders as residents struggle to access basic necessities.

FEMA, among many other recovery efforts, was speeding up its $750 payments to households that qualified for “serious needs assistance,” which can be used to pay for essential items like water, food, baby formula and medication.

“This is not the full extent of FEMA assistance to individuals, but it’s the first element of it that becomes immediately available with a major disaster declaration,” Sherwood-Randall said. “And it gets people cash when they’re absolutely desperate for it.”

Survivors who register for FEMA’s individual assistance program will be able to receive federal help repairing cars, homes and some other types of personal property that were damaged by the hurricane, she said.

People who have damage to their homes should first contact their insurance companies, but Sherwood-Randall noted there are several federal programs that help with the rebuilding and recovery process as well.

“If people have insurance, that’s of course very important for rebuilding. If they do not have insurance, they have access to federal assistance,” she said. “But it’s a long road to recovery for people because there’s so much work to be done. We have to acknowledge that.”

People who need assistance from FEMA should call 1-800-621-3362, register on https://www.disasterassistance.gov/ or fill out an application on the FEMA app, she said.

Disaster recovery centers opening

FEMA was also in the process of opening disaster recovery centers in affected communities.

“What’s important about these centers is they aggregate federal support in one place,” Sherwood-Randall said. “It used to be the case that survivors had to go to multiple different departments and agencies to find out what kind of help they could get access to. What we do is we put everyone together, either in a standing building that survived the natural disaster, or in a trailer, if that’s necessary.”

Centers opened on Monday in Manatee County, Sarasota County and Hillsborough County in Florida, she said.

In places like Asheville, North Carolina, where FEMA likely won’t be able to open a brick-and-mortar center, employees will go door-to-door, she said.

“FEMA literally goes knocking with an iPad in hand so they can help people register for the assistance they need because they may not have power, their cell phone may have run out and they need someone to help them get registered quickly,” Sherwood-Randall said.

FEMA was also planning to install 30 Starlink receivers in western North Carolina “to provide immediate connectivity for those in greatest need,” Sherwood-Randall said.

FEMA, the Federal Communications Commission and private cell phone companies were moving to install temporary cell phone towers and allow roaming, which would allow customers to use cell networks they don’t subscribe to, she said.

So far more than 3,500 federal employees involved in response and recovery efforts related to Hurricane Helene are on the ground throughout the Southeast, including more than 1,000 from FEMA, she said.

Multiple federal agencies in action

The Department of Defense was using helicopters and high-water vehicles to assist in search and rescue efforts. The Army Corps of Engineers was helping to restore electricity, assess infrastructure, including dams, and remove debris.

The U.S. Coast Guard had diverted thousands of personnel on post-storm assessments to help get ports in Florida reopened as quickly as possible.

U.S. Department of Agriculture staff, particularly in its Farm Services Agency, were working to provide emergency assistance to farmers with damage to crops and livestock.

Additionally, more than 50,000 utility workers from the United States and Canada were in the region to help the 2 million people without power get reconnected as soon as it was possible and safe to do so, Sherwood-Randall said.

“FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are also making available generators of many different sizes that are ready to be deployed upon the request of any state,” Sherwood-Randall said. “And as power is being restored throughout parts of Florida and Georgia, power crews are being moved into other states to assist with additional restoration efforts.

“We see power outage numbers improving where restoration teams are able to gain access to communities and the debris is cleared.”

Biden pledges federal help for states in the Southeast stricken by catastrophic storm

Jennifer Shutt — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 16:40:45 +0000

Men on a four wheeler pass a storm damaged house along Mill Creek in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 30, 2024 in Old Fort, North Carolina. According to reports, more than 100 people have been killed across the southeastern U.S., and millions are without power due to the storm, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday. The White House has approved disaster declarations in North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Alabama, freeing up federal emergency management money and resources for those states. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden pledged Monday that the federal government would help people throughout the Southeast recover from the devastation of Hurricane Helene and its aftermath, and said he expects to ask Congress for emergency funding in the weeks ahead.

“I’m here to tell every single survivor in these impacted areas that we will be there with you as long as it takes,” Biden said in brief remarks from the? Roosevelt Room in the White House.

Biden said he plans to travel to North Carolina later this week, once his motorcade and other presidential travel requirements wouldn’t get in the way of recovery efforts.?

“I’m committed to traveling to impacted areas as soon as possible, but I’ve been told that it would be disruptive if I did it right now,” Biden said. “We will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis.”

Biden said he didn’t know how much money his administration would request Congress provide for recovery efforts, but didn’t rule out asking lawmakers to return to Washington, D.C., before their six-week election recess ends on Nov. 12.?Emergency declarations have been issued by Biden for the affected states, enabling disaster assistance.

Helene, which is on track to become one of the deadliest hurricanes in the country’s history, made landfall in Florida last week before leaving a trail of devastation and destruction in its wake. The Associated Press reported Monday the death toll has risen to at least 107, including 30 reported deaths in the North Carolina county that includes Asheville.

Residents throughout the Southeast, including those in Georgia, South Carolina, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee were hit by some of the worst flooding and wind damage.

Many communities are completely destroyed and lack access to clean drinking water, functioning grocery stores, electricity and cell phone service.

Roads and bridges that should have allowed residents to drive to pick up supplies, or stay with friends or family, have been completely washed out by the hurricane, leaving many people stranded without necessities.

The high water also destroyed many people’s homes and vehicles, making disaster recovery even more complicated throughout the region, but especially in rural areas where people often live far away from town.

Senators appeal for help

North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis posted on social media Sunday afternoon that the state is in desperate need of assistance.

“Entire communities in Western North Carolina have no power, no cell service, and remain in severe danger from flooding,” Tillis wrote. “First responders (are) doing the best they can with what they have, but the devastation is incomprehensible. WNC needs all the help it can get and it needs it now.”

North Carolina Republican Sen. Ted Budd released a written statement Saturday after a call with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, North Carolina Emergency Management, the National Weather Service and the American Red Cross.

“It is clear that the damage in Western North Carolina is catastrophic,” Budd wrote. “There is no doubt that the road to recovery will be long and difficult, but we will marshal all available resources to assist the region, including public, private, and charitable. We are all in this together.”

Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff released a statement Sunday that he’d surveyed storm damage and spoken with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.

The statement said Ossoff “discussed the importance of communicating to Georgians the full range of recovery resources and programs that will be available upon the State’s completion of damage assessments.”

Florida Republican Rep. Kat Cammack said on C-SPAN on Monday that the hurricane not only destroyed people’s homes and businesses but devastated farms throughout the region.

“The agricultural damage there is tremendous,” Cammack said. “They saw winds of nearly 100 miles an hour. And so we’re looking at catastrophic losses inland as well as on the coast. It’s really devastating.”

U.S. government unveils charges against Iranians who hacked into Trump 2024 campaign

Ashley Murray — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 20:38:43 +0000

The Department of Justice on Friday unsealed an indictment detailing a yearslong hacking scheme by Iran that targeted the 2024 presidential campaign of former President Donald Trump. In this photo, Trump speaks on May 28, 2022 in Casper, Wyoming. (Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — U.S. law enforcement on Friday announced charges against three Iranians who allegedly stole materials from former President Donald Trump’s campaign and tried to pass them to news media and Democrats in an attempt to influence the 2024 election.

The Department of Justice unsealed the indictment detailing a yearslong hacking scheme by Iran that targeted the email accounts of U.S. government officials, journalists, think tank experts, and most recently the 2024 presidential campaigns.

“The defendants’ own words make clear that they were attempting to undermine former President Trump’s campaign in advance of the 2024 U.S. presidential election,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a Friday press conference. Prosecutors believe the defendants acted from Iran and were never in the U.S.

“We know that Iran is continuing its brazen efforts to stoke discord, erode confidence in the U.S. electoral process and advance its malign activities for the (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), a designated foreign terrorist organization,” Garland said.

The unsealed indictment in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia came three days after Trump’s campaign revealed the former president was briefed by the U.S. intelligence officials about “real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him,” according to a statement Tuesday from Steven Cheung, the campaign’s communications director.

“Big threats on my life by Iran,” Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, posted on X Wednesday. Trump suggested at a campaign stop in Mint Hill, North Carolina, that Iran could be responsible for two assassination attempts on him.

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence has not published a statement on the matter. Its most recent press release focuses on the Iranian plot to hack Trump’s campaign.

‘It takes two to tango’?

Global politics continued to top the U.S. presidential election headlines Friday when Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Trump Tower after announcing the invitation late Thursday at a meandering press conference where he promised, if elected, to strike a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia “quite quickly.”

The pair met behind closed doors in Trump’s New York City skyscraper on the sidelines of this week’s United Nations General Assembly, and one day after Zelenskyy traveled to Washington to meet with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and bipartisan lawmakers.

“After November we have to decide, and we hope that the strengths of the United States will be very strong, and we count on it. That’s why I decided to meet with both candidates,” Zelenskyy said during brief joint comments alongside Trump ahead of the meeting.

Trump, who refused during a live presidential debate to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win its war with Russia, detoured from that stance and hinted Friday that he wants a victory for the Western ally.

“I think the fact that we’re even together today is a very good sign, and hopefully we’ll have a good victory, because (if) the other side wins, I don’t think you’re gonna have victories with anything to be honest with you,” Trump said during the joint remarks.

During the exchange, Trump highlighted his “very good relationship” with Putin and said he could settle the war “very quickly.”

“But you know, it takes two to tango,” he said.

Harris at the border

Harris traveled to the U.S. southern border Friday to stump for a bipartisan border security deal that collapsed in early 2024 shortly after Trump publicly lambasted it.

Harris was scheduled to deliver what her campaign billed as a major speech in the border town of Douglas, Arizona, where she planned to talk about setting and enforcing new immigration rules at the border, according to a senior campaign official.

“Donald Trump cares more about self-interest than solutions. He wants a problem to run on, not a fix for the American people,”? Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement Friday.

“When he was president, Trump created chaos at the border, taking our already broken immigration system and making it worse – leaving behind a mess for the Biden-Harris administration to clean up. Americans deserve a president who puts national security over their own self-interest – that’s Kamala Harris,” the statement continued.

Trump is attacking Harris over border crossings into the U.S. — his central campaign issue — and calling her by the dishonest nickname “border czar” and claiming she caused the “worst border crisis in the history of the world.”

“When you look at the four years that have taken place after being named ‘border czar,’ Kamala Harris will be visiting the southern border that she has completely destroyed,” Trump said at his Thursday press conference.

Biden, in February 2021, tasked Harris with strategizing ways to fight the “root cause” of migration from Central American countries, including economic insecurity, government corruption and gender-based violence.

Trump has historically painted with a broad brush the complex issue of immigration at the U.S. southern border, announcing his first presidential campaign in 2015 by describing Mexican immigrants as “rapists.” During his own presidency in 2018 he warned of immigrant “caravans” crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. He has promised mass deportations if elected in November.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security publicly releases numbers of border encounters, apprehensions and expulsions.

Back on the trail

The presidential and vice presidential candidates are scheduled to make the following appearances:

Harris will deliver a speech in Douglas, Arizona, Friday.
Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks in Walker, Michigan Friday, followed by a town hall in Warren, Michigan.
Trump is expected to attend the Alabama-Georgia football game on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama, as confirmed by States Newsroom last week.
Not to be outdone on the college football scene, Harris’ running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is scheduled to attend the Michigan-Minnesota football game Saturday in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Harris will head to Las Vegas, Nevada, Sunday for a campaign rally.
Trump will also host a rally Sunday, this time in Erie, Pennsylvania.

National Dems to ship $2.5M to state parties, aiming beyond presidential battlegrounds?

Jacob Fischler — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 12:00:15 +0000

The Democratic National Committee announced Friday it plans to send $2.5 million to state parties. In this photo, signs marking states’ seating sections are installed and adjusted ahead of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Aug. 15, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Democratic National Committee will send $2.5 million to more than 30 of its state and territorial parties in the closing weeks of the 2024 election cycle, the DNC said in a Friday statement.

With the new grants, national Democrats will have contributed to all 57 state and territorial chapters for the first time in a presidential cycle, according to the party.

“From the school board to the White House, the DNC is doing the work to elect Democrats to office at all levels of government,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in the statement, given to States Newsroom ahead of a wider announcement.

“We are the only committee responsible for building Democratic infrastructure to win elections across the map, and with a new $2.5 million in grants, the DNC is delivering a multi-million dollar investment across all 57 state parties this cycle – a historic first for our committee.”

‘Five figures’ for Kentucky

Coleman Elridge

The Democratic National Committee’s $2.5 million for state campaigns includes what it called a five-figure sum to support legislative candidates in Kentucky. The DNC did not specify the amount of the Kentucky grant.

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said the party is committed to backing Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential bid while also ensuring Democratic candidates “have the resources to run competitive races across the map in red and blue states alike.”?

Last year, the national party supported Gov. Andy Beshear’s successful reelection campaign. This election cycle, Kentucky Democrats have set their sights on building on the governor’s victory by aiming for a few seats in the General Assembly, particularly in suburban areas around Louisville and Lexington. Republicans hold a supermajority in the state legislature. The GOP took control of the Senate in 2000 and the House in 2016.?

KDP Chair Colmon Elridge said he was grateful for the DNC’s support and that it will help the KDP “to reach voters in every corner of our Commonwealth and elect more Democrats up and down the ballot.” – McKenna Horsley

The new grants go beyond the seven swing states considered ultra-competitive in the presidential election that have gotten the lion’s share of attention and spending at the national level — and the handful with key U.S. Senate races that have also attracted a national focus.

Though some grants are relatively small, they represent a commitment by the national party to states across the country, including traditionally red states, Democrats said.

Field workers in Idaho

In Idaho, where Democrats hold just 18 of the 105 seats in the Legislature, a more-than $70,000 commitment from the national party will fund two field workers to reach Hispanic voters in two rural counties and tribal members on the Nez Perce Reservation, state party chair and state Rep. Lauren Necochea said.

Necochea, who spoke with States Newsroom in a Thursday interview ahead of the official announcement, said the funding was significant both for the symbolism of the national party’s investment in the overwhelmingly Republican state and for campaign operations this fall.

“We’re just gratified to see that this investment hit all 57 states and territories for the first time … so that no state is left behind,” she said. “We’re a traditionally red state, and that means we need the funding to fight back.”

The two organizers funded by the national money will help boost turnout in the state’s four battleground state legislative districts, Necochea said.

“This level of investment is also meaningful when it comes to winning races and getting out the vote,” she said, noting that a race in the last cycle was decided by 37 votes.

The outcomes in those races could determine which faction of the state’s Republican Party — either the hard right or the more moderate wing — will control the legislative agenda next session, she said.

The Democratic minority in the Legislature sometimes partners with moderate Republicans on legislation to fund education and health care programs, including maintaining the state’s Medicaid expansion, Necochea said.

“It is essential for state government to continue operating that we have a critical mass of Democrats in the Idaho Legislature,” she said.

Other grants

The DNC provided a partial list of the spending included in Friday’s announcement. State parties are free to use the funds as they wish, a DNC spokesman said. The national party noted some state organizations had already determined how to allocate the money.

Many state organizations planned to pursue outreach to voters of color, including in tribal communities.

Some examples of the spending and objectives, according to the DNC:

Florida: More than $400,000 for statewide programs targeting “key coalitions.”

Oregon: $125,000 to help the state party’s efforts in three key U.S. House races.

Pennsylvania: $100,000 “to supercharge voter outreach” in the only presidential battleground state on the new list. A portion of the funding will target the state’s large Puerto Rican community, the DNC said.

Minnesota: At least $100,000 to boost the state’s paid canvassing campaign. The new funding brings the total DNC allocation to the state to about $630,000, according to the party. The canvassing effort will help protect Democrats’ slim majorities in both legislative chambers.

Missouri: “Nearly $100,000” for new organizing staff focused on breaking GOP supermajorities in both statehouse chambers and passing an abortion ballot measure.

Maryland: $75,000 for the state party’s mail program, with a focus on reaching Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, a growing segment of the state’s voting base, the DNC said. The DNC noted its support for U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks, calling her race against former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan critical to protecting reproductive rights.

South Carolina: More than $70,000 for a get-out-the-vote staffer, focusing on outreach to new voters.

Maine: $61,250 for three staffers to focus get-out-the-vote efforts in rural parts of U.S. Rep. Jared Golden’s swing district.

Arkansas: Nearly $60,000 to hire six coalition directors targeting young, Black and Latino voters, including Spanish-speaking organizers. It’s the first DNC spending in Arkansas this cycle.

Louisiana: $55,000 for an organizer to help the state party reach voters in the new majority-Black 6th Congressional District.

Kansas: $50,000 for paid canvassing efforts to break GOP supermajorities in both legislative chambers.

Oklahoma: $50,000 to help the state party’s outreach to tribal communities.

Virginia: $50,000 for the state party’s get-out-the-vote and voter contact programs, focusing on two competitive U.S. House races.

West Virginia: $50,000 for get-out-the-vote and paid mail programs targeting “youth and minority voters” who could affect four competitive state legislative races.

North Dakota: Nearly $40,000 for get-out-the-vote efforts and organizing in tribal communities.

New Jersey: “Five figures” will go to get-out-the-vote operations in all state races, with a particular focus on Rep. Andy Kim’s U.S. Senate race against Republican Curtis Bashaw. It’s the first DNC spending in the Garden State this cycle.

Tennessee: An unspecified amount to help the state party “build on the organizing momentum” it has seen in the past year.

Taxes: Where do Trump and Harris stand?

Ashley Murray — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 09:50:46 +0000

With many 2017 tax cuts expiring and cost of living a major challenge for Americans, tax policy has become a central issue in the 2024 presidential campaign. (Photo by Phillip Rubino/Getty Images)

This is one in a series of States Newsroom reports on the major policy issues in the presidential race.

WASHINGTON — With the clock ticking on former President Donald Trump’s signature 2017 tax law, and high housing, food and child care costs darkening Americans’ mood, tax cuts have become the star of the 2024 presidential contest between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump wants to overall extend his tax provisions beyond the 2025 expiration date and then some, promising to lower the corporate tax rate even further and lift the cap on the state and local taxes deduction.

He argues the loss in federal revenue will be made up by imposing steep tariffs on imported goods.

Tariff is a “beautiful word,” he told a crowd in Savannah, Georgia, Tuesday night, “one of the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard.”

“We will take in hundreds of billions of dollars into our treasury and use that money to benefit the American citizens,” he said.

Harris is running on an “opportunity economy” platform that keeps the Biden administration’s promises to not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 and enact a “billionaire” tax.

The vice president has also vowed to give tax deductions and credits to budding entrepreneurs and first-time homebuyers, and permanently expand the Child Tax Credit.

“Under my plan, more than 100 million Americans will get a middle-class tax break that includes $6,000 for new parents during the first year of their child’s life,” Harris said Wednesday at a campaign speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Whoever wins the Oval Office will need a cooperative Congress to enact these policies — with the exception of tariffs, over which the president enjoys wide latitude.

What would it cost?

The barrage of proposals has kept economists busy with near-constant and evolving analyses of how much the tax cut promises would add to the nation’s ballooning federal deficit and change the economy.

Both candidates’ plans come with a price tag in the trillions of dollars, though Trump’s is the more expensive of the two.

Models released in late August by the Penn Wharton Budget Model project Trump’s plan would add up to $5.8 trillion to the deficit over 10 years, while Harris’ plan would increase the deficit by up to $2 trillion over the same time period.

“I think that both candidates are missing the mark when it comes to fiscal responsibility and economic responsibility,” the Tax Foundation’s Erica York told States Newsroom in an interview Monday.

“Neither of them have really outlined a plan that would get us on a sustainable path in terms of debt and deficits, nor that would boost growth and opportunity in the economy. Both are likely to have a negative impact on the economy,” said York, senior economist and research director for the foundation, which generally favors lower taxes.

Promise: No taxes on tips, overtime

Trump, followed by Harris, has proposed to nix taxes on tipped workers — though Harris has suggested limiting the benefit to workers in the service and hospitality industries who earn less than $75,000.

She has also said the tax break would not apply to payroll taxes, meaning the contribution workers pay toward Social Security and Medicare. Trump has not detailed any limits on his proposal for tipped workers.

Whoever wins the Oval Office will need a cooperative Congress to enact these policies — with the exception of tariffs, over which the president enjoys wide latitude. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images. Right: Kyle Davidson)

Economists across the board warn Trump’s plan could incentivize more tipped work. They also question whether Trump and Harris’ proposals would actually benefit low-income workers.

After all, tax benefits for lower income workers who have children phase in as the person earns income. Reporting less income means those taxpayers could ultimately see less help from the Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Tax Credit.

“If you work and you report income, you get these provisions. But if you don’t, you don’t get these provisions. Well, you add exemptions into the tax code that reduces the amount of earned income that you report to the IRS, you could potentially reduce the value of these credits for very low-income households,” Kyle Pomerleau, senior fellow at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, told States Newsroom in an interview Monday.

For instance, a tipped worker who has one child and earns $24,000 annually, half of which comes from tips, could see a $300 decrease in refundable tax credits under this policy, Pomerleau and senior AEI fellows Alex Brill and Stan Veuger wrote in August.

The same principle for lower income taxpayers applies to Trump’s recent promise to eliminate taxes on overtime.

“There could be a negative effect there, depending on how this is structured,” Pomerleau said Monday.

The nonpartisan watchdog Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates an elimination of taxes on all overtime would cost the country $1.7 trillion in lost revenue over 10 years. With no guardrails preventing workers switching from salaried to hourly, the price tag could reach up to $6 trillion in the most extreme case, CRFB estimates.

Promise: No taxes on Social Security

Economists monitoring the nation’s Social Security coffers continue to sound alarm bells on the program’s solvency — with little reaction on the campaign trail.

The fund that provides money to senior citizens and people with disabilities is on track to be depleted by 2035, and recipients would face an immediate 17% cut in benefits, as the Tax Foundation’s Alex Durante wrote Tuesday.

Trump has mentioned Social Security during campaign rallies and on his social media platform, but in the context of eliminating taxes on the benefit payments.

While low-income recipients do not pay taxes on their benefits, others do and are projected to contribute $94 billion this year back into the fund.

Nixing those taxes could speed up Social Security’s insolvency by one year, according to an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Promise: New corporate tax rates and tariffs

Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which cleared Congress strictly along party lines, permanently lowered the top corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%.

Harris has vowed, if elected, she will bump the rate up to 28%. Analyses from the CFRB, the Tax Foundation, Penn Wharton and the Yale Budget Lab estimate the increase would raise roughly $1 trillion to $1.2 trillion in federal revenue over the next decade.

The former president wants to cut the rate even further to 15%, a level not seen in the U.S. since the 1930s. Economists estimate the cut would reduce revenue anywhere from $460 billion to $673 billion over 10 years.

“Here is the deal that I will be offering to every major company and manufacturer on Earth: I will give you the lowest taxes, the lowest energy costs, the lowest regulatory burden and free access to the best and biggest market on the planet, but only if you make your product here in America,” Trump said in Georgia Tuesday.

Trump has big plans for products imported into the U.S. He’s planning to impose up to 20% tariffs on most imports, reaching as high as 60% on Chinese goods and 100% on countries that turn away from the U.S. dollar.

That could cost the typical American household about $2,600 a year as costs on consumer goods would shift to the customer, particularly affecting those with lower incomes, according to economists Kimberly Clausing and Mary Lovely at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Speaking at a farming roundtable in Pennsylvania Monday, Trump publicly warned John Deere that if the company moves manufacturing to Mexico, he’ll impose a 200% tariff on tractors coming back over the border.

A downside of tariffs is they invite other countries to retaliate, by penalizing U.S. exports, such as Kentucky bourbon, of which there 11.4 million bourbon barrels in the state as of 2021. (Getty Images)

Experts warn another downside is that the policy invites foreign retaliation.

“So if we are, say, exporting Kentucky bourbon to China, China may say, well, to retaliate for the 60% tax on imports, we’re going to place taxes on this export, and that’s going to have a direct impact on the incomes of Americans and make us poorer,” Pomerleau said.

Promise: A billionaire tax

A familiar refrain from Harris and the Biden administration is that billionaires and wealthy corporations should pay their “fair share.”

The U.S. individual tax rate already progresses with an earner’s income, meaning that the higher your income, the higher your tax rate.

Both Harris and Trump want to keep individual tax rates that were lowered across the board in the 2017 law, but Harris is seeking to increase taxes on long-term capital gains, and levy a minimum tax on unrealized capital gains for very high earners.

For those earning upwards of $1 million a year, Harris proposed raising taxes to 28%, up from 20%, on profits made from the sale of an asset, like stocks, bonds, or real estate, that have been held by the owner for more than a year.

The vice president also proposes quadrupling the stock buyback tax to 4%, up from 1%.

For ultra-wealthy households that have more than $100 million in assets, Harris follows Biden in proposing a 25% tax rate — sometimes referred to as the “billionaire tax.”

Those high-wealth individuals would need to calculate their regular income tax liability and compare it to their total net worth, meaning income plus unrealized capital gains, multiplied by 25%.

“Whichever is greater you pay,” Pomerleau explains. “So if you are in a situation where you have a low effective tax rate relative to this broader definition of income, the minimum tax will kick in and you’ll start paying increments.”

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the plan could raise $750 billion in revenue over ten years.

Promise: No SALT cap

Ahead of a mid-September campaign rally on Long Island, New York, Trump pledged to abandon the cap in his 2017 law on the state and local tax deduction — simply known in tax parlance as SALT.

As the law stands now, taxpayers can only deduct up to $10,000 of their state and local tax bill from their federal tax liability.

A full SALT deduction is more valuable for higher income taxpayers, and prior to the 2017 cap, 91% of taxpayers who claimed it lived in California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation.

Eliminating the cap would cut taxes by an average of more than $140,000 for the highest earning 0.1% of households, according to modeling by the Tax Policy Center, a collaboration between the left-leaning Urban Institute and Brookings Institution.

The Committee for a Responsible Budget estimates the move could cost $1.2 trillion over a ten-year budget window.

U.S. House panel on Trump assassination attempt points to multiple failures by Secret Service

Jacob Fischler — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 23:40:25 +0000

Left to right, Sgt. Edward Lenz, Adams Township Police Department, Commander, Butler County Emergency Services Unit; Patrolman Drew Blasko, Butler Township Police Department; Lt. John Herold, Pennsylvania State Police; and Patrick Sullivan, former United States Secret Service agent,? are sworn in during the first hearing of the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump in the Longworth House Office Building on Sept. 26, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Members of the U.S. House task force investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Thursday blamed the U.S. Secret Service for poor planning and breakdowns in communication and coordination with local law enforcement.

Republicans and Democrats on the House Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump at their first public hearing praised the work of local law enforcement agencies, representatives of which testified at the hearing.

Lawmakers said initial investigations showed it was the Secret Service who was responsible for a lack of planning, information-sharing and decision-making.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, the attempted assassin, at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, scouted the site in the days ahead of Trump’s rally and found security vulnerabilities, task force Chair Mike Kelly, a Pennsylvania Republican, said.

If those weaknesses were not apparent to the 20-year-old gunman, the entire incident may have been avoided, Kelly added.

But the shooting that injured Trump’s ear and killed one rallygoer was caused by more than one? breakdown, he said.

“It was not a single mistake that allowed Crooks to outmaneuver one of our country’s most elite” security agencies, Kelly said. “There were security failures on multiple fronts.”

The Secret Service, which is the lead agency during any event in which a person under the agency’s protection is present, did not create a sufficient plan and was not decisive on key questions, Kelly said. The agency did not manage access to sites adjacent to the rally and did not effectively communicate with state and local partners, he added.

Testimony from local agencies

Local officials told the panel they felt prepared in their assignment of assisting the Secret Service protection.

Commander Edward Lenz of the Butler County Emergency Services Unit said the Secret Service had requested help from counter-assault teams, sniper teams and a quick reaction force and that the local agency felt prepared for those missions.

“There were additional things, obviously, that probably needed (to be) covered,” he said. “But they never asked us to do that, they never tasked us with that. So given what they specifically asked us to do, we were certainly prepared.”

He added that sniper teams had not been given specific instructions for their mission.

Patrolman Drew Blasko of the Butler Township Police Department said local police executed what had been asked of them.

“With the information that we had, I believe that we did the very best that we could,” Blasko said.

No unified command

The task force’s ranking Democrat, Colorado’s Jason Crow, who is an Army veteran, highlighted a failure to communicate.

“Clear lines of communication are crucial,” he said during an opening statement. “The Secret Service must do better.”

Later, while questioning witnesses, Crow said he was surprised to learn the Secret Service did not establish a unified command center for the Butler rally.

Patrick Sullivan, a former Secret Service agent who testified in his personal capacity, said that was atypical for a Secret Service operation.

Usually, a central command post is established for the Secret Service, state and local agencies and any other assisting law enforcement, Sullivan said.

“This is very unusual, the way it turned out here in this site,” he said.

A unified command center can help relay information from disparate teams, including warning the agents closest to the president or presidential candidate of a suspicious person.

Pennsylvania Democrat Chrissy Houlahan noted that the communications breakdown between Secret Service and local authorities happened because they were not on the same radio frequencies.

“So here we were with three minutes and every second counting, and the Secret Service and the state police weren’t able to directly hear what local law enforcement actually saw, because they didn’t have that interoperability with local law enforcement frequencies and didn’t have possession of those radios,” she said.

She called for reforms to require different agencies are able to communicate with each other.

Slipped through cracks

Crooks was spotted multiple times throughout the day and identified by local police as suspicious, Kelly said.

Crooks was operating in an unsecured area “where information about him was both delayed and limited,” Kelly said.

Sullivan told Ohio Republican David Joyce that authorities could have used several methods to secure adjacent sites, suggesting the most effective way could have been to station officers there.

Local police spotted Crooks, identified him as suspicious and passed information on to the Pennsylvania State Police and the Secret Service, Lenz said.

But that information did not reach the Secret Service in time to remove Trump from the stage before the shooting began, Kelly said.

“The Secret Service could not process the information fast enough to pull the former president from the stage,” Kelly added.

The chairman wondered why Trump was allowed to go on stage after Crooks had been flagged several times.

“I’m constantly going to be wondering, at what point did somebody say, ‘We’re not sure the area is secure and safe,’” Kelly said.

First hearing

After two months of investigation, the Thursday meeting marked the first public hearing for the task force, which the House voted unanimously to form in the aftermath of the Butler shooting.

The Secret Service has borne the brunt of the blame for the shooting.

Then-Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned under pressure in the days following the attempted assassination.

Acting Director Ronald Rowe said last week the incident was “a failure of the United States Secret Service” and pledged it would spark a “paradigm shift” in how the agency operates.

The importance of Secret Service protection and the task force’s mission was highlighted again this month when a man who’d been hiding in the bushes of Trump’s Florida golf club was arrested and charged with another attempted assassination.

Members of both parties on the panel condemned targeting political candidates Thursday.

“Political violence has no place in our democracy, period,” Crow said.

Trump said this week he will return to Butler on Oct. 5 to “finish our speech.”

Postal chief insists to Congress that mail-in ballots will get delivered in time

Jennifer Shutt — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 23:18:21 +0000

An employee adds a stack of mail-in ballots to a machine that automatically places the ballots in envelopes at Runbeck Election Services on Sept. 25, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. The company prints mail-in ballots for 30 states and Washington D.C. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified before Congress on Thursday that voters can “absolutely” trust their mail-in ballots will be secure and prioritized, though he emphasized they must be mailed at least a week ahead of the various state deadlines to be delivered on time.

DeJoy’s testimony to House lawmakers became heated at times, as members questioned whether delays in general mail delivery and previous issues with mail-in ballots in swing states could disenfranchise voters this year.

DeJoy also brought USPS’s facilities into question, calling them “ratty” twice during the hour-long hearing.

His various comments about the management of the USPS and how the agency plans to handle election mail appeared to frustrate some members of the House Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee.

For example, in response to a question from Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan about the pace of mail delivery in his home state, DeJoy responded that “the first rockets that went to the moon blew up, OK.”

Pocan then said: “Thanks for blowing up Wisconsin,” before DeJoy gave a lengthier answer.

“We’re going to do a series of transactional adjustments and service measurement adjustments and service metric adjustments as we move forward with this that are going to get your service to be 95% reliable,” DeJoy said.

Millions of ballots in the mail

The hearing came as state officials throughout the country are preparing to, or have already, sent out millions of mail-in ballots that could very well decide the results of elections for Congress and potentially even the presidency.

Mail-in voting surged during the COVID-19 pandemic as a central part of the 2020 presidential election and has remained a popular way for voters to decide who will represent their interests in government.

Voters can also cast ballots in person during early voting and on Election Day.

Lawmakers focused many of their questions during the hearing on how USPS keeps mail-in ballots secure and whether the agency can deliver them on time, though several members voiced frustration with DeJoy’s plans to change operations at USPS.

When asked specifically whether Americans could trust in USPS to handle their election mail, DeJoy said, “Absolutely.”

“I don’t know why you wouldn’t,” he testified. “We’ve delivered in the heightened part of a pandemic, in the most sensationalized political time of elections, and … we delivered it 99 point whatever percent, I mentioned earlier.”

DeJoy had previously said USPS delivered 99.89% of mail-in ballots within seven days during the 2020 election.

DeJoy wrote in testimony submitted to the committee ahead of the hearing that not all state laws consider the speed of the USPS when deciding when voters can request mail-in ballots and when those are sent out.

“For example, some jurisdictions allow voters to request a mail-in ballot very close to Election Day,” he wrote. “Depending on when that ballot is mailed to the voter, it may be physically impossible for that voter to receive the ballot mail, complete their ballot, and return their ballot by mail in time to meet the jurisdiction’s deadline, even with our extraordinary measures, and despite our best efforts.”

‘I see horror’

DeJoy brought up the state of USPS facilities on his own at several points during the hearing, implying that they aren’t clean or up to his standards as a work environment.

“I walk in our plants and facilities, I see horror. My employees see just another day at work,” DeJoy said.

Following a question about whether USPS employees had the appropriate training to handle and deliver mail-in ballots on time, DeJoy said leadership was “overwhelmingly enhancing our training,” before disparaging the facilities.

“We’re on a daily mission to train over 600,000 people across 31,000 ratty locations, I might say, on how to improve our operating practices across the board and at this time most specifically in the election mail area,” he testified. “We’re doing very well at this, just not perfect.”

No members of the panel asked DeJoy to clarify what he meant by “ratty” or followed up when he said separately that he was “sitting on about $20 billion in cash.”

A USPS spokesperson said they had nothing to add to DeJoy’s characterization when asked about the “ratty” comment by States Newsroom.

“If you are listening to the hearing, you just heard him describe the condition of postal facilities further,” Martha S. Johnson wrote in an email sent shortly after DeJoy made his “horror” comment. “I have nothing to add to that.”

Deliveries for rural Americans

Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright questioned DeJoy during the hearing about how plans to “consolidate resources around regions with higher population densities” under the so-called Delivering for America plan will affect delivery times overall for rural residents.

DeJoy disagreed with the premise of the question, saying he believed it was “an unfair accusation, considering the condition that the Postal Service has been allowed to get to.”

DeJoy said the USPS had committed to a six-day-a-week delivery schedule and pledged that it would not take longer than five days for mail to arrive.

“It will not go beyond five days, because I’ll put it up in the air and fly it if I have to,” DeJoy said.

Cartwright mentioned that 1.4 million Pennsylvania residents requested to vote by mail during the 2022 midterm elections, a number he expected to rise this year.

The commonwealth has numerous competitive U.S. House districts, a competitive U.S. Senate race and is considered a crucial swing state for the presidential election. Several of those races could be determined by mail-in ballots arriving on time.

Ohio Republican Rep. David Joyce, chairman of the subcommittee, asked DeJoy about issues with the Cleveland regional sort facility during the 2023 election. The secretary of state, Joyce said, found that some mail-in ballots sent as early as Oct. 24 didn’t arrive until Nov. 21.

“These voters are disenfranchised because of the USPS failures,” Joyce said. “How specifically have you enhanced the all clear procedures you referenced in response to the National Association of Secretaries of State? And can you assure us that these procedures will ensure that that doesn’t happen in this upcoming election?”

DeJoy responded that he would “need the specifics of Cleveland,” but said that USPS procedures are “extremely enhanced.”

Georgia primary problems

Georgia Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde, who isn’t on the panel, submitted a question for DeJoy about how a new regional processing and distribution center in Atlanta had “a negative impact” on mail delivery just weeks ahead of the GOP presidential primary earlier this year.

DeJoy said the USPS was investing more than $500 million into the region, but conceded “what went on in Georgia was an embarrassment to the organization, okay, and it should not have happened.”

“We are correcting for it aggressively,” DeJoy said. “Specifically with regard to the primary election, we got through that because I put a whole bunch of people down there and a whole bunch of double-checking processes in place.”

DeJoy added that “the performance was good on election mail for Georgia” and that USPS would deliver Georgia’s mail-in ballots in the weeks ahead “just fine.”

Zelenskyy in Washington meets with U.S. leaders to beef up support for Ukraine

Ashley Murray — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 23:10:34 +0000

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, walks with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., right, and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., left to a closed-door meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 26, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Standing alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris admonished any suggestion that Ukraine should end its war by relinquishing territory to Russia.

Zelenskyy and Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, met for the seventh time during Harris’ tenure as vice president as the Ukrainian leader visited the White House and U.S. Capitol.

Zelenskyy is expected to meet in New York on Friday morning with former President Donald Trump, who said in a press conference late Thursday he would be able to “make a deal” between Ukraine and Russia “quite quickly.”

“I don’t want to tell you what that looks like,” said Trump, the GOP nominee, who is locked in a tight race with Harris for the Oval Office.

Zelenskyy’s Thursday meetings included a separate one-on-one with President Joe Biden, to shore up continued support as the United States faces the possibility of a shift in power after the quickly approaching 2024 election.

Harris proclaimed the need for “order and stability in our world,” and reiterated her pledge to work with NATO allies to defend Ukraine from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022 nearly a decade after? forcefully annexing Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.

“Nothing about the end of this war can be decided without Ukraine,” Harris said in comments livestreamed on C-SPAN.

“However, in candor, I share with you, Mr. President, there are some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory, who would demand that Ukraine accept neutrality, and would require Ukraine to forgo security relationships with other nations,” Harris continued during brief joint remarks with Zelenskyy to the press. “These proposals are the same of those of Putin.”

Harris delivered the comments one day after Trump told a rally crowd in North Carolina that Biden and Harris “allowed” the ongoing war by “feeding Zelenskyy money and munitions like no country has ever seen before.”

United Nations

Zelenskyy’s Washington visits came as the United Nations General Assembly gathered this week in New York City, where Zelenskyy again communicated to world leaders that he wants “territorial integrity” for his nation.

Zelenskyy and Biden met in the Oval Office Thursday afternoon, where they discussed the Ukrainian leader’s “victory plan,” which requests U.S. authority to launch Western missiles deeper inside Russia’s borders.

“Your determination is incredibly important for us to prevail,” Zelenskyy told Biden in front of reporters.

In brief joint remarks to the press, Biden said “I see two key pieces. First, right now, we have to strengthen Ukraine’s position on the battlefield.”

Biden announced the release of $7.9 billion that Congress appropriated for Ukraine and ordered any remaining money to be allocated by his last day in office, Jan. 20, 2025.

“This will strengthen Ukraine’s position in future negotiations,” Biden said.

Ukraine is expected to request more assistance from the U.S. in the coming months.

The U.S. has directed more than $59.3 billion in security assistance since Biden took office, the vast majority of which was committed after Russia’s invasion, according to Pentagon figures. Overall U.S. foreign assistance to Ukraine since 2022 has totaled roughly $175 billion.

Biden, Harris and Zelenskyy did not answer reporters’ shouted questions following their respective meetings.

Zelenskyy goes to Capitol Hill, again

Zelenskyy began Thursday with meetings on Capitol Hill, splitting time with Senate and House lawmakers, absent U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The meetings occurred less than 24 hours after Johnson wrote a letter to Zelenskyy demanding he fire Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S. for organizing a trip for the Ukrainian president alongside Democrats to Pennsylvania, a key swing state in the 2024 presidential election.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro led Zelenskyy on a tour Sunday of an ammunition plant in Scranton. They were joined by Sen. Bob Casey and Rep. Matt Cartwright, both Pennsylvania Democrats up for reelection.

“The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because — on purpose — no Republicans were invited. The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, wrote.

Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, opened an investigation Wednesday into the “misuse of government resources that allowed Zelensky to interfere in the 2024 presidential election.”

Lawmakers exiting the meetings told reporters Zelenskyy did not comment on Johnson’s letter but rather spoke about the war effort and Ukraine’s desire to use long-range missiles to target military assets farther into Russia.

Republican Sen. John Boozman, who sits on the U.S. Helsinki Commission, told reporters “the more damage we can do, the sooner, the better off we are.”

“It’s to the Russians’ advantage if this thing drags on forever,” said Boozman, of Arkansas.

When asked by reporters if Biden should give permission to Zelenskyy to strike deeper into Russia, Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said, “I hope he will.”

Bennet, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told reporters he would not repeat “anything that anybody else said in that room,” but said he “didn’t hear” any concern over fears of stoking Russia, a nuclear power, to retaliate against NATO allies.

Rep. Joe Wilson, chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, told reporters the meeting with Zelenskyy was “positive” and reiterated his support for a Ukrainian victory.

He chalked up Johnson’s absence to a possible “scheduling” issue.

Wilson, who also co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, said he’s “confident things are going to work out” regarding Johnson’s rebuke of Zelenskyy. Wilson then quickly pivoted to praising Trump’s approval of a 2017 sale of U.S. weapons to Ukraine.

When pressed by States Newsroom on Trump’s refusal to say whether he wants Ukraine to win the war, Wilson defended the former president.

“I defer to President Trump, but I again, I have so much appreciation that it was Donald Trump that tried to avoid all of this,” the South Carolina Republican said.

Trump was impeached by the U.S. House in 2019, but acquitted by the Senate, for threatening to withhold security assistance for Ukraine unless Zelenskyy publicly announced an investigation into Biden ahead of the 2020 presidential election, which the former vice president under Barack Obama won.

Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.

Harris pitches an ‘opportunity economy’ in debut one-on-one TV interview?

Shauneen Miranda — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 20:17:58 +0000

Vice President and Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris speaks at an event hosted by The Economic Club of Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University on Sept. 25, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During the speech, Harris gave details about her economic platform, including ways to support small businesses and making home ownership more attainable, among other policy proposals. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

The Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, laid out more of her economic vision Wednesday during her first one-on-one cable TV interview.

Harris and former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, are laying out dueling economic agendas this week as the two vie for the Oval Office in an extremely close race.

“I really love and am so energized by what I know to be the spirit and character of the American people — we have ambition, we have aspirations, we have dreams, we can see what’s possible, we have an incredible work ethic, but not everyone has the access to the opportunities that allow them to achieve those things, but we don’t lack for those things, but not everyone gets handed stuff on a silver platter,” Harris told MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle.

“My vision for the economy — I call it an opportunity economy — is about making sure that all Americans — wherever they start, wherever they are — have the ability to actually achieve those dreams and those ambitions, which include, for middle-class families, just being able to know that their hard work allows them to get ahead,” she said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Harris touted her economic plans in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at Carnegie Mellon University. During her MSNBC interview later in the day, she reiterated her plan to cut taxes for more than 100 million Americans, including $6,000 in tax relief for new parents in the first year of their child’s life.

In that first year, Harris said these parents are going to “need help buying a crib, buying a car seat, and we all benefit when they’re actually able to do what they naturally want to do to take care of their child.”

Part of her economic agenda also includes as much as $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers and an up to $50,000 tax break for first-time small businesses.

She also took jabs at Trump when it comes to the economy, saying he’s “just not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues.”

The Trump campaign clapped back at her MSNBC appearance on Wednesday, saying “it was (another) reminder why she never does interviews,” and that she’s “not competent enough — and she has no plans to offer Americans.”

Trump pitched his economic plan earlier this week in Georgia, part of which includes levying tariffs on exported goods, and he vowed to place a 100% tariff on cars imported from Mexico.

Harris to visit southern border?

Harris also touched on immigration, telling Ruhle “we do have a broken immigration system, and it needs to be fixed.”

She also said she would bring back and sign into law a major bipartisan border security bill from earlier this year while pinning its legislative failure on Trump.

“He killed a bill that would have actually been a solution because he wants to run on a problem instead of fixing the problem, and that’s part of what needs to be addressed,” Harris said.

The veep is set to visit the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday for the first time since becoming the Democratic nominee. Her Douglas, Arizona, visit comes as she’s faced repeated criticism and backlash from both sides of the aisle for her efforts surrounding immigration.

In a Truth Social post earlier this week regarding her upcoming visit, Trump again dubbed Harris a “border czar,” saying “what a disgrace that she waited so long, allowing millions of people to enter our Country from prisons, mental institutions, and criminal cells all over the World, not just South America, many of those coming are terrorists, and at a level never seen before!”

President Joe Biden tapped Harris back in 2021 to help address the “root causes” of migration in Central America, but he did not give her the title of “border czar.” The Department of Homeland Security is in charge of border security.

What’s next for Harris, Trump campaigns

Harris was set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday afternoon.

The meeting between the two leaders “serves as a reminder that the Vice President has been a champion for the United States, advancing our security and prosperity on the world stage and standing up to dictators and autocrats,” her campaign said in a Thursday press release.

This will be her seventh meeting with Zelenskyy, according to her campaign, which noted that as vice president, “she helped rally a global coalition of 50 allies and partners to help Ukraine defend itself.”

Trump is set to deliver remarks in Walker, Michigan, on Friday. Later in the day, he will also host a town hall in Warren, Michigan.

And in the thick of the college football season, Trump is set to attend the Alabama-Georgia football game on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama confirmed to States Newsroom last week.

Harris’ running mate, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is set to attend the Michigan-Minnesota football game Saturday in Ann Arbor, the Harris-Walz campaign announced.

He’s also slated to campaign there and will “speak with students about the power of their vote and the importance of registering to vote ahead of the November election,” per the announcement.

Louisiana Republican’s ‘overtly racist’ tweet sparks calls for censure in U.S. House

Jacob Fischler — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 01:54:00 +0000

Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., on Wednesday posted to X, and later deleted, a comment that invoked racist stereotypes about Haitians. In this photo, Higgins speaks during a press conference on the National Defense Authorization Act with members of the House Freedom Caucus on July 14, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Steven Horsford of Nevada took to the U.S. House floor Wednesday night to condemn an “overtly racist” tweet against Haitians and Haitian Americans by Louisiana Republican U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins.

Hours before members were scheduled to depart for a recess through the November elections, Higgins posted to X a comment that invoked racist stereotypes about Haitians and said Haitians in the United States should leave the country before Jan. 20, the date the next president will be inaugurated.

Higgins’ post included a link to an Associated Press story about a nonprofit representing Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, that has brought charges against former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, whose campaign for president and vice president has centered on criticism of immigration.

“These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters… but damned if they don’t feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP,” Higgins wrote. “All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20^th.”

Haitians are generally not among the immigrants living in the country illegally, as they have been granted Temporary Protected Status due to conditions in their home country. Trump and Vance have amplified disproven rumors about the Haitian community in Springfield, leading to hoax bomb threats against schools, government buildings and local leaders.

Horsford, a Democrat, and other members — reportedly including Florida Republican Byron Donalds – approached Higgins on the House floor after the tweet. Higgins deleted the post shortly after.

Democrats condemn post

After a brief period of confusion about the proper process to introduce a censure resolution, Horsford — surrounded by members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other Democrats — spoke on the House floor to condemn the tweet and called for a vote to censure Higgins when the House returns from recess.

“Rep. Higgins used his official account on X to publicly slander, insult and demean all Haitians and Haitian Americans in an overtly racist post,” Horsford said.

Rep. Troy Carter, the lone Democrat and only Black member of Louisiana’s congressional delegation, blasted Higgins’ post in a written statement.

“I am appalled by the racist and reprehensible remarks made by Rep. Clay Higgins about the people of Haiti,” he wrote. “We all owe each other better than this, but as elected officials we should hold ourselves to an even higher standard. We have a solemn responsibility to represent and respect all races of people. Hate-filled rhetoric like this is not just offensive — it is dangerous. It incites division, perpetuates harmful stereotypes, and undermines the core values of our democracy.”

Johnson, Scalise defend Higgins

Two of Higgins’ fellow Louisiana Republicans in House leadership defended him Wednesday.

Talking to reporters, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he’d spoken to Higgins, who told the speaker he regretted the language of the tweet.

Higgins “was approached on the floor by colleagues who said that was offensive,” Johnson said. “He said he went to the back and he prayed about it, and he regretted it, and he pulled the post down. That’s what you want the gentleman to do. I’m sure he probably regrets the language he used. But, you know, we move forward. We believe in redemption around here.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana briefly defended Higgins on the floor before the chamber took a short recess.

Scalise noted the post had been taken down and suggested censure was inappropriate because he could find examples of Democratic members making divisive comments.

“If we want to go through every comment, tweet from the other side, we’ll be happy to do it and you’ll be appalled,” Scalise said.

Trump floats theory Iran was responsible for assassination attempts?

Jacob Fischler — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 01:47:08 +0000

The Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks to attendees during a campaign rally at the Mosack Group warehouse on Sept. 25, 2024 in Mint Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump suggested without evidence Wednesday that Iran could be responsible for two apparent assassination attempts he has faced this year, saying foreign leaders objected to his position on tariffs.

Authorities have made no public statements to support the claim that either would-be assassin — in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July and near Trump’s Florida home this month — was aided by foreign agents or anyone else. Trump tied the two incidents to the separate hacking of his campaign, which U.S. intelligence agencies say was conducted by Iran.

“There have been two assassination attempts on my life — that we know of,” Trump, the GOP candidate for president, said at a campaign stop in Mint Hill, North Carolina. “And they may or may not involve — but possibly do — Iran, but I don’t really know.”

Trump also aired his theory on X on Wednesday, saying, “Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire U.S. Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didn’t work out, but they will try again.”

The Trump campaign told USA Today in a statement on Tuesday night that “President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States.”

USA Today also said a spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, acknowledged the briefing occurred but did not provide specifics about what was said.

In his remarks in North Carolina, Trump thanked members of Congress in both parties for approving more funding for the U.S. Secret Service, but added that if he were president when a foreign country threatened a presidential candidate, he would retaliate in the strongest terms.

“So I thank everybody in Congress,” he said. “But if I were the president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case Iran, that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens. We’re going to blow it to smithereens.”

The gunman in the Pennsylvania shooting, Thomas Crooks, was killed by law enforcement at the scene. In the second case, in Florida, Ryan Wesley Routh was charged on Tuesday with attempted assassination of Trump.

In the hour-long speech that included some attention to economic issues, Trump said that he was a target of foreign governments because of his plans to expand tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods.

“I’m imposing tariffs on your competition from foreign countries, all these foreign countries that have ripped us off, which stole all of your businesses and all of your jobs years ago and took your businesses out,” he said. “This is why people in countries want to kill me. They’re not happy with me. It is – it’s a risky business. This is why they want to kill me.”

Trump also said he would set a 15% tax rate on companies that produce their goods domestically.? That low rate, combined with tariffs on foreign goods, would boost U.S. manufacturing, including furniture production that was once a large industry in North Carolina, he said.

Tariffs generally lead to higher prices, which have plagued consumers since 2020.

Harris in Pennsylvania

The Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, painted a more optimistic picture of the U.S. economic present and future in her own economy-focused speech Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Harris acknowledged that prices remained too high.

“You know it, and I know it,” she said, according to a pool report.

Harris said her economic priorities were focused on the middle class, which she contrasted with what she described as Trump’s favoritism to wealthy people.

She said she would encourage innovation by boosting research in a host of technologies from biomanufacturing to artificial intelligence and the blockchain, and said her approach to the presidency would include experimenting with different strategies.

“As president, I will be grounded in my fundamental values of fairness, dignity and opportunity,” she said. “And I promise you, I will be pragmatic in my approach. I will engage in what Franklin Roosevelt called bold, persistent experimentation.”

Immigration blamed by GOP

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, applied their nativist immigration positions to speeches focused on the economy in their Wednesday campaign appearances. Both said immigrants in the country illegally were responsible for driving down employment and wages among U.S.-born workers.

“The jobs are going to illegal migrants that came into our country illegally,” Trump said in North Carolina. “Our Black population all over the country, our Hispanic population, are losing their jobs. They’re citizens of America, they’re losing their jobs.”

In a call earlier Wednesday touting the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ decision not to endorse in the presidential race and an internal electronic poll showing most members supported the GOP ticket, Vance said organized labor had long sought to protect U.S. workers from immigrants.

“The American labor movement has always recognized that illegal labor undercuts the wages of American workers,” Vance said on the call. “Those are folks competing against American citizens and legal residents for important jobs and undercutting their wages in the process.”

Vance said, without citing a source, that all net job growth under Harris and President Joe Biden had gone to foreign workers, including “25 million” immigrants in the country illegally.

Official estimates place the number of immigrants residing in the country without authorization at about 11 million, less than half of Vance’s claim.

A GOP campaign spokesperson did not substantively respond to a question about the source for Vance’s statement that foreign-born workers accounted for all job growth during the Biden administration.

Trump to return to Butler

Trump said Wednesday he would return to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the first assassination attempt on him. The former president suffered an injury to his ear during a shooting that killed one rallygoer and injured two others.

“We’re going to go back and finish our speech,” he said in North Carolina.

A bipartisan U.S. Senate interim report published Wednesday made initial conclusions that the U.S. Secret Service failed to adequately plan to secure the outdoor rally and made missteps in communication that led to the shooter being able to fire at the former president.

The report was commissioned by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters, a Democrat of Michigan; Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky; Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut; and Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson. They are the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the panel’s investigations subcommittee.

Congress poised to race out of D.C. after dodging shutdown

Jennifer Shutt — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 21:00:43 +0000

The U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve a stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government running through Dec. 20, though the divided Congress has a lot of negotiating to do if members want to pass the dozen full-year appropriations bills before their new deadline.

Kentucky roll call

YEA: Barr, Comer, Guthrie, McGarvey, Rogers

NAY: Massie

Source: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House ?

YEA: McConnell

Nay: Paul

Source: senate.gov ? ? ?

The short-term funding bill, sometimes referred to as a continuing resolution, will avoid a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.

The CR is supposed to give lawmakers more time to hash out agreement on the appropriations bills. But Congress regularly uses it as a safety net to push off or entirely avoid making decisions about which departments should get more funding and whether to change policy about how federal tax dollars are spent.

House debate on the CR was broadly bipartisan with Democrats and Republicans voicing support ahead of the 341-82 vote.

The Senate is scheduled to vote later Wednesday evening to send the bill to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it.

‘Plenty of problems’ ahead

The stopgap bill was expected to be the last major legislation considered by Congress before Election Day. A lame-duck session is scheduled to begin Nov. 12.

“In a matter of days, funding for fiscal year 2024 will run out and it’s Congress’ responsibility to ensure that the government remains open and serving the American people,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said during floor debate. “We are here to avert harmful disruptions to our national security and vital programs our constituents rely on.”

Cole said he hopes Congress can approve the dozen full-year bills later this year.

“The next president and the next Congress should not be forced to do the work of this administration and this Congress,” Cole said. “They’re going to have plenty of problems … let’s not throw a potential government shutdown in front of them as well.”

Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, ranking member on the spending panel, said lawmakers must begin conference talks in the days ahead to reach a bipartisan agreement on the full-year spending bills.

“No matter who wins in November, we owe it to the next Congress and the next president to not saddle them with yesterday’s problems,” DeLauro said.

Noncitizen voting bill dropped

Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy spoke against the stopgap spending bill and expressed frustration that lawmakers were, once again, relying on a continuing resolution instead of having met the Oct. 1 deadline to pass the full-year spending bills.

“We should not be kicking the can down the road to Dec. 20, a mere five days before Christmas, which is what this town always does,” he said.

Roy also criticized House GOP leaders for not sticking with a six-month stopgap spending bill that carried with it a bill to require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

House leaders brought that bill to the floor last week, but didn’t garner the votes needed to send it to the Senate. Noncitizen voting in federal elections is already illegal.

Secret Service spending

The 49-page continuing resolution extends the funding levels and policies that Congress approved earlier this year as part of its last appropriations process.

Lawmakers included a provision that will let the Secret Service spend money at a faster rate than what would have otherwise been allowed “for protective operations, including for activities relating to National Special Security Events and the 2024 Presidential Campaign,” according to a summary of the bill.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency got a similar provision so it can spend more money that would have otherwise been permitted from its disaster relief fund. The Forest Service’s Wildland Fire

Management account was also granted a faster spend rate.

The stopgap spending bill extended authorization for the National Flood Insurance Program as well as several other federal programs that were on track to expire at the end of September.

November election

Whether Congress reaches agreement with the Biden administration on the dozen full-year government funding bills later this year will likely depend on the outcome of the November elections.

Voters choosing divided government for another two years will likely incentivize leaders to work out bipartisan, bicameral agreements during the five weeks Congress is in session during November and December.

Republicans or Democrats securing unified control of the House, Senate and White House could result in another stopgap spending bill pushing off decisions until after the next Congress and next president take their oaths of office in January.

A new president, a new budget ask

Regardless of when Congress completes work on the dozen full-year funding bills, the next president will likely submit their first budget request to lawmakers sometime next spring, starting the annual process all over again.

The president is supposed to release the budget request in early February, but that’s often delayed during the first year of a new administration.

The House and Senate Appropriations committees will then begin holding hearings with Cabinet secretaries and agency heads to ask about their individual requests and begin assessing whether lawmakers will boost their spending.

The Appropriations Committees in each chamber will likely release their separate slates of full-year appropriations bills next summer, possibly followed by floor debate.

This year the House Appropriations Committee reported all dozen of its bills to the floor, following party-line votes when Democrats objected to both spending levels and policy language.

House Republicans approved five of those bills on the floor.

Senate appropriators took broadly bipartisan votes to approve 11 of their bills in committee, save the Homeland Security measure. None of the bills has gone to the floor for amendment debate and a final vote.

That’s not entirely uncommon in the Senate, where floor time is often dedicated to approving judicial nominees and it can take weeks to approve one spending bill.

The House, by contrast, can approve bills in a matter of hours or days if leadership has secured the votes.

Trump to hold rally at Pennsylvania site where he survived assassination attempt

Shauneen Miranda — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 20:51:40 +0000

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, is slated to speak in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5 at the site of the first assassination attempt against him, his campaign announced Wednesday.

Trump will return to the Butler Farm Show, where a 20-year-old shooter killed one rallygoer, injured two others and shot Trump’s ear on July 13. A Secret Service sniper killed the shooter. The attack prompted a slew of federal probes as well as a bipartisan congressional task force to investigate.

The imminent rally also comes as authorities investigate a second suspected assassination attempt against Trump. On Tuesday, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh with attempting to kill Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The Secret Service has been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks regarding the former president’s security. At a press briefing last week, the federal agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that it failed to protect Trump during the Butler rally.

Days after the first assassination attempt, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would “be going back to Butler, Pennsylvania, for a big and beautiful rally, honoring the soul of our beloved firefighting hero, Corey, and those brave patriots injured,” adding “what a day it will be — fight, fight, fight!”

The Trump campaign said the former president will “honor the memory of Corey Comperatore, who heroically sacrificed his life to shield his wife and daughters from the bullets on that terrible day,” per the Wednesday announcement.

Trump is also set to recognize the two rallygoers who were wounded in the shooting: David Dutch and James Copenhaver.

Trump will also “express his deep gratitude to law enforcement and first responders, and thank the entire community for their outpouring of love and support in the wake of the attack,” his campaign added.

U.S. Senate panel probes federal government’s role in affordable housing crisis

Ariana Figueroa — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 19:45:47 +0000

Rhode Island House of Representatives Speaker Joseph Shekarchi testifies before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee on Sept. 25, 2024. (Screenshot from committee webcast)

WASHINGTON — The speaker of the Rhode Island House described how his state has tackled affordable housing and how it could be a model for local and state governments across the country in a Wednesday hearing before members of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee.

“My mantra has been: production, production and more production,” Rhode Island House of Representatives Speaker Joseph Shekarchi said.

Shekarchi and housing experts urged the senators to take a multipronged government approach to tackling the lack of affordable housing, such as reforming zoning, expanding land for building and streamlining permits.

“I really believe this is an all-hands-on-deck crisis,” Sen. Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, said.

Murray said that in her state, there is a shortage of 172,000 homes. She asked one of the witnesses, Paul Williams, the executive director at the Center for Public Enterprise, how the federal government could help state and local governments tackle the issue. The Center for Public Enterprise is a think tank that aids public agencies in implementing programs in the energy and housing sector.

Williams said the federal government should encourage municipalities to look at local permitting and zoning processes to see if those delay new apartment construction projects or prevent them from happening.

He added that financing can also remain a challenge.

Tax credits

Another witness, Greta Harris, the president and CEO of the Better Housing Coalition, an organization based in Virginia that aims to produce affordable housing, said the federal government should consider expanding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. That program provides local groups with a tax incentive to construct or rehabilitate low-income housing.

“The low-income housing tax credit program has been extremely effective in allowing us to produce more housing units and also preserve existing affordable housing units,” Harris said.

She added Congress should consider expanding federal housing vouchers, and that closing and down payment assistance in home purchases is crucial. Federal housing vouchers help provide housing for low-income families, those who are elderly, people with disabilities and veterans.

Most wealth building is through owning a home and acquiring equity in that home, she said.

“People can use that equity for retirement, to help their kids go to college, to start a business, and to be able to breathe a little bit,” Harris said.

How a state can be successful

Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the chairman of the committee, asked Shekarchi to describe some successful impacts of the state’s approach to housing.

Shekarchi said that “we haven’t substituted state control for local control,” and have instead made the process to get building permits and address land disputes easier. He added that Rhode Island also created a role for a housing secretary, to address the issue.

“Overall, you’re seeing an increase in building permits,” he said.

Indiana GOP Sen. Mike Braun asked Harris if housing should be left to local government and private entrepreneurs, rather than Congress.

“Left to its own devices, the market is not equitable and it serves certain portions of our society and not all,” she said.

She said the government at all levels — local, state and federal — should participate in addressing the housing crisis.

GOP bashes Harris plans

The top Republican on the committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, blamed the Biden administration for the cost of housing

He also criticized a housing plan released by Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, that would provide $25,000 in down payment assistance to first-time home buyers — a proposal that hinges on congressional approval.

“Economists from across the political spectrum have noted how such policies would backfire by pushing up housing prices even further,” Grassley said of Harris’ policy.

Ed Pinto, a senior fellow and co-director of the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute Housing Center, said that there is a shortage of about 3.8 million homes. He argued that Harris’ plan to give down payment assistance “is almost certain to lead to higher home prices.”

“The millions of program recipients would become price setters for all buyers in the neighborhoods where the recipients buy,” Pinto said.

Trump immunity decision splits U.S. Senate panel along partisan lines

Ashley Murray — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 21:33:07 +0000

Former President Donald Trump walks to speak to the media after being found guilty of state felony business falsification charges on May 30, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Stark polarization was on display Tuesday as U.S. senators argued whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision effectively crowns the president “a king” or aligns with the history of the office.

In the first congressional hearing on the court’s July decision, lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary debated and questioned witnesses on the historic 6-3 opinion that granted presidents criminal immunity for core constitutional duties and presumptive immunity for “outer perimeter” actions. Personal acts are not immune, the court ruled.

Committee Chair Dick Durbin of Illinois lamented the high court has now “made it nearly impossible for the courts to hold a runaway president accountable.”

“It will be left to the American people and Congress to hold the line, because as Justice (Sonia) Sotomayor noted in her dissent, ‘the President is now a king above the law,’” the Democratic senator said in his opening statement.

Ranking Republican member Lindsey Graham dismissed the Democratic-led hearing as “designed to continue an attack on the court.”

“This hearing is about a continued narrative of delegitimizing the court you don’t like. We’ll see how this holds up over time,” said Graham of South Carolina.

A contentious decision

The Supreme Court issued its immunity decision in the thick of the roller coaster 2024 presidential election campaign — just one month after former President Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felonies in New York, the only of his four criminal cases to go to trial.

Trump, who is locked in a close race with Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election polls, escalated his presidential immunity claim to the Supreme Court, to which he appointed three conservative justices while in office. At the time, he was leading against President Joe Biden, who exited the race in late July.

Trump argued he could not be prosecuted on federal fraud and obstruction charges for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

The Supreme Court remanded the election subversion case to the trial court to decide which charges can still stand in light of the immunity decision.

Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith issued a superseding indictment soon after that retained all four felony charges, but omitted all supporting accusations that Trump allegedly pressured the Department of Justice to intimidate state officials to manipulate the 2020 election results.

Graham downplayed Smith’s case as well as the now-dismissed federal case alleging Trump improperly stored and refused to return classified information after he left office as “politically motivated legal garbage.”

Graham also criticized the Georgia state 2020 election interference case against Trump and the New York state conviction of Trump for falsifying business records related to a porn star hush money payment ahead of the 2016 election.

A license for abuse?

Three witnesses invited to testify before the Democratic-led panel warned the immunity decision could lead to sweeping consequences for U.S. democracy and accused the court of abandoning long-standing guardrails on executive power.

Granting protection from criminal exposure “essentially licenses a president to abuse his power and get away with it,” said Philip Allen Lacovara, former U.S. deputy solicitor general and former counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor.

The court did “not rely on any historical practice in favor of criminal immunity,” Lacovara testified. “In fact, practice is exactly the opposite.

“I know from my own experience in the Watergate affair that President Nixon was under active criminal investigation for his role in the cover-up.”

Mary McCord, executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law School, agreed with the court that the president should be protected for powers defined by the Constitution, including pardoning and vetoing.

But, she said, her concern is that the court’s opinion “capaciously defines core constitutional powers to extend far beyond these well recognized powers.”

“The majority holds that the former president is absolutely immune for alleged conduct involving his discussions with Justice Department officials.

“That conduct includes the indictment’s allegations about efforts to leverage the Justice Department to convince certain states to replace their legitimate electors with fraudulent Trump slates of electors,” said McCord, who served in the Justice Department during the Obama and Trump administrations.

McCord also questioned how criminal immunity would guide a future president’s interactions with other government arms, including the Internal Revenue Service and the Central Intelligence Agency.

“The reforms enacted by Congress in the wake of past abuses would be impotent in the case of a president unconcerned about adhering to the rule of law,” she said.

Timothy Naftali, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, reminded the committee of Nixon’s investigation of Jewish members of the government, as revealed in his preserved recorded conversations.

“As we assess the effects of the Supreme Court’s decision to remove additional guardrails from the presidency, I suggest we consider some events of the year 1971 and a few other well documented episodes of presidential abuse of power,” said Naftali, the former founding director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.

Immunity as necessary

Witnesses invited by the panel’s GOP minority dismissed concerns about presidential immunity as overblown.

Jennifer Mascott, director of the Separation of Powers Institute and associate professor of law at The Catholic University of America, said “since the court handed down this opinion, a number of public statements and commentary have significantly mischaracterized the opinion’s holding and its scope.”

“Some of those overstatements have made their way into some of the prepared testimony before the committee today,” she continued.

Republicans reiterated that presidential criminal immunity keeps the lid on a “Pandora’s box” of political retaliation against former administrations via the courts.

Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, ranking member of the committee’s Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action and Federal Rights, entertained the scenario that a district attorney in a Republican-held jurisdiction could sue Biden once he leaves office for the withdrawal from Afghanistan during which 13 U.S. service members were killed.

“Can you imagine a scenario in which an ambitious district attorney after President Biden’s out of office could bring a charge against President, former President Biden for criminal negligence in the death of Americans?” he asked.

Former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who served under former President George W. Bush, said the court’s ruling was “narrow, consistent with precedent and constitutional principles.”

“I think if one examines the historical record of controversial acts by presidents, it would be dangerous — particularly although not exclusively as to acts that impact national security such as border or drug enforcement — to subject presidents to the constant threat of prosecution for official acts when they leave office,” Mukasey said.

He used the examples of former President Barack Obama’s drone killing of U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki and former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s World War II internment of Japanese Americans.

“And even more pointedly, I doubt that many people think that our country would be better off if President Lincoln, Roosevelt, Clinton or Obama were prosecuted or imprisoned for controversial decisions they made in office,” Mukasey said.

Lack of court ethics to blame?

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, chair of the Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action and Federal Rights Subcommittee, blamed a lack of an enforceable ethics code on the court and “creepy right-wing billionaires” for influencing justices’ decisions.

The court has been rocked by revelations that Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas did not disclose gifts and luxury travel from Republican donors. The justices have not faced repercussions, and the donors deny any improper actions.

“The Trump justices invented presidential immunity and then didn’t even carve out treason,” the Rhode Island Democrat said. “The first mention ever that a president can freely commit crimes comes from this court, just as we have our first ever criminal presidential candidate.”

GOP senator blocks resolution stating the right to emergency care includes abortion

Jennifer Shutt — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 21:16:46 +0000

Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford speaks with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol about border policy negotiations on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats attempted to pass a resolution Tuesday addressing abortion access in emergency medical situations, but Republicans blocked it from moving forward.

The floor action followed months of unsuccessful attempts by congressional Democrats to approve legislation on various reproductive rights, including access to birth control and in vitro fertilization.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Tuesday she introduced the resolution to clarify what Congress’ objective was several decades ago when lawmakers approved the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA.

“We want to make it clear that Congress’s intent is that women can get life-saving care when they go to an emergency room anywhere in this country,” Murray said.

Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford blocked Murray’s unanimous consent request to approve the resolution, saying that doctors in emergency departments are able to act in cases of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and life-threatening situations.

“This is a false claim that somehow what happened in the Dobbs decision and what’s happening in states is limiting that,” Lankford said. “It’s actually the political rhetoric that’s making people afraid.”

Lankford objected to another of Murray’s unanimous consent requests in March, blocking approval of legislation that would have expanded access to in vitro fertilization for military members and veterans.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., speaks during a press conference inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. At left is Hawaii Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

No recorded vote

Unanimous consent is the fastest way to approve legislative items in the Senate. Under the process, any one senator can ask to approve a bill or resolution and any one senator can object. There is no recorded vote that puts all senators on the record.

Murray’s two-page resolution, which had the backing of 40 cosponsors, would have expressed “the sense of the Senate that every person has the basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care.”

The resolution also expressed that “State laws that purport to ban and restrict abortion in emergency circumstances force medical providers to decide between withholding necessary, stabilizing medical care from a patient experiencing a medical emergency or facing criminal prosecution, and put the lives, health, and futures of patients at risk.”

This resolution wouldn’t have actually changed the text of EMTALA.

The 1986 law states that hospital emergency departments must treat or transfer patients who have emergency medical conditions, regardless of their health insurance status or ability to pay.

It defines an emergency medical condition as something that could result in the health of the patient being in “serious jeopardy,” such as the patient “experiencing serious impairment to bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.”

Dobbs decision

The federal law has been the center of political and legal debate since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion two years ago in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling.

The Biden administration issued a public letter shortly afterward saying EMTALA protected doctors and other qualified health care providers who ended a pregnancy to stabilize the patient if their life or health was at risk.

Republican attorneys general in several states challenged that view of the law and the U.S. Department of Justice later sued Idaho over its abortion law.

That case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, but the justices ultimately decided to send it back to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The high court said it should have waited to hear the case until after the lower court ruled.

At the center of the disagreement between Republican state attorneys general and the Biden administration is that the federal law applies when a pregnant patient’s life or health is at risk; many of the conservative state laws only allow abortions after a certain gestational age when a woman’s life is at risk.

Exactly when a woman’s life becomes at risk due to pregnancy complications has led to dozens of stories from women throughout the country, who say they had to wait for treatment until their health deteriorated further.

Analysis from the Associated Press released in August found that more than 100 women experiencing medical distress during pregnancy were turned away from hospitals or negligently treated during the last two years.

ProPublica recently obtained reports “that confirm that at least two women have already died after they couldn’t access legal abortions and timely medical care in their state.”

‘This cruelty is unforgivable and unacceptable’

The Senate resolution that Republicans rejected Tuesday is nearly identical to one House Democrats introduced earlier this month.

Murray said ahead of her UC request that women and their families will not forget about being denied medical care due to Republican state restrictions on abortion access.

“No woman is ever going to forget when she was sent off to miscarry alone after her doctor said, ‘Look, I know your life is in danger, but I’m not sure I’m allowed to save you right now,’” Murray said. “No husband is going to forget calling 911 in a panic after finding his wife bloody and unconscious. No child is going to forget, for a single day of their life, the mother that was taken from them by Republican abortion bans.

“This cruelty is unforgivable and unacceptable. Democrats will not let it become settled status quo.”

Harris says she’d back an elimination of the filibuster to restore abortion rights

Ariana Figueroa — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 20:14:00 +0000

Vice President Kamala Harris departs Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport aboard Air Force 2, after speaking at a campaign rally inside West Allis Central High School on July 23, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said Tuesday during a radio interview that she supports changing a Senate procedure in order to codify the right to an abortion.

Vice President Harris said she is in favor of ending the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, known as the filibuster, to advance abortion rights legislation. But that task would hinge on Democrats agreeing to do so and holding on to majority control in the Senate, a difficult feat this November as Republicans appear potentially poised to take back the upper chamber.?

McConnell says GOP control of the U.S. Senate would protect the filibuster

“I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe, and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do,” she said during an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio.

Harris in 2022 said she would cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of abortion rights in her role as vice president. She has often pledged to sign into law a codification of Roe v. Wade, the constitutional right to an abortion struck down by the conservative U.S. Supreme Court in 2022.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in August that Democrats would talk about rules changes to codify abortion rights, NBC reported.

Trump in Pennsylvania

At a Monday rally in Pennsylvania, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump referred to himself as a “protector” of women. Trump said women no longer needed to think about abortion and it is “now where it always had to be, with the states.”

“All they want to do is talk about abortion,” the former president said at the rally, referring to Democrats. “It really no longer pertains because we’ve done something on abortion that no one thought was possible.”

Trump has called for Senate Republicans to dismantle the filibuster, but GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other Republican leaders like No. 2 Sen. John Thune of South Dakota have vowed to keep the procedure in place.

Current Senate projections indicate Republicans are likely to gain control of the Senate. Republicans are also expected to pick up a seat in West Virginia, and only need to hold on to seats in Florida, Texas and Nebraska.

Democrats will need to secure wins in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Additionally, Senate Democrats would need to break a possible 50-50 tie through a Democratic presidency — if they want to remain the majority party and change the filibuster.

If Harris wins, and Democrats hold 50 seats in the Senate, then Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the vice presidential nominee, would be the tie-breaking vote.

During a Tuesday Senate press conference on abortion, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington said she was supportive of Harris’ stance and that it would be a carve-out of the filibuster, rather than an elimination of it.

“What we are talking about is a simple procedure to allow, whenever rights are taken away from someone, that the U.S. Senate can, without being blocked by a filibuster, be able to restore those rights,” she said.

Harris, Trump and the economy

The Harris campaign hosted a Tuesday press call with business owner and? “Shark Tank” investor Mark Cuban, to advocate for Harris’ economic policies.

Polls have found that voters view Trump as better for the economy. Pew Research found that Trump’s key advantage is the economy, with 55% of voters viewing the former president as making good economic decisions, and 45% of voters viewing Harris as making good decisions about the economy.

“In a nutshell, the vice president and her team thinks through her policies,” Cuban said. “She doesn’t just off the top of her head say what she thinks the crowd wants to hear, like the Republican nominee.”

Battleground states still the favorite spot

The candidates will continue to campaign and travel, especially around battleground states this week.

Trump is scheduled Tuesday to visit Savannah, Georgia, where he will give an afternoon campaign speech about lowering taxes for business owners.

Walz is scheduled to head back to his home state of Minnesota Tuesday?for a campaign reception there.

Harris is heading to Pennsylvania Wednesday for a campaign rally and then she’ll travel to Arizona on Friday and Nevada on Sunday.

Trump is stopping in Mint Hill, North Carolina, on Wednesday to give remarks about the importance of making goods in the U.S. His running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, will travel to Traverse City, Michigan, on Wednesday to rally supporters.

Vance on Thursday will give a campaign speech on the economy in Macon, Georgia, and then host a voter mobilization drive in Flowery Branch, Georgia.

On Friday, Trump is scheduled to rally supporters in Walker, Michigan and in the evening hold a town hall in Warren, Michigan.

?Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.

School shooting damage lasts for years, survivors tell panel of U.S. House Democrats

Ariana Figueroa — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 01:24:26 +0000

Flowers, plush toys and wooden crosses are placed at a memorial dedicated to the victims of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on June 3, 2022. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed on May 24, 2022, after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire inside the school. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The devastating effects of school shootings continue well after shootings occur, according to survivors, experts and educators who spoke at a roundtable U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee Democrats held Monday.

Democrats scheduled the discussion after the recent school shooting in Georgia, where two students and two teachers were killed. Witnesses told the panel the psychological trauma of a school shooting lingers long beyond the events themselves.

“In the months and years after a mass shooting, young people injured or wounded in the attack experience continuing fear, pain, trauma and disorientation, and struggle to hang on to what is left of their lives,” the top Democrat on the committee, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, said.

The roundtable came just after the one-year anniversary of the White House establishing its Office of Gun Violence Prevention. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to speak about gun violence at the White House Thursday.

There have been 404 mass shootings this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a group that studies gun violence in the U.S.

Several educators at the roundtable advocated for Congress to provide more funding for schools to address the long-lasting effects of a school shooting.

“There’s not a time period when the trauma is going to disappear,” Frank DeAngelis, who was the principal of Columbine High School during the 1999 mass shooting in Colorado, said.

DeAngelis is also a founding member of the National Association of Secondary School Principals Principal Recovery Network, which is a network to help educators in the aftermath of a school shooting.

Greg Johnson, a principal at West Liberty-Salem High School in West Liberty, Ohio, said that even though no student died at his school’s shooting in 2017, students and faculty had lasting trauma.

“Hundreds of students heard the piercing shotgun blasts, and those same hundreds barricaded the doors of their classrooms before they evacuated and in random ditches and across fields in search of safety,” he said. “Many were traumatized, though almost all tried their very best to hide it by putting on a mask of strength and normalcy. Our students suffered in silence.”

Sarah Burd-Sharps, the senior director of research at Everytown for Gun Safety, added that the economic cost of gun violence is estimated at more than $550 billion a year.

Mental health funding

Patricia Greer, principal at Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky, said that while the bipartisan gun safety bill that Congress passed in 2022 provided substantial funding for mental health, Congress should consider increasing such funding to help students and staff recover from trauma.

“Schools are uniquely positioned to provide mental health support, but they need our help to meet the growing demand,” Greer said.

She pushed for Congress to consider increasing funding for Title II and Title IV to support professional development for educators and expand school-based mental health services. Those titles refer to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provides federal grants to schools.

“Recovery requires sustained support and resources,” she said. “By increasing funding for … Title II to $2.4 billion, and Title IV to $1.48 billion, we can provide schools with the resources they need to prevent tragedies and support students through trauma.”

Melissa Alexander, whose son survived the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, said “a mass shooting is not something you get over.”

She said her then 9-year-old son called her during the shooting, begging for her to save him.

“He prepared to die,” she said.

Alexander, who is now a firearm safety advocate, said that even though she is in a deep-red state, nearly 75% of residents support some type of red flag laws. Such laws allow courts to order the temporary removal of a firearm from people at risk of harming themselves or others.

Despite the widespread support, state lawmakers have not taken action, she said.

“It’s not translating up to the (state) Legislature,” she said.

Harris presses Trump to debate again, and Democrats launch ‘chicken’ billboards

Jennifer Shutt — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 22:55:53 +0000

The Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks during an event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on Sept. 20, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris is chiding GOP nominee Donald Trump for not agreeing to another presidential debate before voting ends Nov. 5, though he doesn’t appear inclined to change his mind.

“Let’s have another debate,” Harris, the Democratic candidate, said Sunday. “There’s more to talk about and the voters of America deserve to hear the conversations that I think we should be having on substance, on issues, on policies.”

Harris and Trump debated for the first time on Sept. 10, but so far the two campaigns haven’t reached agreement with another news organization to set up a second debate. Two days after their only debate so far, Trump declared he wouldn’t agree to another.

Harris-Walz Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon released a written statement this weekend announcing that Harris agreed to a CNN debate on Oct. 23 and pressing Trump to do so as well.

“Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate,” Dillon wrote. “It is the same format and setup as the CNN debate he attended and said he won in June, when he praised CNN’s moderators, rules, and ratings.”

Trump brushed that aside during a rally on Saturday in North Carolina, saying that “it’s just too late” since early and mail-in voting has already begun in some states.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Trump and then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden held their final debate on Oct. 22.

Four years before that, when Trump and Hillary Clinton were vying for the Oval Office, they debated on Sept. 26, Oct. 9 and Oct. 19.

In an attempt to nudge Trump toward debating, the Democratic National Committee has paid for mobile billboards calling him a “chicken” and showing him dressed up in a yellow chicken costume. Those billboards, as well as a second one trying to link him to Project 2025, will be in Pennsylvania on Monday evening ahead of a campaign stop.

DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman wrote in a statement about the chicken billboards that Trump had previously said he’d debate anytime, anyplace.

“The American people deserve another opportunity to hear Vice President Harris and Donald Trump lay out their starkly different visions for our country side-by-side before Election Day,” Rahman wrote. “Instead, Trump is busy hiding from the American people because he knows they’ll reject his Project 2025 agenda to hike taxes on the middle class, ban abortion nationwide, and use the federal government to assert virtually unchecked power over our daily lives.”

Harris and Trump, however, are both in talks with the CBS show “60 minutes” for detailed interviews that would air back-to-back on Oct. 7.

The vice presidential candidates are scheduled to debate on Oct. 1 in New York City, hosted by CBS. That will be the last debate of this cycle unless Trump changes his mind.

Trump, Harris, running mates in swing states

Campaign travel will continue to be a central focus for both Republicans and Democrats this week, with just over six weeks until voting wraps up.

Harris is expected to rally supporters in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, Arizona on Friday and Nevada on Sunday.

Trump will be in Savannah, Georgia on Tuesday to talk about his tax plans before heading to Mint Hill, North Carolina on Wednesday. He then has two stops scheduled in Michigan on Friday; the first in Walker and the second in Warren.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is expected to hold a campaign reception Tuesday in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, won’t be on Capitol Hill for the final in-session week before the election, but will be out on the campaign trail.

Vance is scheduled to be in Traverse City, Michigan on Wednesday before holding two stops in Georgia on Thursday and heading to Newton, Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Racing toward Election Day, control of U.S. Senate and House up for grabs

Ashley Murray — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 18:56:40 +0000

The Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible as protective fencing is erected around construction for the 2025 inauguration platform on the West Front on Capitol Hill on Sept. 17, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The country’s next president will need a friendly Congress to make their policy dreams a reality, but control of the two chambers remains deeply uncertain with just weeks until Election Day — and whether the outcome will be a party trifecta in the nation’s capital.

Recent projections tilt in favor of Republicans taking the U.S. Senate, an already closely divided chamber that is sure to be near evenly split again next Congress.

And though Vice President Kamala Harris injected a jolt of energy into the Democratic Party, prognosticators still say the prizewinner of the House is anybody’s guess.

“The House is highly close and competitive, and really could go either way.? And I say the same thing about the presidential race,” Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, told States Newsroom on Thursday.

A ‘district-by-district slug fest’?

Control of the 435-seat House remains a toss-up, with competitive races in both the seven swing states and in states that will almost certainly have no bearing on who wins the top of the ticket.

Sabato’s, an election prognosticator, currently ranks nine Republican seats of the roughly 30 competitive races as “toss-up” seats for the party — meaning the GOP incumbents are locked in competitive races.

The GOP has held a slim majority this Congress, and Democrats only need to net four seats to gain control.

“It really is right on the razor’s edge,” Kondik said. “It’s pretty crazy that, you know, we’ve had two straight elections with just 222-seat majorities. And it’s pretty rare historically for there to be, you know, majorities that small twice in a row — unprecedented.

“Usually you’d have one side or the other breaking out to a bigger advantage, and I think both sides are viewing this, really, as a district-by-district slug fest.”

Sabato’s adjusted its ratings on five races Thursday, including moving Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska to the “toss-up” category from a safer “leans Democratic.” Kondik also nudged the race for Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York to “leans Republican” from “toss up.”

“The big ones are probably Peltola, and then Mike Lawler, who holds one of the bluest seats held by a Republican, but I moved him to ‘leans R.’ It seems pretty clear to me that he’s in a decent position,” Kondik said.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, the party’s fundraising arm for House races, announced in June nearly $1.2 million in ad buys in Alaska. The organization launched a new ad in the state this month that accuses Peltola of not supporting veterans.

It’s always about Pennsylvania

In addition to Peltola, Kondik ranks nine other Democratic incumbents — of the nearly 40 competitive races — as toss-ups.

Among the toss-ups is the seat currently held by Rep. Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania, a key swing state in the presidential race. Cartwright’s Republican challenger, Rob Bresnahan, runs an electrical contracting company in the northeastern Pennsylvania district that he took over from his grandfather.

Democrats are investing in the seat: Cartwright is running a new ad featuring union workers praising him, and just last week Harris hosted a rally in the district, which includes Scranton.

But the NRCC thinks they have a pretty good chance of flipping his seat.

Breshnahan’s company is “a union shop,” said NRCC head Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina. “So he can talk union talk. He’s a great candidate for us.”

“Matt Cartwright is in trouble,” Hudson said on the conservative “Ruthless Podcast” on Sept. 12.

“I think the way we’ve structured it, the type of candidates we recruited across the country, from Maine to Alaska, from Minnesota to Texas, regardless of top of the ticket, we’re going to pick up seats,” Hudson said.

Van Orden targeted in Wisconsin

But Sabato’s also nudged three seats toward the Democrats’ favor on Thursday.

Kondik moved Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin from the safety of “likely Republican” to the weaker “leans Republican” category.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, sees an “important opportunity” in Van Orden’s district. The GOP congressman, who represents central and western Wisconsin, became known for his profanity-laced outburst at young Senate pages for taking photos of the Capitol rotunda.

The Democrats are running challenger Rebecca Cooke, a small business owner, in the hopes of unseating him.

“We have an incredible candidate in Rebecca Cooke (against) one of the most extreme, which is saying a lot, Republicans in the House,” DelBene told reporters on a call Monday.

“We have put Rebecca Cooke on our Red-to-Blue list and are strongly supporting her campaign. She’s doing a great job, and this absolutely is a priority for us,” DelBene said, referring to the DCCC’s list of 30 candidates that receive extra fundraising support.

DelBene said she’s confident in the Democrats’ chances to flip the House, citing healthy coffers and revived interest.

“We have seen huge enthusiasm all across the country. We have seen people, more and more people turning out to volunteer, to knock on doors, to make phone calls,” she said.

Democrats’ cash ‘flooding,’ NRCC chief says

Erin Covey, a House analyst with The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, wrote on Sept. 5 that Democrats have a brighter outlook after Harris assumed the top of the ticket, though November remains a close call.

“Now, polling conducted by both parties largely shows Harris matching, or coming a few points short of, Biden’s 2020 margins across competitive House districts,” Covey wrote.

The NRCC has taken note. During his interview on the “Ruthless Podcast,” Hudson compared Harris becoming the Democrats’ new choice for president as a “bloodless coup,” and said the enthusiasm she’s sparked is a cause for concern for Republicans. Democratic delegates nominated Harris, in accordance with party rules, to run for the Oval Office after Biden dropped out in late July.

“A lot of people, even Democrats, you know, just weren’t comfortable voting for Joe Biden. With Kamala on the ticket, we saw a surge in Democrats coming home and having the enthusiasm,” Hudson said.

Hudson said he also worries about Democrats’ fundraising numbers.

“The one thing that keeps you awake at night is the Democrat money. It’s flooding,” Hudson said. “The second quarter this year I was able to raise the most money we’ve ever raised as a committee, and the Democrats raised $7 million more. I mean, it’s just, they just keep coming. It’s like the Terminator.”

“But we don’t have to match them dollar for dollar,” Hudson said. “We’ve just got to make sure we’ve got the resources we need. And so we’ve just got to keep our pace.”

The DCCC announced Friday it raised $22.3 million in August, bringing its total for this election cycle to $250.6 million.

Senate map tilts toward GOP

Republicans are inching closer and closer to flipping the Senate red during this year’s elections, thanks to a map that favors GOP incumbents and puts Democrats on the defensive in several states.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is widely expected to win his bid for the upper chamber, bringing Republicans up to 50 seats, as long as they hang on in Florida, Nebraska and Texas.

But Democrats will need to secure wins in several challenging states, including Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — and break the 50-50 tie through a Democratic presidency — if they want to remain the majority party.

That many Democratic wins seems increasingly unlikely, though not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

Montana, where Sen. Jon Tester is looking to secure reelection against GOP challenger Tim Sheehy, has been moved from a “toss-up” state to leaning toward Republicans by three respected analysis organizations in the last few weeks.

The Cook Political Report wrote in its ratings change earlier this month that several “public polls have shown Sheehy opening up a small, but consistent lead.”

“Democrats push back that their polling still shows Tester within the margin of error of the race, and that those are exactly the type of close races he’s won before,” their assessment said. “Tester, however, has never run on a presidential ballot in a polarized environment of this kind before — and even with his stumbles, Sheehy is still the strongest, best financed candidate he’s ever faced.”

Republicans winning Montana’s Senate seat could give them a firm, though narrow, 51-seat Senate majority.

Florida, Texas, Nebraska

That, however, would require the Republican incumbents in states like Florida and Texas — where it’s not clear if evolving trends against Republicans will continue — to secure their reelection wins.

And it would mean holding off a wild card independent candidate in the Cornhusker state.

The Cook Political Report says it’s “worth keeping an eye on a unique situation developing in Nebraska, where independent candidate Dan Osborn is challenging Republican Sen. Deb Fischer.”

CPR also noted in its analysis that Democrats’ best pick-up opportunities, which could rebalance the scales a bit, are Florida and Texas.

“Today, the Lone Star State looks like the better option because of the strengths and fundraising of Democrats’ challenger there, Rep. Colin Allred,” CPR wrote.

If Democrats do hold onto 50 seats, through whatever combination of wins and losses shakes out on election night, majority control would depend on whichever candidate wins the presidential contest.

Given the close nature of several Senate races, it is entirely possible control of that chamber isn’t known until after recounts take place in the swing states.

Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Gary Peters, D-Mich., said during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast this week that he’s known all along Democratic candidates will be in “very right races.”

“In a nutshell, I’m optimistic,” Peters said. “I believe we’re going to hold the majority. I feel good about where we are. We’re basically where I thought we would be after Labor Day in really tight races. None of this is a surprise to us. Now we just have to run our playbook, be focused, be disciplined.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, led this cycle by Montana Sen. Steve Daines, is confident the GOP will pick up the Senate majority following November’s elections.

The group highlighted a Washington Post poll this week showing a tie between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and GOP candidate Dave McCormick in the Pennsylvania Senate race.

NRSC Spokesman Philip Letsou sent out a written statement after the poll’s release that Casey is in the “race for his life…because Pennsylvania voters know Casey’s lockstep support for Kamala Harris and her inflationary, anti-fracking agenda will devastate their economy. Pennsylvanians have had enough of liberal, career politicians like Casey and Harris.”

No change in filibuster in sight

The GOP acquisition of a handful of seats would still require the next Republican leader to constantly broker deals with Democrats, since the chamber is widely expected to retain the legislative filibuster.

That rule requires at least 60 senators vote to advance legislation toward final passage and is the main reason the chamber rarely takes up partisan bills.

A Republican sweep of the House, Senate and White House for unified government would give them the chance to pass certain types of legislation through the fast-track budget reconciliation process they used to approve the 2017 tax law.

How wide their majorities are in each chamber will determine how much they can do within such a bill, given Republicans will still have centrist members, like Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins, balancing the party against more far-right policy goals.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

Trump says Jewish voters would be partly to blame for election loss

Shauneen Miranda — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 21:28:36 +0000

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks before prominent Jewish donors at an event titled “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America” in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 19. Calling himself the greatest president for Jews in history, Trump said that if he does not win in November, Israel will be “eradicated” within two years. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said Thursday night that if he loses the election in November to Vice President Kamala Harris, Jewish voters “would really have a lot to do with that.”

As the first anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel nears and the war in Gaza continues, the GOP presidential nominee spoke at back-to-back events in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, where he promised Jewish Americans that with their vote, he would be their protector, defender and “the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.”

He and Harris, the Democratic candidate, are vying for the Oval Office in a close race that is just 46 days away and in which early in-person voting has already kicked off in multiple states.

“The current polling has me with Jewish citizens, Jewish people — people that are supposed to love Israel — after having done all that, having been the best president, the greatest president by far … a poll just came out, I’m at 40%,” Trump said at an event with Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson on combating antisemitism in America.

“That means you got 60% voting for somebody that hates Israel, and I say it — it’s gonna happen,” he said. “It’s only because of the Democrat hold, or curse, on you.”

During the presidential debate earlier this month, Harris echoed her commitment to giving Israel the right to defend itself and said “we must chart a course for a two-state solution, and in that solution, there must be security for the Israeli people and Israel and an equal measure for the Palestinians.”

She called for an immediate end to the war, saying “the way it will end is we need a cease-fire deal, and we need the hostages out.”

Trump also addressed the Israeli-American Council National Summit, where he said Israel would face “total annihilation” if Harris is elected. At the earlier event, he said any Jewish person who votes for Harris or any Democrat, “should have their head examined.”

Trump also committed to combating antisemitism at universities across the country, saying that if reelected, during his first week in office his administration would inform every college president that if they don’t “end antisemitic propaganda,” they will lose their accreditation and all federal support.

Harris ad ties Trump to N.C.’s Robinson

Trump made no mention Thursday of North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson,? the state’s Republican gubernatorial nominee. The Trump ally vowed to stay in the race following a scathing CNN investigation published Thursday.

Part of the bombshell CNN report included Robinson referring to himself as a “black NAZI” and writing that “slavery is not bad” in messages posted on pornographic forums in 2010.

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson speaks on stage on the first day of the Republican National Convention, July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee.(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The North Carolina Republican, who has a history of making controversial remarks, has become an issue in the presidential race in the crucial swing state.

Trump is set to speak at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday regarding the CNN investigation.

Meanwhile, the Harris campaign launched a TV ad in North Carolina on Friday that seeks to tie the former president to Robinson. Part of the 30-second ad includes Trump saying Robinson has been an “unbelievable lieutenant governor” and that he’s “gotten to know him” and “(Robinson) is outstanding.”

Per the Harris campaign, the ad also seeks to highlight Robinson’s “extreme anti-abortion views.”

Harris addresses reproductive rights

The ad announcement came ahead of Harris’ Friday remarks in Georgia, where she repeated her commitment to reproductive freedom in response to a recent ProPublica investigation linking the state’s restrictive abortion law to the deaths of two Georgia women — Amber Thurman and Candi Miller.

As abortion bans delay emergency medical care, this Georgia mother’s death was preventable

Harris also highlighted the repercussions of “Trump abortion bans” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade, which ended the constitutional right to abortion after nearly half a century. Trump appointed three of the five U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe.

“Now we know that at least two women — and those are only the stories we know — here in the state of Georgia, died because of a Trump abortion ban,” Harris said.

The mother and sisters of Thurman attended a livestreamed event Thursday night in Michigan, where Harris joined Oprah Winfrey.

Harris also made headlines at Thursday’s event when, reiterating she is a gun owner, said that if somebody were to break into her house, “they’re getting shot.” Laughing, the vice president said she “probably should not have said that” and her staff will “deal with that later.”

The Democratic presidential nominee said Thursday she’s in favor of the Second Amendment, but also supported assault weapons bans, universal background checks and red flag laws, calling them “just common sense.”

Harris is also set to speak at a campaign rally Friday night in Madison, Wisconsin.

Trump to attend Alabama-Georgia game?

Trump plans to attend the Alabama-Georgia football game in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 28, the University of Alabama confirmed to States Newsroom.

Security for the former president has been under intense scrutiny, especially after what’s being investigated as the second assassination attempt against Trump in recent weeks.

The university said “the safety of our campus is and will remain our top priority, and UAPD will work closely with the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement partners to coordinate security.”

The Secret Service acknowledged Friday that it failed to protect the former president during a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which was the site of the first assassination attempt.

Control of Congress

As the presidential race remains a tight contest, so do races that will determine control of each chamber of Congress.

The Senate map favors Republicans, with several seats now held by Democrats in play. Democrats would likely need to sweep the elections in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — and win the presidential race — to keep control of the chamber.

Elections forecasters consider the House more of a toss-up, with nearly 40 races likely to determine which party controls the chamber.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

Secret Service acknowledges ‘failures’ in protection of Trump in Pennsylvania shooting

Ashley Murray — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 19:38:13 +0000

Law enforcement agents stand near the stage of a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe told reporters on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, that the agency takes responsibility for the failures that resulted in an assassination attempt on Trump there that day. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service has taken responsibility for the failures that resulted in the July assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania and is asking for more resources going forward, a top official said Friday.

Acting Director Ronald Rowe briefed reporters on the agency’s findings following an investigation into how a gunman was able to scale a nearby roof and fire multiple shots at Trump during a July 13 campaign rally in Butler. Trump sustained an injury to his right ear, and one spectator was killed while two others were seriously injured.

“It’s important that we hold ourselves accountable for the failures of July 13, and that we use the lessons learned to make sure that we do not have another failure like this again,” Rowe said.

The investigation revealed communication “deficiencies” between law enforcement personnel and an “overreliance on mobile devices, resulting in information being siloed,” Rowe said, highlighting that vital information about the shooter was transmitted via phone instead of over the Secret Service radio network.

The investigation also uncovered “complacency” among some staff members who visited the site ahead of time but did not escalate to supervisors their concerns over “line of sight issues,” Rowe said.

“The findings of the Mission Assurance review have prompted the Secret Service to move into the accountability phase of this process,” he said, referring to the agency’s title of its investigation.

“What has become clear to me is we need a shift in paradigm in how we conduct our protective operations. As was demonstrated on Sunday in West Palm Beach, the threat level is evolving,” Rowe said.

“This increased operational tempo requires additional resources to not only account for costs being incurred today, but ensure that we have the tools, technology and personnel needed to meet these new requirements and execute our mission going forward,” he said.

Second attempt to harm Trump

The investigation’s conclusions were revealed less than a week after a second attempt on Trump’s life. On Sunday the Secret Service thwarted a gunman’s attempt to aim a high-powered rifle at the former president while he was playing golf on his West Palm Beach, Florida, property.

The incidents prompted unanimous U.S. House support for a measure to grant presidential and vice presidential candidates the same security level as the officeholders. The proposal sailed through the lower chamber Friday in a 405-0 vote.

On Monday a bipartisan congressional task force investigating the July attempted assassination in Pennsylvania announced an expansion of its purview to also probe Sunday’s attempt in Florida. The task force will hold its first hearing Thursday.

Rowe said the agency has been providing the “highest levels” of protections for presidential candidates since the July 13 assassination attempt.

That increased level of protection is working, Rowe told reporters, recounting how an agent swept the area ahead of Trump and “took steps to neutralize that threat.”

“No shot was fired at the former president. The former president was not exposed to where he was on the golf course,” he said.

Extending that level of protection means the agency is “burning through a lot of assets and resources.”

“This isn’t pie in the sky, trying to say ‘Hey, we want this now.’ We are not capitalizing on a crisis,” Rowe said.

Rowe would not disclose an additional dollar amount the agency is seeking and said conversations with congressional appropriators are “ongoing.”

“The threat is not going to evaporate anytime soon, and so we have to be prepared for this. And that is the argument that we have been making. We have certainly made some inroads, and we’re having these productive conversations with the Hill,” he said.

Rowe was appointed as the agency’s acting director after former Director Kimberly Cheatle heeded loud cries for her resignation, stepping down 10 days after the attempt on Trump’s life in July.

Rowe would not detail who or how many in the agency will face discipline, citing federal regulations preventing him from discussing it further.

“What I will tell you is that I have not asked for anybody to retire. I know some of that was reported. That is false,” Rowe said. Rowe said the agency’s offices of Integrity and Professional Responsibility will together decide any discipline in accordance with the agency’s “table of penalties.”

Trump continues to demonize immigrants in Ohio as national GOP courts Hispanic vote

Jacob Fischler — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 22:26:13 +0000

The Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, leaves the stage after speaking during a campaign rally at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Sept. 18, 2024 in Uniondale, New York. Trump held his first rally after Saturday’s apparent assassination attempt, the second one in two months after being injured at a rally in Butler, Penn. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will depart from the presidential swing-state map with visits to Ohio and Colorado in the coming weeks to continue to promote debunked viral stories smearing immigrant communities in those states.

At a Wednesday evening rally in New York, Trump said he would visit Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colorado, towns that he and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, have singled out as being harmed by immigration.

Trump falsely claimed during the Sept. 10 presidential debate that Haitian migrants in Springfield ate residents’ pets. Debate moderators corrected the statement, which has also been disputed by officials including the state’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. But Trump continues to cite the town to support his hardline immigration position.

Speaking to supporters in Uniondale, New York on Wednesday, he falsely claimed that migrants in the town were there illegally and said 32,000 arrived in a matter of weeks.

Estimates from official sources based on government data range from 12,000 to 20,000 Haitian arrivals since 2020. Most are in the country legally, with many given Temporary Protected Status that allows migrants from certain countries affected by violence and other circumstances to live in the United States.

Trump described Springfield and Aurora — where a separate viral rumor imagined Venezuelan gangs took over an apartment building —? as dangerous places, without evidence to support that claim, from which he might not escape.

“They’ve got to get much tougher,” he said of Springfield city leaders. “I’m going to Springfield and I’m going to Aurora. You may never see me again, but that’s OK. Gotta do what I gotta do. ‘Whatever happened to Trump?’ ‘Well, he never got out of Springfield.’”

Neither Ohio nor Colorado are among the seven competitive states that will decide the presidential election, but the stops would serve to highlight Trump’s focus on immigration as his core campaign issue.

Hispanic heritage

The Trump campaign framed immigration in a different way during a call with reporters Thursday morning celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.

On the campaign call, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican whose parents emigrated from Cuba, said life was better for all Americans, including Hispanic Americans, during Trump’s presidency than under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.

Rubio focused on economic factors and fear of crime.

“That impacts everybody,” he said. “I think it has special meaning in the Hispanic American community because you have to understand that whether it was your parents, your grandparents or yourself, you came here because you wanted a better life. They weren’t happy with their life somewhere else. It was unsafe. You couldn’t get ahead. And so they came to the United States in hopes of fulfilling their dreams and their hopes for themselves and for their families.”

In a White House event for Hispanic Heritage Month Wednesday, Biden touted job numbers for Hispanic Americans, saying his administration oversaw the “lowest Hispanic unemployment rate on record.”

Biden criticized Republican rhetoric on immigration, celebrating the United States’ identity as “a nation of immigrants,” calling on Hispanic Americans to vote for Harris against Trump in November.

“This is the single most consequential election in maybe the lifetime of anyone standing here, because it matters,” he said. “The other team doesn’t see the world like we see it. They don’t have the same attitude we have. They are the most close-minded people I’ve ever dealt with.”

White dudes

A pro-Harris group representing a different demographic launched a $10 million ad campaign in battleground states Thursday.

White Dudes for Harris released a one-minute video ad, the first in the eight-figure campaign, targeting white male voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to a news release from the group.

White men vote more Republican than other groups, and have backed Trump by wide margins in his previous White House runs. His successful 2016 campaign won white men nationwide by a 62% to 32% margin, according to the Pew Research Center. Trump carried Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin by a combined 80,000 votes in 2016.

The ad opens by bemoaning that Trump had damaged white men’s reputation. A male narrator then compliments Harris’ and vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s approach.

“They’re actually talking to guys like us — no lectures, no BS,” the voiceover says. “Just real solutions that protect our freedoms and help us take care of the people who matter.”

Oprah and Adelson

The Harris campaign is scheduled to hold a virtual event with famed actress, producer and former talk show host Oprah Winfrey on Thursday evening.

Organizers expect the event to reach more than 200,000 people in real time, with additionally tens of millions likely to see clips shared afterward.

Trump is scheduled to appear with conservative megadonor Miriam Adelson in a Washington event titled “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America.” Adelson is Jewish and a vocal advocate of U.S. support for Israel.

Friday, Harris will campaign in Georgia and Wisconsin.

Trump is scheduled to hold a rally Saturday in North Carolina.

Polling snapshot

Polls published Wednesday and Thursday showed a mixed view of the race.

Harris and Trump were tied nationally at 47% in a New York Times/Sienna College poll that surveyed likely voters from Sept. 11 to Sept. 16. Harris led, though, in the key state of Pennsylvania, 50% to 46%, in the same poll.

A separate poll, conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, showed the Keystone State deadlocked at 49%.

Marist found Harris led by 1 point in Wisconsin, 50% to 49%, and by ?5 points in Michigan, 52% to 47%.

Those states, along with Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, will likely decide the election.

Nebraska pushed to adopt winner-take-all

Two other races, though, could be competitive.

Maine and Nebraska both allocate two electoral votes to the winner of the state popular vote, and the rest by congressional district.

Purple districts in each state will likely go to the candidate who loses the state overall, though some Republicans are pushing? Nebraska to adopt a winner-take-all system.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen discussed the issue Wednesday with state senators, and the state’s all-Republican congressional delegation endorsed a winner-take-all approach in a Wednesday letter posted to X.

Nebraska’s statewide electoral votes are nearly certain to go to Trump, whose campaign has pressured state officials to nix the current system.

Ariana Figueroa contributed to this report.

U.S. House passes ‘anti-woke’ bill aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion in higher ed

Shauneen Miranda — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 22:17:48 +0000

Rice-Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City is pictured on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

WASHINGTON — A GOP measure barring accrediting organizations from requiring colleges and universities to adopt diversity, equity and inclusion policies as a condition of accreditation passed the U.S. House Thursday, though its fate appears dim.

The End Woke Higher Education Act — which succeeded 213-201 — marks one of several so-called anti-woke initiatives and messaging bills from Republican lawmakers to hit the House floor this week.

The higher education measure, which drew fierce opposition from the Biden administration and major associations of colleges and universities, came amid a looming government shutdown deadline and in the heat of the 2024 campaign.

Four House Democrats voted in favor of the GOP measure, including Reps. Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Mary Peltola of Alaska and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington.

Baked into the legislation are two bills introduced by Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce — the Accreditation for College Excellence Act and the Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act.

Utah Rep. Burgess Owens, chairman of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, introduced the Accreditation for College Excellence Act in May 2023, while New York Rep. Brandon Williams brought forth the Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act in March.

In a statement to States Newsroom, Owens said “House Republicans passed the End Woke Higher Education Act to stand up for academic freedom, defend students’ constitutional rights, and ensure that colleges and universities aren’t forced to bend the knee to activist accreditors pushing political agendas as a condition for federal funding.”

The Utah Republican said the “Biden-Harris administration has injected its far-left ideology — Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Critical Race Theory — into every part of American life, including our higher education system.”

Owens’ bill says accreditation standards must not require, encourage or coerce institutions to support or oppose “a specific partisan, political, or ideological viewpoint or belief” or “set of viewpoints or beliefs on social, cultural, or political issues” or support “the disparate treatment of any individual or group of individuals.”

Meanwhile, Williams’ Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act forces schools to disclose policies regarding free speech to students and faculty as a condition of receiving any Title IV funds.

Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 includes federal student financial aid programs.

Strong opposition?

But the legislation is highly unlikely to be passed in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The Biden administration also strongly opposed the measure, saying in a statement this week that the legislation would “micromanage both public and private institutions, undermining their ability to recognize and promote diversity.”

The legislation “would go beyond Congress’s traditional role in higher education with a wide range of confusing and unprecedented new mandates,” the administration added.

Rep. Bobby Scott — ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce — called the measure a “baseless attempt to inject culture wars into an ever-important accreditation process” during the floor debate Thursday.

The Virginia Democrat said the legislation “attempts to circumvent the First Amendment to establish a whole new scheme to regulate speech and association rights on campus outside of established precedents and practices.”

The GOP measure also drew the ire of leading associations of colleges and universities, who opposed the legislation both individually and collectively.
In a joint letter this week to House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, six major associations led by the American Council on Education took aim at Williams’ portion of the legislation, saying it “would undermine efforts to protect free speech on campus and provide safe learning environments free from discrimination.”

Government shutdown deadline nearing as U.S. House stumbles on stopgap spending bill

Jennifer Shutt — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 03:56:02 +0000

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., walks back to his office following a vote in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 11, 2024 in Washington, D.C.(Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Congress has 12 days left to approve a short-term government funding bill before the shutdown deadline, though leaders in the Republican House and Democratic Senate haven’t felt the need to start negotiations just yet.

House GOP leaders, instead, attempted to pass a six-month continuing resolution Wednesday that carried with it a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, but were unsuccessful.

The 202-220 vote in the House, with two members voting present and 14 Republicans in opposition, came shortly after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called on lawmakers to force a government shutdown as leverage to enact the voter ID law.

“If Republicans don’t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,” Trump wrote on social media, doubling down on a shutdown statement he made last week.

The unsuccessful House vote could provide space for Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, to negotiate with the Senate.

But, with just one week left in the session before Congress departs for a six-week election break, there’s not much time for leaders to find consensus, draft a bill, hold votes in both chambers and secure President Joe Biden’s signature.

Johnson, asked repeatedly by reporters Wednesday about the possibility of a shutdown, didn’t entirely rule out a funding lapse beginning on Oct. 1.

“We’ll see what happens with the bill,” Johnson said before the vote. “We’re on the field in the middle of the game, the quarterback is calling the play, we’re going to run the play.”

Blaming the Senate

Johnson criticized the Senate for not being further along in the annual appropriations process, seeking to place the blame for a stopgap spending bill and a possible shutdown on that chamber.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved 11 full-year government funding bills with broadly bipartisan votes this summer, but experienced challenges with the Homeland Security funding measure.

The House Appropriations Committee approved all dozen of its bills along party-line votes and was able to move five of those across the floor with GOP support, but not broad backing from Democrats.

House and Senate leaders haven’t allowed the two chambers to begin conferencing the bills that have either passed out of committee or off the floor, despite that being a regular occurrence in past years.

It’s highly unlikely leaders will bring any more of the full-year spending bills to the floor this fall, making the election results the biggest piece of the puzzle that will change between now and the end of the calendar year.

McConnell: Shutdown would be ‘politically, beyond stupid’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has repeatedly called on his colleagues to avoid a shutdown, though he hasn’t jumped in to negotiate a stopgap bill and doesn’t seem inclined to do so.

“I think we first have to wait and see what the House sends us,” McConnell said during a Tuesday press conference. “My only observation about this whole discussion is the one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown. It would be, politically, beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election because, certainly, we’d get the blame.”

McConnell then referenced the saying that there’s no “education in the second kick of a mule” and noted funding the government for a few more months will “ultimately end up being a discussion between” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Johnson.

“I’m for whatever avoids a government shutdown,” McConnell added.

Election year drama

Leaning on a stopgap spending bill has been a regular part of Congress’ annual appropriations process for nearly three decades. During that time, lawmakers have consistently failed to approve all the full-year government funding bills before the Oct. 1 deadline.

The September struggle to approve a continuing resolution, which is intended to give lawmakers a bit more time to reach bicameral agreement on the full-year spending bills, has become increasingly dramatic with election-year politics ratcheting up the posturing this year.

In divided government, any legislation to fund the government must be bipartisan, or it all but guarantees a shutdown.

The House’s failed six-month continuing resolution also wasn’t supported by most Senate Republicans.

GOP senators argued it was too lengthy and could have hindered that chamber’s ability to confirm the next president’s Cabinet during the first few months of 2025.

Senate Republicans and defense hawks in the House also said that leaving the Department of Defense on autopilot for half of the next fiscal year was an abdication of Congress’ responsibility and a threat to national security.

December end date eyed

The final stopgap spending bill that Congress approves in the days ahead will likely last through Dec. 20, the final day this year that Congress is scheduled to be in session. It is also unlikely to include the voter registration ID component.

That final, bipartisan continuing resolution could also include a plus-up in spending for the Secret Service or a provision that allows the agency to spend its stopgap allocation at a faster rate to bolster Trump’s security following two apparent assassination attempts.

Florida Republican Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, chairman of the State-Foreign Operations spending panel, said Wednesday that if he was a betting man, he’d expect Congress to pass a stopgap spending bill through mid-December.

“The first thing is, we can’t have a shutdown,” Díaz-Balart said. “I think most people here understand that that would be catastrophic, particularly when half the world is in flames.”

During a government shutdown, some federal workers continue reporting to the office without pay while the rest are furloughed until Congress approves a new funding bill. All federal employees impacted by a shutdown receive back pay.

A shutdown this October would affect all the departments and agencies funded within the annual process, including the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and State.

Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson, chairman of the Interior-Environment appropriations subcommittee, said he was sure there would be no shutdown but didn’t detail how exactly Congress would broker a bipartisan agreement in the days ahead.

“I don’t think anybody wants to shut the government down,” Simpson said. “That’s not a viable option.”

Harris blasts Trump deportation pledge as poll shows a majority of voters support it

Ariana Figueroa — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 21:55:50 +0000

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 47th Annual Leadership Conference at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on September 18, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris warned Wednesday of her GOP rival’s plans to enact mass deportations.

Former President Donald Trump has made immigration a core campaign topic and has often demonized immigrants such as in Aurora, Colorado, and in Springfield, Ohio. Trump has pledged to conduct mass deportations of immigrants in the country without legal authorization.

“They have pledged to carry out the largest deportation, a mass deportation, in American history,” Harris said during a speech at an event hosted by the?? Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the nonprofit arm of the congressional caucus.

A Scripps News/Ipsos survey published Wednesday found that a majority of Americans support mass deportations, including 58% of independents.

The survey showed 54% of respondents overall supported mass deportations, with 86% of Republicans and 25% of Democrats saying they supported the idea.

Harris asked the crowd at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute 2024 Leadership Conference to imagine how mass deportations would be carried out.

“How’s that gonna happen, massive raids? Massive detention camps?” she said. “What are they talking about?”

Trump has not offered details on his proposal, despite being asked about it at the Sept. 10 presidential debate.

Harris said that the U.S. should instead focus on reforming “our broken immigration” system.

“We can do both,” she said. “Create an earned pathway to citizenship and ensure our border is secure.”

Trump also urged House Republicans on Wednesday to cause a government shutdown if a provision to require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections is not included in a stopgap spending bill that would avert a government shutdown by Oct. 1.

Teamsters decline to endorse

The General Executive Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters decided Wednesday to not endorse either candidate for president, because it “found no definitive support among members for either party’s nominee.”

“Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.

“We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries—and to honor our members’ right to strike—but were unable to secure those pledges,” he continued.

Harris made a surprise visit this week to the Teamsters office in Washington, D.C.

After the non-endorsement, the Trump campaign released a statement arguing that the “rank-and-file of the Teamsters Union supports Donald Trump for President.”

The union released internal polls Wednesday that showed members favored Trump over Harris 58% to 31%. An earlier poll taken when President Joe Biden was still in the race showed members backed Biden 44.3% compared to Trump’s 36.3%.

The union endorsed Biden in 2020 and has traditionally backed Democrats.

On the trail

The candidates continue to hold events across the country.

Trump is scheduled to hold an evening rally in Uniondale, New York, his second live campaign event since his second apparent assassination attempt at his golf course in Florida over the weekend. He held a town hall in Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, announced late Tuesday that the bipartisan group a bipartisan task force created to investigate the July assassination attempt against Trump would expand to include the apparent assassination attempt at the GOP presidential nominee’s Florida golf club.

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, delivered remarks in Raleigh, North Carolina, late Wednesday afternoon.

Thursday’s campaign schedule shows a packed day of public events for all the major campaign figures.

Harris is expected to make a campaign stop in Detroit. She’s then scheduled to return to Wisconsin.
Trump is scheduled to attend a “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America Event” in Washington, D.C at 6 p.m. Eastern.
Harris is expected to join an 8 p.m. Eastern “Unite for America” livestream hosted by Oprah Winfrey in collaboration with the group Win With Black Women, along with more than 140 grassroots groups.

Inauguration platform

Lawmakers participate Wednesday in the First Nail Ceremony to commemorate the building of the inauguration stage for the 47th President of the United States. From right, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, Sen. Deb Fischer, Republican of Nebraska, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York. (Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)

Congressional leaders participated in a longtime tradition Wednesday, hammering the first nail of the stage that will be used to swear in the 47th president Jan. 20.

Members of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies partook in the First Nail Ceremony, where they picked up a hammer and smacked preset nails into wooden planks.

Senators on the committee included Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota and Deb Fischer, Republican of Nebraska.

“At the very least it’ll be therapeutic,” Klobuchar joked about the hammering.

The House lawmakers included Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Republicans of Louisiana, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York.

Scalise was the first lawmaker to finish hammering his nail, followed by Johnson. Klobuchar was the last, and ended her final swing of her hammer with a laugh.

It takes about six months to build the platform for the ceremony, Architect of the Capitol Thomas Austin said.

Teamsters won’t endorse either candidate in presidential race

Jacob Fischler — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 20:33:26 +0000

President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Sean O’Brien speaks on stage on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse a candidate for president Wednesday, although both parties sought the support of the nation’s largest union.

The group’s General Executive Board voted Wednesday to abstain from an endorsement, citing a split among members and a lack of firm commitments from either major party candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, on labor issues.

The refusal to endorse can be viewed as a loss for Harris, the Democrat. The union has endorsed the Democrat in every presidential election since 2000, including Trump’s opponents, Joe Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Each campaign sought the endorsement of the 1.3-million-member union, hoping it would buoy their candidate in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — the closely contested industrial states considered crucial to an Electoral College victory in November.

And the union’s leaders held in-person meetings with each candidate, seeking to extract policy commitments. But those commitments were not forthcoming, according to a statement from the union explaining the decision not to endorse.

“Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business,”? Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in the statement.

“We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries — and to honor our members’ right to strike — but were unable to secure those pledges.”

O’Brien encouraged the union’s politically diverse membership to remain active during the election season.

“Democrats, Republicans, and Independents proudly call our union home, and we have a duty to represent and respect every one of them,” O’Brien added. “We strongly encourage all our members to vote in the upcoming election, and to remain engaged in the political process. But this year, no candidate for President has earned the endorsement of the Teamsters’ International Union.”

Trump preferred in member poll

In an electronic poll the union released Wednesday, rank-and-file Teamsters preferred Trump, the Republican, over Harris 59.6% to 34%.

In a statement, the Trump campaign touted the poll results.

“While the Executive Board of the Teamsters is making no formal endorsement, the vast majority of rank-and-file working men and women in this important organization want President Donald Trump back in the White House,” the unsigned statement read.

The electronic poll’s results were a reversal from a previous straw poll that showed members supported President Joe Biden to Trump 44.3% to 36.3%. Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris in July.

The mere question of whom Teamsters would endorse marks a significant shift toward Republicans. Unions, including Teamsters, have historically backed Democrats.

Trump’s populist appeal appears to have upset that tradition.

O’Brien had a prime-time speaking role at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this summer, though he did not endorse Trump. It was the first appearance by a Teamsters president at a Republican National Convention in the group’s 121-year history.

Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, was a teachers union member before entering politics.

The Harris campaign did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

As ‘Super Bowl of taxes’ looms in 2025, progressives urge Congress to ensure fairness

Ashley Murray — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 19:55:34 +0000

Robert Codero, 49, of New York City, joined hundreds of advocates on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, to speak to lawmakers about tax policy ahead of next year’s expiration of the Trump-era tax law. Codero attended as part of the nonprofit Make the Road New York, which also has chapters in New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — Dozens of progressive organizations from across the United States descended on the nation’s capital Wednesday to champion “tax justice” ahead of Congress’ major task of resetting the tax code in 2025.

Led by a coalition named Fair Share America, state and national advocates urged lawmakers to raise the corporate tax rate and ensure those who make over $400,000 annually “pay their fair share.”

Organizers from 20 states fanned out across Capitol Hill, meeting individually and speaking publicly with lawmakers, and testifying before senators.

Kristen Crowell, the coalition’s executive director, said the advocates traveled to Washington to “make sure our representatives know that we know exactly how this tax scam has played out at the local level in our communities.”

“We are getting organized, we are building a multi-racial, multi-sector organization that has real people power on the ground so they can’t cut deals behind closed doors without us holding them accountable,” Crowell said at a large press conference held by lawmakers and advocates outside the U.S. House that eventually thinned out due to rain.

Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado told the crowd they are the “only antidote there is to the special interests that come to this Capitol.”

“This is the beginning of a long battle that we’re going to have for tax fairness in this country, and we’re really happy that you’re here,” said Bennet, a Democratic member of the Senate Committee on Finance.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, a senior Democrat on the tax-writing House Committee on Ways and Means, co-led the press conference and told the crowd to get ready for the “Super Bowl of taxes.”

A group of 61 care-giving advocacy groups among the visiting organizations urged using tax revenue — raised by tax increases on the wealthy — to fund child care, and care for the elderly and those with disabilities.

One of its leaders, Ai-jen Poo, president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, testified Wednesday afternoon before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy.

“By asking the wealthiest individuals and wealthy corporations to pay their fair share, lawmakers can leverage the tax code to support robust public investments such as guaranteed access to early education (including child care and pre-K), comprehensive paid family and medical leave, and robust aging and disability care, and good jobs for all care workers,” the Care Can’t Wait coalition wrote in a letter to congressional leadership ahead of the subcommittee hearing.

Harris, Trump tax promises

The advocates’ coordinated visit comes as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump make broad tax promises on the campaign trail ahead of November’s presidential election.

Prior to his Wednesday night rally on Long Island, New York, Trump declared on his social media platform Truth Social that he would lift a $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction, otherwise known as SALT. The deduction was part of Trump’s signature 2017 tax law, which is set to expire in 2025.

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE? VOTE FOR TRUMP! I will turn it around, get SALT back, lower your Taxes, and so much more,” he posted Tuesday.

A full SALT deduction is more valuable for higher income taxpayers, and prior to the 2017 cap 91% of taxpayers who claimed it lived in California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation.

Pennsylvania is a key swing state in the presidential race, and several competitive U.S. House races in New York could help decide which party will gain control of the chamber.

Before this change to his platform, Trump had been running on fully extending his 2017 tax law beyond its 2025 expiration date, with the addition of permanently lowering the corporate tax rate even further to 15%.

Analyses from several economists estimate a wholesale extension would add anywhere from $2 trillion to roughly $6 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade.

Trump has also promised to get rid of taxes on tips, Social Security benefits and overtime.

When asked about the effects of Trump’s tax proposals on the nation’s deficit, Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who is eyeing the position of Senate majority leader if the GOP takes control, told reporters Wednesday, “We’re starting to have some of those conversations already, what impact do some of those changes have? And what does, you know, what are the trade-offs that would happen as a result?”

Harris’ “opportunity economy” platform includes plans to make permanent a pandemic-era expansion of the child tax credit and attach an additional $6,000 credit for new parents. Like President Joe Biden’s budget proposal, Harris also vows to not raise taxes on anyone earning under $400,000 a year.

When speaking to the National Association of Black Journalists Tuesday, Harris revived an earlier Biden administration promise to cap child care costs at 7% of a household’s income.

“If you think about the benefit to the economy overall, it strengthens our economy to do things like pay attention to affordable child care, affordable home health care and extending the child tax credit,” Harris told the association at a discussion in Philadelphia.

The National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, one of the interest groups on Capitol Hill Wednesday, said Harris’ plan would be “transformative” for families.

Harris also promises to increase the corporate tax rate to 28% from the current 21%; tax long-term capital gains at 28%; give a $25,000 tax credit to first-time home buyers; and give new small businesses a $50,000 deduction for start-up costs. She has also embraced the promise to end taxation on tips.

Organizers on Capitol Hill Wednesday represented groups from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.

Concerns over private student loans brought to U.S. Senate panel

Shauneen Miranda — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 00:00:43 +0000

A U.S. Senate panel examined issues in private student lending Tuesday. (Photo illustration via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — As private student loan companies take heat over accusations of predatory behavior and deception, members of a U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs panel and student advocates voiced concerns over the industry at a hearing Tuesday.

The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection hearing came as the broader student debt crisis impacts millions, with more than $1.74 trillion in outstanding student loans as of the second quarter of 2024, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Subcommittee Chairman Raphael Warnock said he and his staff analyzed some of the myriad complaints the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received related to private student loans and federal student loan servicing in roughly the last year and were “struck by the sheer scope and magnitude of the problem.”

“Private lenders and servicers routinely misled or deceived borrowers, and the stories are frustrating and heartbreaking,” the Georgia Democrat said.

Some borrowers have found loans offered by private lenders to be extraordinary burdens, Aissa Canchola Ba?ez, policy director at the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group, told the panel.

“Student loans were supposed to grant all families — regardless of race and economic status — the chance to unlock the promise of a higher education,” she said.

“But for too many, student debt has become a life sentence, holding borrowers back from buying a home, starting a small business and even starting or growing a family,” Canchola Ba?ez said.

Canchola Ba?ez said “the absence of comprehensive data in the private student loan space has too often left borrowers, policymakers and advocates in the dark” and that “this has allowed for significant gaps in protections for the millions of Americans forced to take on private student loan debt and has made it harder for policymakers and law enforcement officials to protect borrowers.”

Dalié Jiménez, a law professor and director of the Student Loan Law Initiative at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, said the private student loan industry had transformed in the last decade.

“New financial products have emerged, offering alternatives to traditional loans, but they’ve come with added risks that we’re only beginning to understand,” Jiménez said, adding that “many are offered by schools that provide dubious value in return for costly credit.”

Troubled industry

Major student loan servicers, such as Navient, have been at the center of legal issues and scrutiny in recent years. Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reached a $120 million settlement with Navient that bans the company from federal student loan servicing.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat and member of the subcommittee, has led investigations into Navient for nearly a decade.

Warren said Tuesday that “Republican extremists want to return to the days where borrowers were just at the mercy of predatory servicers like Navient” and that “the Biden-Harris administration has a different vision.”

Warren added that it’s “long past time for Navient to do the right thing by their countless defrauded borrowers and cancel out these loans for the private student loan borrowers as well.”

On the other side of the aisle, GOP Sen. Cynthia Lummis defended the industry’s basic mission.

“While individual cases of malfeasance certainly exist in the private loan market — as they do in any market — private lenders fill a crucial gap in higher education financing and equip borrowers with the tools to meet the barriers to education in place today,” Lummis said.

Lummis, a Wyoming Republican, also noted that the private student loan market only accounts for 8% of outstanding loans and that the vast majority of loans are federal loans.

Beth Akers, senior fellow at the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, pointed out that while “private student loan origination and servicing, both for federal and private loans, hasn’t been perfect” and “lending institutions and those that service loans are fallible,” these private entities supporting student lending “don’t deserve the ire of lawmakers looking for a quick fix or even a scapegoat for what is happening more broadly in student lending.”

Health and farmworker advocates urge ban of herbicide linked to Parkinson’s

Ariana Figueroa — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 21:52:31 +0000

Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group speaks at a Capitol Hill briefing urging the EPA to ban the use of the herbicide paraquat dichloride to protect farmworkers. (Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom.)

WASHINGTON — Public health advocates and farmworkers called for a federal ban on a toxic herbicide they say led to their Parkinson’s disease during a Tuesday briefing for congressional staffers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will determine next year if the herbicide, paraquat dichloride, should have its license renewed for another 15 years. The herbicide is used for controlling weeds in agriculture settings. It’s currently banned in more than 70 countries and has several serious health conditions it’s linked to, such as cancer and increases the likelihood of developing Parkinson’s disease.

Nora Jackson, a former farmworker of Indiana, said that her cousin, whose job it was to spray paraquat on farms, developed Parkinson’s at 55 years old. Signs of Parkinson’s usually appear around 60 years old.

“Farmworkers often have to do extremely risky jobs … but it doesn’t have to be that way,” Jackson said. “It is possible to have an agriculture system that does not depend so heavily on paraquat and it does not have to be a pesticide that puts so many people’s lives at risk.”

The disease has drastically affected his life, Jackson added.

“He now relies heavily on medication and uses a walking stick to be able to walk every day,” she said.

The briefing on the health risks of paraquat was hosted by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, which is an alliance for farmworker women, and the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that produces research and advocates for public health.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research was established by the actor who starred in blockbusters Back to the Future, Doc Hollywood and Teen Wolf. Fox was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s at the age of 29.

Ban necessary

The EPA has until Jan. 17 to make a decision on paraquat’s future availability.

Advocates at Tuesday’s event called for the agency to deny paraquat’s license renewal, saying other regulations to reduce exposure to the herbicide have come up short.

“Keep in mind that people have been using this chemical as directed, and are still developing Parkinson’s disease,” Scott Faber, Environmental Working Group’s senior vice president of government affairs, said. “So putting more restrictions on how it’s used, when it’s used, what equipment you use, and so on, is not the answer.”

Parkinson’s disease affects the nervous system and causes unintended shakiness, trouble with balance and stiffness. There is no cure.

The California Legislature is moving to ban the herbicide.?

David Jilbert, of Valley City, Ohio, a former farmworker with a background in engineering, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2021.

“As a longtime environmental engineer, I understood the importance of personal protection equipment, and I particularly followed all safety protocols,” he said.

He sold his vineyard in 2019 because he wasn’t feeling well and his hands were beginning to move slowly.

“My diagnosis changed everything, affecting every aspect of my life, from physical capabilities to emotional wellbeing, financial stability,” he said. “There is no cure for Parkinson’s. It is degenerative and it will only get worse, not better.”

Charlene Tenbrink of Winters, California, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2020. She worked on her family farm from 1993 to 2000 where she would mix, load and spray paraquat.

Tenbrink said she felt let down by the federal government because she was unaware of the health risks that paraquat could pose.

“We’ve been trying to change this for a long time,” she said.

In vitro fertilization bills from both Democrats and GOP blocked in U.S. Senate

Jennifer Shutt — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 21:03:12 +0000

Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth?speaks about access to in vitro fertilization on the steps of the Capitol building on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, along with other Senate Democrats holding photos of families who benefited from IVF.?At right, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., holds a photo of Duckworth’s family that includes Duckworth’s children, born with the help of IVF. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — The closely divided U.S. Senate gridlocked Tuesday over the best way to provide nationwide protections for in vitro fertilization, despite lawmakers from both political parties maintaining they want to do so.

Republicans voted against advancing a Democratic bill that could have prevented states from enacting “harmful or unwarranted limitations” on the procedure and bolstered access for military members and veterans. Two Republicans voted with Democrats — Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski.

That came just a short time after Senate Democrats — who narrowly control the chamber — in a procedural move blocked a GOP bill from Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Katie Britt of Alabama that would have barred Medicaid funding from going to any state that bans IVF.

The 51-44 vote that prevented Democrats’ legislation from moving toward a final vote followed numerous floor speeches and press conferences, including by the Harris-Walz presidential campaign, that sought to elevate the issue ahead of the November elections. Both Kentuckians in the Senate — Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul — voted no. The measure needed 60 votes to advance.

“This is a chance for my colleagues across the aisle to put their votes where their mouths have been,” said Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the bill’s sponsor and a mom of two children born as a result of IVF. “They say they support IVF. Here you go — vote on this.”

Duckworth said the legislation would provide critical IVF services to U.S. military members and veterans, many of whom experience infertility or experience difficulty having children due to their service.

“It allows our military men and women, prior to a deployment into a combat zone, to preserve and freeze their genetic material; so that should they come home with injuries that result in them becoming infertile, they will have already preserved their genetic material so that they can, themselves, start those beautiful families they wanted,” Duckworth said.

Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris released a written statement following the vote rebuking GOP senators for blocking the bill.

“Every woman in every state must have reproductive freedom,” Harris wrote. “Yet, Republicans in Congress have once again made clear that they will not protect access to the fertility treatments many couples need to fulfill their dream of having a child.”

Republicans blocked Democrats’ bill earlier this year. But Senate leadership scheduled another vote after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump reignited the issue in August when he said his administration would mandate health insurance companies pay for IVF — a significant break with how the GOP has approached the issue.

“We are going to be, under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment,” Trump said during an interview with NBC News. “We’re going to be mandating that the insurance company pay.”

Alabama ruling

Democrats began speaking at length about preserving access to IVF earlier this year after the Alabama state Supreme Court issued an opinion in February that frozen embryos constitute children under state law.

That ruling forced all the state’s IVF clinics to halt their work until the state legislature passed a bill providing criminal and civil protections for those clinics.

Democrats have since argued that legislating the belief life begins at conception, which is championed by most conservative Republicans, is at odds with access to IVF, which typically freezes more embryos than would be implanted.

Those frozen embryos can be preserved or discarded, depending on the patient’s wishes, the clinic’s policies and state law. Some conservatives believe that discarding shouldn’t be legal or are opposed to the process altogether.

The Southern Baptist Convention, for example, voted earlier this year to oppose IVF, writing in a resolution that couples should consider adoption and that the process “engages in dehumanizing methods for determining suitability for life.”

“We grieve alongside couples who have been diagnosed with infertility or are currently struggling to conceive, affirm their godly desire for children, and encourage them to consider the ethical implications of assisted reproductive technologies as they look to God for hope, grace, and wisdom amid suffering,” it stated.

Senate Democrats’ press for IVF protections has gone hand-in-hand with their efforts to bolster other reproductive rights, like access to birth control and abortion.

The issues could play a significant role in determining the outcome of the presidential election this November as well which political party controls the House and Senate.

Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance missed Tuesday’s vote, but voted against advancing Democrats’ IVF bill when it was on the floor in June.

IVF bill from Cruz, Britt

Before the Senate held a vote on Democrats’ bill, Cruz asked for quick approval of an IVF bill he and Britt introduced earlier this year.

Washington state Democratic Sen. Patty Murray blocked his unanimous consent request.

During debate on that bill, Britt questioned why Democrats haven’t scheduled a recorded vote on her legislation, saying it could get the 60 votes needed to advance toward final passage.

“Today, we have an opportunity to act quickly and overwhelmingly to protect continued nationwide IVF access for loving American families,” Britt said. “Our bill is the only bill that protects IVF access while safeguarding religious liberty.”

The Britt-Cruz legislation has three co-sponsors, including Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker.

Murray said the Britt-Cruz bill didn’t address what would happen in states that legislate fetal personhood, which she called “the biggest threat to IVF.”

“It is silent on whether states can demand that an embryo be treated the same as a living, breathing person,” Murray said. “Or whether parents should be allowed to have clinics dispose of unused embryos, something that is a common, necessary part of the IVF process.”

Cruz tried to pass his legislation through the unanimous consent process, which allows any one senator to ask for approval. Any one senator can then block that request from moving forward — as Murray did. There is no recorded vote as part of the UC process.

Cruz previously asked for unanimous consent to pass the bill in June, but was blocked then as well.

Legal protections

Democrats’ 64-page bill would have provided legal protections for anyone seeking fertility treatment, including IVF, and for the health care professionals providing that type of care.

It would have barred state and federal governments from “enacting harmful or unwarranted limitations or requirements” on IVF access.

The legislation would have bolstered fertility treatment coverage for members of the military and veterans, as well as their spouses, partners, or gestational surrogates.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine supports Democrats’ legislation. Chief Advocacy and Policy Officer Sean Tipton wrote in a statement released this week that Democrats’ IVF bill would “protect the rights of Americans to seek the medical services they may need to have children and ensure no healthcare provider faces legal consequences for trying to help their patients as they seek to build their families.”

“This legislation also increases access to IVF treatments for all Americans by mandating that employer-sponsored insurance plans and other public insurance plans cover fertility treatment,” Tipton wrote. “Significantly, it would ensure the federal government does right by its own employees by providing coverage for active-duty military, veterans, and civilian staff.”

Man arrested after poking rifle onto Trump golf course charged with federal gun crimes

Ariana Figueroa — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 22:07:10 +0000

Law enforcement personnel continued to investigate the area around Trump International Golf Club on Monday after an apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump a day earlier. The FBI is leading the investigation and has said the incident “appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump” while he was golfing at his West Palm Beach, Florida, club. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Ryan Wesley Routh appeared in federal court Monday on two firearm charges after being apprehended by local law enforcement Sunday in what the FBI is investigating as a possible assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

Authorities found a rifle in an area Routh was seen fleeing on Sunday, but acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe said Monday that Routh did not fire his weapon. Trump was unharmed, his campaign confirmed shortly after Sunday’s incident.?

The Secret Service agent who spotted someone holding a rifle near the treeline of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, fired toward the suspect. Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, was golfing at the time.

The incident is being investigated as the second assassination attempt against Trump in two months. He sustained an injury to his ear during a shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.

The Trump campaign Monday blamed Democrats and the media for the shooting.

“Democrats and the Fake News must immediately cease their inflammatory, violent rhetoric against President Trump — which was mimicked by yesterday’s would-be assassin,” the campaign said in a statement.

Routh, 58, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe in West Palm Beach federal court and was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and for obliterating the serial number on a firearm, according to court records. If convicted, he would face up to 20 years in prison.

Routh is being held in pretrial detention, according to a criminal complaint filed by FBI special agent Mark Thomas.

The FBI is leading the investigation.

Separately, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state will conduct its own investigation into the possible assassination attempt to determine if Routh broke any state laws.

A detention hearing on the federal charges is set for Sept. 23, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Initial investigation

According to an affidavit accompanying the criminal complaint, at 1:31 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, a Secret Service agent walking the perimeter of the golf course spotted a rifle poking out of the tree line. The agent fired toward the rifle.

Rowe said at a Monday press conference that Routh did not have a line of vision at the former president and he did not fire his weapon.

“The agent who was visually sweeping the area … saw the subject armed with what he perceived to be a rifle and immediately discharged his firearm,” Rowe said. “The subject, who did not have line of sight to the former president, fled the scene. He did not fire or get off any shots at our agents.”

Routh fled in a Nissan SUV, according to the charging documents. A witness took photos of the license plate and local law enforcement officers stopped the vehicle in Martin County, which borders Palm Beach County.

West Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the witness was able to identify the driver as “the person that he saw running out of the bushes that jumped into the car.”

Routh was the sole person in the vehicle, according to the complaint.

According to the charging documents, agents found at the site Routh fled a digital camera, two bags, an SKS-style 7.62 x 39 rifle, which is the predecessor to the AK-47 assault rifle that law enforcement initially said they found Sunday, and a scope.

They also found a bag of food and noticed the rifle had the serial number obliterated “to the naked eye,” according to the filing documents.

The weapon also must have crossed state lines, Thomas noted.

“SKS-style 7.62 x 39 caliber rifles are not manufactured in the state of Florida,” Thomas wrote. “Therefore, I submit that there is probable cause to believe that the SKS-style rifle, which was seized from the tree line at Trump International… traveled in interstate or foreign commerce.”

The officers who stopped Routh on Interstate-95 noted that the license plate associated with the Nissan is registered to a 2012 white Ford truck that was reported stolen, according to the complaint.

Law enforcement found a July 10 Facebook post in which Routh directed his followers to contact him on WhatsApp and listed a contact number, according to the complaint.

Phone records associated with that number indicated that the phone “was located in the vicinity of the area along the tree line described from 1:59 a.m. Eastern to 1:31 p.m. Sunday,” according to the complaint.

Secret Service response

The incident follows the July 13 assassination attempt of Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which the Secret Service was heavily criticized for its response.

Then-Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned and Congress established a bipartisan task force to investigate the July shooting.

The leaders of that task force, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, Republican of Pennsylvania, and U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, have requested a briefing from the Secret Service on the security response to the shooting in West Palm Beach.

Members of Congress have been more complimentary of the Secret Service’s response to the Florida incident.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, commended the agency’s response during an interview with “Fox and Friends” on Monday.

“What I understand happened is that those agents that were with him yesterday saw that barrel of that gun between the bushes on a golf course. I mean, you know, that’s a difficult thing to spot. Thankfully, they did,” Johnson said. “But unlike in Butler, they did not pause. They immediately pulled their weapons and fired. I think that’s why this guy, the suspect, the shooter, threw the gun in the bushes and ran.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, said on the Senate floor Monday that senators are open to giving the Secret Service more funding in legislation this month needed to keep the government open past Sept. 30.

“If the Secret Service is in need of more resources, we are prepared to provide it for them,” he said. “Possibly in the upcoming funding agreement.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said Sunday they’d been briefed on the matter and condemned political violence.

Prior arrests, Ukraine activism

In 2002, Routh was convicted in Greensboro, North Carolina, for possession of a weapon of mass destruction, which is a felony in the state. He was arrested after fleeing law enforcement and barricading himself for three hours in a business, according to the Greensboro News & Record.

He was also arrested in North Carolina in 2010 for possession of stolen goods.

Jeffrey Veltri, the special agent in charge of the bureau’s Miami field office, said during a Monday press conference that the FBI is conducting interviews with family and friends in Honolulu and Charlotte, North Carolina.

He added that in 2019 the FBI received a tip that Routh possessed a firearm, which was illegal because of his felony record. When FBI agents followed up, the tipster “did not verify providing the initial information,” Veltri said.

The agency referred the matter to Honolulu police, he said.

Routh was interviewed by The New York Times last year about his efforts to recruit Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine’s war against Russia.

Routh, who had spent time in Ukraine and does not have any U.S. military experience, said he had planned to illegally obtain documents to move those Afghan fighters from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine.

“We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” Routh told the Times in the interview.

He wrote an ebook that he published on Amazon Kindle about his time in Ukraine, during which he became disillusioned about the country’s ability to win its war against Russia.

Kathleen Shaffer, who said Routh was her fiancé, set up a GoFundMe in 2022 to help Routh travel to Ukraine for 90 days to fight in the war.

The fundraiser has been deleted, but can be accessed through internet archives.

“Any and all funds will support purchase of additional flags, tactical gear, any supplies needed for incoming volunteers, and hostel lodging,” according to the fundraiser, which raised $1,865 out of its goal of $2,500.

States Newsroom called a number associated with Shaffer, but could not reach her.

Public records show Routh currently lives in Kaaawa on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

In 2018, Hawaii News Now interviewed Routh about torrential rains in Kaaawa. Routh talked in the interview about a recent home project he finished after buying his home a year prior.

Trump, Harris campaigns move quickly past apparent assassination attempt on GOP nominee

Jennifer Shutt — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 20:32:47 +0000

The South Portico of the White House is seen Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

WASHINGTON — The presidential campaigns are rushing ahead this week without missing a beat, despite numerous law enforcement agencies investigating a possible assassination attempt Sunday on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, was looking to pick up an endorsement from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters during a private sit-down interview with the organization on Monday before heading to several campaign stops later this week.

Trump, the GOP nominee, whose campaign is fundraising off a gunman putting an AK-47 through the fence at his Florida golf course before being confronted by the Secret Service, is expected to continue his regular schedule.

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, will be on the campaign trail as well, after making headlines this weekend when he seemingly admitted making up a story about Haitian immigrants in Ohio before doubling down on the false claim.

“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Vance said during a combative interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Vance then insisted that he’s repeating concerns from his constituents, despite public officials and police officers in Ohio saying there’s no evidence of immigrants eating geese or cats.

“I say that we’re creating a story, meaning we’re creating the American media focusing on it,” Vance added.

Vance’s comments and repeated criticism of Harris came shortly after her campaign released a list of 17 Reagan administration officials endorsing her bid for the Oval Office.

“Our votes in this election are less about supporting the Democratic Party and more about our resounding support for democracy,” they wrote. “It’s our hope that this letter will signal to other Republicans and former Republicans that supporting the Democratic ticket this year is the only path forward toward an America that is strong and viable for our children and grandchildren for years to come.”

Ken Adelman, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and U.S. arms control director; Carol Adelman, USAID assistant administrator; Robert Thompson, senior staff economist at the Council of Economic Advisers; Gahl Burt, White House social secretary; B. Jay Cooper, deputy assistant to the president; Kathleen Shanahan, a staff assistant at the National Security Council; and Pete Souza, official White House photographer were among those from the Reagan administration to publicly voice their support for Harris.

NABJ chat, stops in swing states

Tuesday’s campaign schedule shows a packed day of public events for all the major campaign names.

Harris is expected to attend a fireside chat with the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia, months after Trump’s on-stage panel interview with three NABJ journalists stirred up controversy within the organization and made headlines for Trump’s responses to their questions.

Trump will host a town hall in Flint, Michigan moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his former press secretary, during the evening. Trump also abruptly announced an XSpaces event for Monday night at 8 p.m. Eastern on the social media platform.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, running mate to Harris, is expected to attend events in Macon and Atlanta, Georgia. He’ll then head to Asheville, North Carolina to give a stump speech.

Vance is expected to speak at a rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Also on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood will hear arguments on whether Robert F. Kennedy’s Jr.’s name should be removed from Michigan’s ballot.

“Before a court may issue a temporary restraining order, it should be assured that the movant has produced compelling evidence of irreparable and imminent injury and that the movant has exhausted reasonable efforts to give the adverse party notice,” Hood wrote.

Kennedy, who suspended his bid for the Oval Office last month, had requested an immediate ruling, which the judge denied.

FBI investigating apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump as he golfed Sunday

Ariana Figueroa — Sun, 15 Sep 2024 22:59:20 +0000

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw holds a photograph of the rifle and other items found near where a suspect was discovered as he stands with Rafael Barros, right, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service's Miami field office, during a press conference regarding an apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on Sept. 15, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The FBI and U.S. Secret Service, along with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office, are investigating the incident, which the FBI said "appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump' while he was golfing at Trump International Golf Club. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating a possible assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump after gunshots were fired Sunday near Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the GOP presidential nominee was playing golf.

The FBI said in a statement to States Newsroom the incident “appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”

A male suspect is in custody, law enforcement officials said.

“President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity. No further details at this time,” Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, said in a statement about 20 minutes after the incident occurred just before 2 p.m. Eastern.

The FBI is taking a lead on investigating, said Jeffrey Veltri, the special agent in charge of the bureau’s Miami field office during a late afternoon press conference by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that a Secret Service agent with Trump spotted a rifle coming out of bushes next to the golf course.

“The Secret Service agent that was on the course did a fantastic job,” he said. “What they do is, they have an agent that jumps one hole ahead of time to where the president was at, and he was able to spot this rifle barrel, stickin’ out of the fence, and immediately engage that individual, at which time the individual took off.”

The suspect in the bushes had an AK-47 style rifle with a scope, two backpacks filled with ceramic tile and a GoPro camera, Bradshaw said.

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, is safe after gunshots were fired in his vicinity while he played golf Sunday near his Florida home. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Bradshaw said a witness saw the suspect come out of the bushes and take off in a black Nissan. The witness took a picture of the license plate and local law enforcement officers were able to stop the vehicle in Martin County, which borders Palm Beach County.

“They spotted the vehicle and pulled it over and detained the guy,” Bradshaw said.

Once the driver was detained, Bradshaw said the witness was able to identify the driver as “the person that he saw running out of the bushes that jumped into the car.”

Bradshaw said the suspect was about 300 to 500 yards away from Trump.

“With a rifle and a scope like that, that’s not a long distance,” he said.

Bradshaw did not provide more details about the suspect’s identity.

U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said on social media prior to the press conference that “a protective incident” involving Trump occurred and that the Secret Service was investigating the incident with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. He also confirmed that Trump was safe.

The private golf club is about 4 miles from Trump’s primary residence at Mar-a-Lago.

Reaction from Vance, Harris, Biden

The Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, wrote on social media that he has spoken to Trump, who is “in good spirits.”

“Still much we don’t know, but I’ll be hugging my kids extra tight tonight and saying a prayer of gratitude,” Vance wrote.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said on social media that she had been briefed and she is glad Trump is safe.

“Violence has no place in America,” she said.

The White House said that President Joe Biden had also been briefed.

“They are relieved to know that he is safe,” the White House said of Biden and Harris. “They will be kept regularly updated by their team.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in a statement that he applauded “the Secret Service for their quick response to ensure former President Trump’s safety.”

“There is no place in this country for political violence of any kind,” he said. “The perpetrator must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The incident follows a July 13 assassination attempt of Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Congress set up a bipartisan task force to investigate that attempted assassination. The chair of the task force, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, Republican of Pennsylvania and the top Democrat, U.S. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado released a joint statement, requesting a briefing from the Secret Service on the shooting in West Palm Beach “and how security responded.”

“We are thankful that the former President was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms,” they wrote. “The Task Force will share updates as we learn more.”

U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, an Ohio Republican and a member of the task force investigating that incident, said on social media “with continued threats against Trump, it is critical to remain dedicated to our work on the Task Force to Investigate the Attempted Assassination of President Trump.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Harris at Congressional Black Caucus dinner warns Trump will ‘take our nation backward’

Shauneen Miranda — Sun, 15 Sep 2024 12:54:54 +0000

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks onstage during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 53rd Annual Legislative Conference Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner at Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Sept. 14, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Congressional Black Caucus Foundation)

WASHINGTON —? Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, warned members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Saturday that its vision is “under profound threat.”

Harris, alongside President Joe Biden, cautioned the crowd on what’s at stake if the GOP presidential nominee — former President Donald Trump — takes back the White House in November during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C.

The gala followed a series of events during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference this week. According to a pool report, about 3,500 people were in attendance at the dinner at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

“The CBC has always had a vision for the future of our nation, a future where we can see what is possible, unburdened by what has been, a future where we fulfill the promise of America, a promise of freedom, opportunity and justice, not just for some, but for all,” Harris said.

“While we moved and fight to move our nation forward toward a brighter future, Donald Trump and his extremist allies intend to take our nation backward,” she said, adding that “they will give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations, cut Social Security and Medicare and end the Affordable Care Act, which the CBC fought so hard to pass — but we are not going back.”

Harris — who now has the chance to become the first woman president, the second Black president and the first president of South Asian descent — was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus while she served as a member of the U.S. Senate from California.

After Biden passed the torch to Harris following his disastrous debate performance in late June, the veep has conducted an unprecedented and expedited campaign as she and Trump vie for the Oval Office.

“Let’s be clear: there are old ghosts with new garments trying to seize your power and extremists coming for your freedom, making it harder for you to vote and have your vote counted, closing doors of opportunity, attacking affirmative action and the value of diversity, equity and inclusion — banning books, erasing history,” Biden said Saturday.

The president received the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award ahead of his remarks. He was praised by Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat and the chair of the board of directors of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and Rep. Steven Horsford, a Nevada Democrat and the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The White House hosted its first-ever brunch in celebration of Black Excellence on Friday, where Biden underscored some of the efforts of his administration in aiming to advance opportunities and equity for Black communities.

Biden on Saturday again denounced the attacks against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, saying “it’s wrong” and “it’s got to stop.”

He added that “any president should reject hate in America” and “not incite it.”

On the other side of the presidential campaign aisle, Trump has been demonizing immigrants, most recently at a rally in Las Vegas on Friday night. He’s made false and baseless claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and Venezuelan gangs in Aurora, Colorado, while threatening mass deportations if he wins another term.

At a press conference in California on Friday, Trump promised that, if elected, he would carry out the “largest deportation in the history of our country” — and that it would “start with Springfield and Aurora.”

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Trump, Harris storm swing states in days after debate as presidential race ratchets up

Ashley Murray — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 22:36:41 +0000

The Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, greets the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, as they joined other officials at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2024, honoring the lives of those lost in the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. The handshake came the day after a fiery debate between the candidates. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump intensified in the days following their first, and likely only, debate, as both hit swing states with just over 50 days until the election.

The Harris campaign rode a wave of momentum to the week’s end, cutting ads featuring debate clips and kicking off an “aggressive” blitz of battleground states that it dubbed the “New Way Forward” tour.

Trump and Republican Party officials meanwhile filed what they described as “election integrity” lawsuits this week targeting voter registration and absentee ballots in Nevada and Michigan.

While numerous polls showed Harris outperformed the former president at Tuesday’s debate, Trump continued to tout his performance at a press conference Friday and chastised a reporter for suggesting some Republicans thought he gave a poor showing.

“We’ve gotten great praise for the debate,” he said, adding “You know, look, you come from Fox (News), you shouldn’t play the same game as everybody else.”

He has refused to debate Harris again.

Trump repeats lies about migrants

Trump spoke for roughly an hour and took a dozen questions at the Trump National Golf Course in Los Angeles where he promised, if elected, “to start with Springfield and Aurora” when he carries out the “largest deportation in the history of our country.”

Trump has repeated baseless rumors that Venezuelan gangs overtook an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado. In an unforgettable moment during Tuesday’s debate he claimed Haitian migrants are eating domesticated pets in Springfield, Ohio — a lie that circulated among the right on social media, including from his running mate, Ohio’s junior U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance.

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians live in the U.S. legally under temporary protected status after the nearby Caribbean nation was rocked by a violent government collapse this spring.

When asked by a reporter Friday if he felt any concern for the Ohio community that has been thrust into the national spotlight and is now the target of bomb threats, Trump said no.

“The real threat is what’s happening at our borders,” he snapped back.

Trump also lobbed similar attacks at a Thursday night rally in Tucson, Arizona, describing a small western Pennsylvania town of Charleroi as “not so beautiful now” because Haitian migrants moved in.

In reality, Charleroi has suffered population loss and blight for decades following the collapse of the steel industry in the 1980s.

Harris campaigns in North Carolina, Pennsylvania

Prior to the debate, a national New York Times/Siena poll showed Trump with a slight edge over Harris.

“We are the underdog, let’s be clear about that,” Harris told a roaring crowd in Greensboro, North Carolina Thursday night. “And so we have hard work ahead of us, but we like hard work.”

Harris held back-to-back campaign rallies Thursday night in North Carolina’s Raleigh and Greensboro that together drew 25,000, according to campaign figures.

The vice president headed to the battleground state of Pennsylvania Friday, where she first visited Classic Elements, a bookshop and cafe in the ruby-red Johnstown area before a nighttime rally in Wilkes-Barre.

The commonwealth’s junior U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and wife Gisele accompanied Harris to the small business, where she told about a dozen patrons, “You’ve created a space that is a safe space, where people are welcome and know that they’re encouraged to be with each other and feel a sense of belonging,” according to reporters traveling with her.

“I will be continuing to travel around the state to make sure that I’m listening as much as we are talking,” Harris said. “And ultimately I feel very strongly that you’ve got to earn every vote and that means spending time with folks in the communities where they live. And so that’s why I’m here and we’re going to be spending a lot more time in Pennsylvania.”

Harris garnered the coveted endorsement from mega pop star and Pennsylvania native Taylor Swift immediately after the debate.

Both Trump and Harris at 9/11 ceremony

By week’s end the vice president added to her list of Republican endorsements, when the Bush-era Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez announced his support. Gonzalez, who served under former president George W. Bush, wrote Thursday in Politico that Trump poses “perhaps the most serious threat to the rule of law in a generation.”

Tuesday’s debate was immediately followed by the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Harris joined President Joe Biden at multiple ceremonies.

Trump also attended events in New York City and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, accompanied by far-right activist and 9/11 conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer. He defended her at his press conference Friday, calling her a “free spirit.”

Several Republicans have criticized Loomer in recent days.

Biden celebrates Black achievements, decries racism against Haitian migrants

Shauneen Miranda — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 21:33:11 +0000

Actress and film producer Marsai Martin delivers remarks during a brunch held to celebrate Black Excellence on the South Lawn of the White House on Sept. 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C. President Biden hosted the brunch during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual Legislative Conference this week to recognize achievements in the Black community. At right is Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young. (Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, in the last months of his four-year term, detailed his administration’s efforts in seeking to advance opportunities and equity for Black communities on Friday during the White House’s first-ever brunch in celebration of Black Excellence.

The event came as the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation hosted its annual legislative conference this week in Washington, D.C.

“Today, we honor this simple truth: Black history is American history, Black excellence is American excellence, and folks, we don’t erase history like others are trying to — we make history,” Biden said to a crowd on the South Lawn that included members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other Black leaders.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre; Trell Thomas, founder of Black Excellence Brunch; Marsai Martin, an actress and producer; and Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, gave brief remarks ahead of Biden.

“I know it because I’ve seen it. I’ve been vice president to the first Black president in American history, a president to the first Black vice president — and God willing, to the first female Black president in American history,” Biden added.

Biden — who originally sought a second term — passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris in mid-July following his disastrous debate performance in June against the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, now has the chance to become the first woman to serve as president, the first Black woman president, and the first president of South Asian descent.

Biden also underscored some of the administration’s key efforts in regard to Black communities, such as achieving the lowest Black unemployment rate on record. As of August, the administration has created 2.4 million jobs for Black workers, according to a White House fact sheet.

He also emphasized the administration’s efforts to ensure that more Black Americans have health care than ever before. The White House says it’s done so by “lowering premium costs by an average of $800 for millions of Americans, increasing Black enrollment in Affordable Care Act coverage by 95%, or over 1.7 million people since 2020,” per the fact sheet.

Biden added that “on this very lawn, in front of the White House built by enslaved people, we hosted the first-ever Juneteenth concert after I made Juneteenth a federal holiday, and on this lawn, we celebrated the first Black woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, the best decision I made: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.”

He also condemned racism toward Haitian migrants to the U.S., saying the community is “under attack in our country right now” and calling it “simply wrong.” Conspiracy theories about migrants and bomb threats continue to rock Springfield, Ohio.

Trump at Tuesday’s presidential debate hosted by ABC News amplified false claims about Haitian migrants there, saying: “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” adding that “they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Appearing to allude to Trump, Biden added that “there’s no place in America. This has to stop, what he’s doing. It has to stop.”

Meanwhile, Biden and Harris are both slated to speak at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Phoenix Awards Dinner Saturday in Washington, D.C.

‘Gross negligence’: Shortages in USDA food aid for Native Americans blasted in Congress

Jennifer Shutt — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 21:18:24 +0000

Warehouse worker Robert Paschal stocks a cooler with fresh produce at the Food Distribution Program at Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, Nov. 6, 2018. (Photo by Preston Keres/U.S. Department of Agriculture)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack apologized to tribal communities this week for delays in shipments and delivery of expired food during a tense congressional hearing that highlighted widespread failures within the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.

Vilsack’s comments followed detailed testimony from leaders of the Chickasaw Nation, Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians and Spirit Lake Sioux Nation about the food shortages during a rare joint hearing of the House Appropriations and Agriculture committees.

“This is a dire issue that’s evoked a genuine bipartisan and bicameral concern in Congress,” said House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, who is a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.

The USDA, he said, had failed in its duty to provide “critical food assistance for tribal members and vulnerable senior citizens” for months, amounting to “gross negligence.”

“Missed and delayed deliveries, empty shelves and bare warehouses have become commonplace,” Cole said.

House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, said the food shortage was unacceptable.

“It must be among our government’s highest priorities that the most vulnerable communities among us do not suffer from hunger,” she said. “But this disruption to food deliveries has risked exactly that.”

The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations provides food to “income-eligible households living on Indian reservations, and to American Indian households residing in approved areas near reservations and in Oklahoma,” according to a USDA fact sheet.

The USDA buys and ships food selected from a pre-approved list to state agencies and Indian Tribal Organizations, which in turn store and distribute the food to eligible participants.

Tribal representatives speak out

The three tribal representatives detailed how those bare shelves have affected their communities and how the USDA told tribes — rather than consulting with them — about a major change in the program’s contract, leading to distrust and anger.

The three also pressed Congress for much more control over their food supply during the four-hour hearing.

Darrell G. Seki Sr., chairman of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians in Minnesota, said his community’s ability to feed people through the FDPIR program was “jeopardized” by failures that have persisted throughout the summer.

“We need more consultation with tribes,” Seki said. “We are the first Americans here. We should be the priority because of the treaties that were adopted under the U.S. Constitution.”

Seki called on lawmakers to “do the right thing” numerous times during the hearing.

Mary Greene-Trottier, president of the National Association of Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations and a member of the Spirit Lake Sioux Nation in North Dakota, said the program is essential for tribal communities that exist in food deserts.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously known as food stamps, doesn’t work in some tribal communities, making FDPIR a “critical stopgap,” she said.

“SNAP is an important tool in the feeding program toolbox, but is not meaningful if you lack access to a full-service grocery store or even a convenience store,” Greene-Trottier testified.

She told the committees the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations serves about 55,000 people in Native communities each month.

Greene-Trottier also said the problems that began this spring have led to a lack of trust in USDA throughout her community.

Self-determination project

Marty Wafford, under secretary of support and programs for the Chickasaw Nation Department of Health in Oklahoma, said there is an “urgent need for Congress to expand tribal self-governance.”

She testified that a self-determination demonstration pilot program Congress authorized in 2018, which allows some tribal communities to produce and supply more food, has been “highly successful.”

“This inventory and warehousing crisis is an example of how the locally procured food system works,” Wafford said. “We have not experienced ordering or delivery issues with foods secured with the self-determination project, in which we currently supply a variety of beef, pecans and dried hominy.”

For years, she said, tribal nations have been striving to reestablish food production, including growing crops, raising buffalo and cattle and establishing meat processing facilities and fish and shellfish hatcheries.

Tribal representatives testified that instead of consulting them on the change in contracting — that shifted from two suppliers to just one — USDA officials merely informed them in February and then didn’t take their concerns seriously.

Tribal communities were told they wouldn’t be allowed to order any food through the FDPIR program during the month of April, after which the delays, missing shipments and delivery of expired food began.

The USDA has put in place stopgap measures and short-term solutions, but tribal officials told members of Congress that those didn’t fully alleviate the situation, which they said continues to this day.

Tribal leaders called on Congress to make several changes to food procurement, including a regional sourcing model for food distribution.

They told lawmakers the FDPIR program needs a tracking system, so tribal members can see when their food orders have been shipped, instead of being forced to repeatedly call in and hope someone answers the phone.

Review of contracts required

Vilsack told lawmakers, and the tribal representatives who stayed in the room to hear his explanations for the food shortages, that USDA is “committed” to listening to tribal leaders more and keeping Congress better informed of problems with the food distribution program.

He explained that in 2022, USDA began the process of reviewing the contracts for the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, in part because under the federal procurement law, the department wasn’t allowed any additional extensions of the previous contracts.

Following months of meetings and requesting bids from contractors, the USDA received eight proposals in 2023. One wasn’t close to meeting the requirements, leaving a panel with seven to review between September and December.

That group ultimately determined only one application, from Paris Brothers in Kansas City, Mo., met the full list of requirements. That company had been one of the two that USDA contracted with to provide food under the FDPIR program for years.

Paris Brothers told the USDA at the time they had the capacity to handle the full contract, which Vilsack said later turned out not to be the case. The contract costs $35 million per year for the five-year term, totaling $175 million.

Once USDA realized there were mounting problems with the new single-supplier model, Vilsack said staff began working to implement fixes, both at Paris Brothers and for the tribal communities.

For example, the company increased work to seven days a week, boosted the number of shifts per day, hired more temporary and permanent workers and increased training.

The USDA has also signed a $25 million six-month contract with another company to help alleviate the shortage of food deliveries to tribal communities.

Given Paris Brothers’ long record, Vilsack said officials at USDA assumed the issues could be worked out.

But, he said, changes the USDA instituted in August should have taken place sooner and that lower-level staff at the department should have brought the problems to his attention months before he was informed in late July.

‘Make sure nothing like this ever happens again’

Members of Congress on the two committees said they still have concerns over Paris Brothers and the USDA’s management of the program.

“It’s critical that this crisis is resolved quickly and the changes are made in the contracting process to make sure nothing like this ever happens again,” Cole said.

House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican, said he expects the USDA to fire at least one person for not addressing the problems at Paris Brothers sooner and that the department needs to levy fines against the company.

“If somebody’s head doesn’t roll over this, the American taxpayer should be furious,” Harris said. “This is tens of millions of dollars, and I’m not even talking about what we did to our tribal nations — delivering outdated food, missing shipments.”

When the Appropriations panel next meets with USDA officials, Harris said, he expects witnesses to arrive with detailed information about what fines were levied against Paris Brothers and how much the federal government had to spend to ensure food delivery to tribal communities.

Harris expressed “no confidence” Paris Brothers would be able to reestablish on-time, unexpired food deliveries to tribal communities and questioned whether the company was fulfilling other contracts ahead of tribal communities.

“I suspect that they shorted the tribal nations while keeping other commercial contracts whole. And we should never tolerate that,” Harris said.

Georgia Rep. Sanford Bishop, Jr., the ranking member on the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, said it was a “shock” to hear of the problems within the FDPIR program after years of it being well run.

Bishop pressed for more funding for the Agricultural Marketing Service, the office within the USDA that handles contracting.

The last full-year government spending bill, which Congress approved earlier this year, provided 12% less in funding for the service than was requested, he said. That represented a $14.8 million cut to its enacted funding level.

“Congress cannot meet 21st-century needs and challenges with 20th-century budgets,” Bishop said.

Georgia Rep. David Scott, the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, said lawmakers must bring representatives from Paris Brothers in front of Congress to answer questions about the mismanagement.

Paris Brothers declined to comment in response to a request from States Newsroom, writing that “due to our ongoing work with USDA on this matter we are deferring all inquiries to the USDA communications team.”

Support for access to in vitro fertilization to be voted on again in U.S. Senate

Jennifer Shutt — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 20:19:52 +0000

Embryologist Ric Ross holds a dish with human embryos at the La Jolla IVF Clinic Feb. 28, 2007 in La Jolla, California. (Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate will vote for a second time next week on legislation from Democrats that would bolster support for in vitro fertilization, though it’s unlikely GOP lawmakers will reverse course from their previous opposition.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the revote Thursday afternoon, saying he hopes that Republicans will join with Democrats to advance the measure toward final passage. The bill would ensure patients have access to in vitro fertilization.

“Republicans can’t claim to be pro-family on one hand, only to block pro-family policies like federal protections for IVF and the child tax credit,” Schumer said. “But that’s just what they did this summer and I hope we get a different outcome when we vote for a second time.”

The Senate last held a procedural vote on the bill in June, though it didn’t come close to the 60 senators needed to advance.

The 48-47 procedural vote was mostly along party lines with Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski breaking with Republicans to support moving forward with debate and a final passage vote.

Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy argued against advancing the bill during debate, saying the legislation wasn’t necessary since no state currently barred IVF.

“Today’s vote is disingenuous — pushing a bill haphazardly drafted and destined to fail does a disservice to all who may pursue IVF treatments,” Cassidy said at the time.

Washington state Democratic Sen. Patty Murray spoke in support of approving the legislation, saying in June it shouldn’t be “controversial, especially if Republicans are serious about” supporting access to IVF.

“As we saw in Alabama, the threat to IVF is not hypothetical, it is not overblown and it is not fearmongering,” Murray said.

Alabama state legislators earlier this year had to provide criminal and civil protection to IVF clinics after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos constituted children under state law.

The opinion from Alabama’s justices temporarily led all IVF clinics within the state to close their doors to patients, wreaking havoc on couples hoping to start or grow their families through the complicated, emotionally draining and often expensive process.

The issue also has emerged in the presidential race, and was fought over in the Sept. 10 debate by the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump.

Additional security will be in place for Jan. 6, 2025 certification of presidential vote

Jennifer Shutt — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 19:19:17 +0000

A protester holds a Trump flag inside the U.S .Capitol Building near the Senate chamber on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Capitol Police are welcoming a special security designation from the Department of Homeland Security for Jan. 6, 2025, when Congress will gather to certify the Electoral College vote count for the winner of the presidential election.

The last time Congress undertook the responsibility, a pro-Trump mob attacked the building, eventually breaking through police barricades, severely injuring officers and disrupting the process.

The rioters were spurred on by false claims from former president and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump that he won the 2020 election when he had in fact lost both the popular vote and the Electoral College.

Members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence were evacuated or told to shelter in place in their offices as one of the most secure buildings in the country was overrun.

Federal prosecutors have since secured convictions or plea deals for hundreds of the people who attacked law enforcement and obstructed Congress’ responsibility to certify the vote that day.

United States Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger released a written statement Thursday saying the “National Special Security Event designation will further strengthen our work to protect the Members of Congress and the legislative process.”

“The United States Capitol Police has been preparing for the January 6 count, as well as the Inauguration, for several months,” Manger added. “We have made hundreds of changes and improvements over the past three years, and we are confident that the Capitol will be safe and secure.”

National Special Security Events, or NSSEs, are somewhat expected for major events, like State of the Union speeches, presidential inaugurations and the presidential nominating conventions that the Democrats and Republicans hold every four years.

This, however, will be the first time that one has been issued for Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote.

The designation means the U.S. Secret Service will be the lead federal law enforcement agency planning security for the event, despite it being held in the U.S. Capitol, where USCP typically holds the top jurisdiction.

“National Special Security Events are events of the highest national significance,” Eric Ranaghan, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Dignitary Protective Division, said in a written statement released Wednesday. “The U.S. Secret Service, in collaboration with our federal, state, and local partners are committed to developing and implementing a comprehensive and integrated security plan to ensure the safety and security of this event and its participants.”

Federal officials say no sign bird flu is spreading among humans, despite Missouri case

Jennifer Shutt — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 18:28:29 +0000

A Missouri case marked the 14th person to contract highly pathogenic avian influenza, or H5N1, this year amid ongoing outbreaks among poultry and dairy cattle. The Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Iowa State University tests samples from animals for viruses such as avian influenza. (Photo courtesy of Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory)

WASHINGTON — Public health officials are still trying to determine how a Missouri resident contracted bird flu without having any contact with infected animals, but said Thursday there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission taking place in small enclaves or in a more widespread manner.

The Missouri case marked the 14th person to contract highly pathogenic avian influenza, or H5N1, this year amid ongoing outbreaks among poultry and dairy cattle, though it marks the first time someone without contact to those animals was diagnosed with the virus.

Nirav Shah, principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on a call with reporters the “evidence points to this being a one-off case, and those do happen with novel influenza.”

“Thus far, we have not seen any evidence of unusual levels of influenza activity in the area where this individual resides,” Shah said during the hour-long briefing. “There have been no increases in the volume of visits to emergency departments for influenza and no increase in laboratory detections of influenza cases in Missouri more broadly.”

The state’s public health laboratory, he said, is subtyping all positive cases of Influenza A, following the CDC recommending ongoing detailed surveillance this spring.

The practice is how doctors and public health officials confirmed this case and would likely be how they diagnose any uptick in cases in the future in the “overwhelming” number states that are taking the extra step of subtyping, he said.

There are several types of influenza virus that are classified by the letters A, B, C and D. The viruses within the influenza A category are further categorized or subtyped based on the proteins hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). There are at least 130 combinations of subtypes within Influenza A, according to the CDC.

“So here’s the bottom line, our influenza surveillance system is designed to find needles in haystacks,” Shah said. “And as this case and others show, it is working. And here, in this case, we found such a needle, but we don’t know how it got there.”

The Missouri patient, who has significant underlying medical conditions, was admitted to a hospital on Aug. 22 after presenting to health care providers with “acute symptoms of chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and weakness,” according to the CDC. The patient is not being identified out of privacy concerns.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced the diagnosis on Sept. 4, as did the CDC in a separate statement.

Missouri DHSS noted the patient had recovered and been sent home from the hospital, while the CDC pointed out that the state has reported cases of H5N1 in commercial and backyard poultry flocks this year.

The patient hadn’t been in contact with any livestock or poultry and didn’t indicate in a detailed questionnaire that they had consumed any food products, like raw milk, that could have potentially transmitted the virus.

Shah said on the call that public health officials are technically classifying this as a case of H5 and not H5N1 as they work to sequence the virus more fully, though that might not be possible.

The CDC has begun classifying the virus’ genetic sequence, but since the patient’s viral RNA levels were “extremely low” the agency may not be “able to generate a full flu genome, including the neuraminidase or the N part of the virus,” he said.

“We’re throwing everything we’ve got at this, but ultimately a full sequence may not be technically feasible because of the low concentration of viral RNA,” Shah said. “The data that we do have and that have been generated thus far show an H5 virus that is closely related to the (H5N1) virus circulating among dairy cows.”

The CDC, he said, is “continuing to look for evidence of genetic changes that would suggest, for example, an increased potential for spread.” None have yet been found.

Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC, said the risk to the general public from bird flu remains low.

“We assess risk continuously with every case and with every sort of change, and we continue to look at it as low,” Daskalakis said. “If there are changes, we would reassess that risk in real time.”

While the CDC investigation is ongoing, Shah said the further out from the case public health officials get without seeing any new diagnosis, the less likely they become.

“We are beyond the typical 10-day window for transmission,” Shah said. “And so with each passing day, the likelihood of this being something that’s happening deep underwater goes down.”

Democrats introduce resolution stating U.S. House support for emergency abortion care

Jennifer Shutt — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 16:49:18 +0000

U.S. House Democrats introduced a resolution Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, that would clarify when health care providers can use abortion as emergency medical care. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON —? U.S. House Democrats introduced a resolution Thursday that would clarify when health care providers can use abortion as emergency medical care amid a patchwork of state laws that have led to dozens of stories of women being turned away from emergency departments when experiencing complications or miscarriages.

The two-page resolution would express “the sense of the House of Representatives” that abortion is a form of stabilizing care under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, a law from the 1980s.

“Since the overturn of Roe v Wade, more than two years ago, we’ve heard horrifying stories of pregnant women being turned away from emergency rooms or unable to receive the life-saving care that they need due to cruel state abortion bans, even though the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, also known as EMTALA, requires emergency rooms to treat and stabilize pregnant patients,” Ohio Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes said during a press conference just outside the U.S. Capitol.

The resolution, Sykes said, would clarify that women have access to the full slate of reproductive health care “in a life or death situation.”

New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill cited analysis from The Associated Press that more than 100 women have been turned away from emergency departments or negligently treated while experiencing pregnancy distress since 2022.

“It’s an outrage,” Sherrill said. “Lives are at risk. And despite clear federal law and additional guidance from the Biden administration, states across the country are refusing to treat pregnant women in emergencies.”

The resolution wouldn’t actually change the language of EMTALA or enact any new laws, but would express “the sense of the House of Representatives that every person has the basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care.”

The Biden administration issued a public letter two years ago, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, that EMTALA protected doctors and qualified health care professionals who perform abortions to preserve the health of a pregnant patient or save a patient’s life.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra wrote at the time that “no matter where you live, women have the right to emergency care — including abortion care.”

That interpretation of EMTALA was challenged by numerous Republican states, eventually reaching the U.S. Supreme Court this year.

The justices, however, decided in June to send the case back to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, writing that the high court took the case too early and should have waited until after the lower court had heard the case and issued its ruling.

The appeals court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case in early December.

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark said during the press conference the resolution is necessary to ensure women in states with bans or significant restrictions on abortion can consider all their options with their doctor when their life or health is at risk.

“We’re here because emergency health care is a legal right and a moral obligation,” Clark said. “This is a straightforward resolution. For Democrats, it’s common sense.”

‘Three to one’: Republicans protest presidential debate fact checking as unfair to Trump

Jacob Fischler — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 00:55:03 +0000

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican nominee former President Donald Trump, took part in an ABC News debate on Sept. 10, 2024. “World News Tonight” anchor and managing editor David Muir and “World News Tonight” Sunday anchor and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis were the moderators. (Photo courtesy ABC News/Michael Le Brecht II)

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans complained Wednesday that the previous night’s ABC News presidential debate was unfair toward the GOP nominee.

But the campaigns of Trump and the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, also engaged via the news media about the possibility of a second debate before the Nov. 5 election.

Trump and his allies said the ABC News moderators, “World News Tonight” anchor and managing editor David Muir and “World News Tonight” Sunday anchor and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis, sided with Harris by fact-checking a few of Trump’s more outlandish claims.

“It was three to one,” Trump said Wednesday in a call to Fox News’ morning program “Fox & Friends,” referring to Harris and the two moderators. “It was a rigged deal, as I assumed it would be, because when you looked at the fact that they were correcting everything and not correcting with her.”

At the debate Tuesday night, Davis contested Trump’s claim that a former Democratic governor floated the possibility of allowing abortion after a baby is born.

“There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” Davis said.

Muir also challenged Trump when the former president repeated baseless rumors that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing and eating residents’ pets, saying Springfield’s city manager had debunked the claim.

“Terribly moderated debate,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told Fox News’ Sean Hannity immediately after the debate. “It was three against one.”

Representatives for ABC News did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the criticism.

Polling on debate

The perception that ABC’s moderators were partial to Harris was not widely shared outside of Republicans.

In a YouGov survey of more than 3,000 adults, 40% said the moderators were fair and unbiased. The second-most common answer was “don’t know,” with 29%, and 27% of respondents said the moderators were biased toward Harris.

A plurality of independents, 32%, and 69% of Democrats also said the moderators were fair. Just more than half of Republicans said Muir and Davis were unfair to Trump.

On his social media platform Truth Social overnight, Trump touted his debate performance and posted several screenshots of right-wing news outlet polls stating he had won the matchup.

“Comrade Kamala Harris is going around wanting another Debate because she lost so badly – Just look at the Polls! It’s true with prizefighters, when they lose a fight, they immediately want another. MAGA2024,” Trump wrote in response to the Harris campaign suggesting a second meeting.

Trump defended his comments about Haitian migrants in Ohio. The false claims have been circulating among right-wing circles, and amplified on social media Monday by Trump’s running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.

He posted police audio published by the conservative news outlet The Federalist alleging migrants were seen carrying geese in late August. Trump also republished a video, fact-checked by the Canton, Ohio, newspaper The Repository, of a woman, with no known connection to the Caribbean nation, in Canton, who on Aug. 16 was arrested and charged with animal cruelty for allegedly killing and eating a cat.

Prior to the debate, Trump posted an AI-generated image of him surrounded by and hugging cats and water fowl on his private jet, as well as an army of cats wearing MAGA hats and carrying semi-automatic rifles.

Another debate?

During a Sept. 11 memorial event in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Trump reportedly said he was open to two more debates, hosted by NBC News and Fox News.

The NBC event would be Sept. 25, but Harris has not agreed to it, preferring a date in October.

Fox executives on Tuesday night renewed the network’s offer to host another debate in a battleground state in October.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in an email the former president’s Fox News comment was a reference to a town hall with commentator Sean Hannity earlier this month.

“It was supposed to be on September 4,” Leavitt wrote. “Kamala didn’t show up so it turned into a town hall with Sean Hannity.”

The Harris campaign has said the vice president wants another debate with Trump in October. Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon repeated that in a statement late Tuesday.

“Under the bright lights, the American people got to see the choice they will face this fall at the ballot box: between moving forward with Kamala Harris, or going backwards with Trump,” O’Malley Dillon wrote. “That’s what they saw tonight and what they should see at a second debate in October. Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?”

GOP U.S. senators push to tie voter ID bill to government funding

Ariana Figueroa — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 22:26:18 +0000

Sen. Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, introduced the Senate version of the House’s bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. (Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — A handful of U.S. Senate Republicans called Wednesday for the chamber to pass a bill to keep the government open that would also require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections to deter voting by people who are not citizens, something that is rare and already illegal.

Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama urged the chamber to take the House’s approach to a stopgap government funding bill by adding the proof-of-citizenship measure.

“We have to make sure we ensure that there’s actually zero fraud,” Scott said.

The senators argued that because elections can be decided by as little as a few hundred votes, legislation requiring proof of citizenship is needed.

“Protecting the integrity of our system by requiring proof of citizenship isn’t controversial. It’s actually common sense,” Marshall said. “Just as we have laws to prevent speeding, we need laws to prevent illegal voting.”

Shutdown politics

The press conference came hours after U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana pulled the stopgap spending bill from heading to a floor vote after several House Republicans came out against it.

Congress must pass a bill to fund the government by the end of the month to avoid a partial government shutdown.

Scott said he and the other speakers Wednesday did not support shutting the government down over including the provision.

“Nobody up here wants to shut down the government,” Scott said.

Lee introduced the Senate version of the House bill, S. 4292.

“Look, we all know that elections, including and especially presidential elections, tend to be decided within a pretty narrow range, in fact, within a few states, and very often within just a few counties nationwide,” Lee said. “And it would be folly for us to leave open this vulnerability.”

Johnson blamed the Biden administration for its immigration policy and claimed that the administration was paroling immigrants into the country in order to vote for Democrats.

“I can think of no other reason than to bring in a bunch of people, very grateful to you, and encourage them and facilitate their ability to vote unlawfully,” Johnson said.

Tuberville, who was sworn into Congress three days before the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, said the legislation is needed so that people can have confidence in their elections.

“What’s (going to) happen, if we do not show the American people that the elections are (going to) be fair and they’re (going to) be satisfied with the outcome, no matter whether Republicans win or Democrats win, you are going to have hell to pay in this country,” he said. “It’s coming, and I’m not so sure that’s not what the Democrats want.”

The House passed the election bill in July, but it has gone nowhere in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority.

Democratic Senate leaders have also opposed attaching the bill to government funding and the White House has already said President Joe Biden would veto such a measure.

The provision is supported by former President Donald Trump, the current GOP presidential nominee, who urged congressional Republicans to force a government shutdown if Democrats don’t accept the GOP’s inclusion of the voting bill.

Threats to election workers as November nears detailed at congressional hearing?

Ariana Figueroa — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 21:28:16 +0000

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson looks on as Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes speaks during a House Administration Committee hearing in the Longworth House Office Building at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 11, 2024 in Washington, D.C. The hearing examined “American Confidence in Elections” while looking forward to the 2024 presidential election in just under two months. (Photo by Bonnie Cash/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Administration Committee at a Wednesday hearing argued that legislation to bar people from voting who are not citizens — something already illegal — is what’s needed to prepare for the November elections.

But Democratic secretaries of state in battleground states told committee members they are more concerned about the detailed threats they and their election workers are experiencing resulting from election misinformation.

Three Democratic secretaries of state, Adrian Fontes of Arizona, Jocelyn Benson of Michigan and Maggie Toulouse Oliver of New Mexico, said that people who are not citizens voting in federal elections do not constitute a problem, despite the GOP push for legislation barring the act.

“There’s no evidence that noncitizens are voting and if they were, it would be easy to prove, since voting records are public. And despite numerous organizations spending a lot of money to try to convince people that noncitizens are voting, none of these groups have actually been able to provide any evidence of it,” Benson said.

Those Democratic secretaries of state added that since former President Donald Trump has continued to perpetuate the falsehood that he won the 2020 presidential election, they have been forced to deal with threats and are concerned the lie has led to overall distrust in election results.

The insurrection on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 was an attempt by a mob of pro-Trump supporters to stop Congress from certifying the electoral results of the 2020 presidential election.

The three Republican secretaries of state at the hearing, Frank LaRose of Ohio, Cord Byrd of Florida and Mac Warner of West Virginia, argued that federal legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register is necessary to prevent people who are not citizens from voting and to secure elections. Research has found that noncitizen voting rarely happens.?

“The fact is it’s rare, but we keep it rare by enforcing the law,” LaRose said of such voting. “It is my duty to carry that out. Unfortunately, that duty is not as easy to carry out as it should be.”

Bill pulled from floor

House Republicans are currently trying to attach H.R. 8281, passed in July, that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote, to a stopgap government funding bill. A vote was planned late Wednesday, but House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana pulled the bill because he didn’t have enough votes for passage.

However, it’s dead on arrival in the Senate and President Joe Biden has already promised a veto.

House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil, Republican of Wisconsin, said he is still working to get H.R. 8281 passed ahead of the November elections.

“As we approach the upcoming federal election, it is imperative that we take a close look at how each Secretary of State will implement federal and State election laws to guarantee that every legal vote counts,” Steil said in his opening remarks.

Multiple GOP-led states have ballot initiatives this November to bar noncitizens from voting, including in Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

It’s also a priority for Trump, the current GOP presidential nominee, who has made immigration a core campaign platform and has falsely stated that noncitizen voting cost him the popular vote in 2016.

The top Democrat on the committee, Joe Morelle of New York, noted that the election is already here, as ballots are going to be sent to military members overseas and states are getting ready for early voting in the coming weeks.

He raised concerns about threats to election workers as well as misinformation about the security of elections.

“Election officials are operating in an election season that continues to be marred by a steady drumbeat of mis- and disinformation,” he said in his opening statement. “For months, we have heard the former President and others either refuse to say they will accept the outcome of the election, or condition their acceptance with an ‘if they are free and fair’— which undermines Americans’ confidence that our elections are, in fact, fair and secure.”

More consistent funding

Morelle said that Congress needs to do more to help election officials, including providing consistent funding in election security grants.

He said that in fiscal year 2024, Congress appropriated about $55 million to states and U.S. territories in election grants.

Oliver and Benson said that a consistent stream of federal funding would also help them deal with misinformation about elections.

Benson said that her state is often scraping together funding and that a “predictable and sustainable stream of funding” would help, especially when dealing with threats of violence and intimidation.

She added that she knows all eyes will be on Michigan, a battleground state, and noted that during the last presidential race, her state was able to post results within 24 hours. Michigan’s 2020 presidential election results were challenged by Republicans.

“We’ll never sacrifice accuracy and security in tabulating our votes over efficiency,” Benson said. “We understand the urgency of the movement and the fact that the eyes of the nation will often be on our state.”

Biden order on voter registration

Republicans on the committee took issue with a three-year-old executive order from President Joe Biden that directed federal agencies to help register eligible voters.

“It is our duty to ensure that registering to vote and the act of voting be made simple and easy for all those eligible to do so,” according to the executive order.

GOP Rep. Greg Murphy of North Carolina took issue with the initiative and argued it was partisan because it helped Democrats in elections.

“This is where the angst and the anger comes from,” he said, referring to Americans’ distrust in elections. “It is absolutely for Democrats.”

Oklahoma GOP Rep. Stephanie Bice agreed, and said that while voter registration is important, it’s not something the federal government or its agencies should undertake. She asked the Republican secretaries of state if they had been contacted about the executive order.

LaRose said that because he sued the Biden administration over it, “I think they know better than to ask me.”

Byrd said that he’s instructed Florida agencies not to participate and Warner said that he sent a letter to the White House asking them to rescind the executive order because he believes it’s unconstitutional.

Threats to election workers

California Democratic Rep. Norma Torres said she is concerned about threats to election workers.

Oliver said that misinformation about elections had led to mistrust for voters. She said that the discussion of voting by people who are not citizens is an example.

“When voters are misinformed, they lose trust in the system,” she said. “Noncitizen voting does not happen in any systematic way in New Mexico or across the nation.”

Torres asked how that type of misinformation affects their work and that of election workers.

Benson, who was elected as Michigan’s secretary of state in 2018, said that she’s had people show up at her house to threaten her.

“People show up on my doorstep when I’m inside trying to hang Christmas decorations with my 4-year-old son, screaming into a megaphone ‘You’re a murderer and you should be arrested and tried for treason,’” she said. “That’s the reality of all this. That’s who it all impacts.”

Benson said lies and misinformation about election results “make us afraid to go to work, afraid to go grocery shopping, afraid to take our kid to school, afraid to go into our backyard because we don’t know what might be lurking in the bushes.”

“That’s what we’ve been experiencing not just this last week, but these last four years,” she said.

On the 23rd anniversary of Sept. 11 attacks, victims and first responders honored

Ashley Murray — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 21:21:04 +0000

The Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former President Donald Trump and the Republican vice presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, attend the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on Sept. 11, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris honored victims on the 23rd anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, when four hijacked commercial airliners crashed into New York City’s Twin Towers, a Pennsylvania field and the Pentagon, shocking the world and precipitating years of U.S. war targeting extremists.

Biden and Harris honored the nearly 2,977 lives lost that day visiting all three sites Wednesday. In New York City they sat among leaders past and present, including former President Donald Trump and his running mate Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, during the annual reading of the names of those who died when the Twin Towers collapsed.

Harris and Trump shook hands at the ceremony just hours after their contentious presidential debate Tuesday night, during which they blamed each other for the deadly 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan two decades after the United States invaded in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks.

Biden and Harris then traveled to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to lay a wreath at a memorial near the field where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed.

They also brought pizza and beer to local volunteer firefighters.

Both walked to a sandstone boulder in the field that marks the point of impact, according to reporters traveling with the president and vice president.

Trump also visited the memorial and crash site in Shanksville on Wednesday, according to press who were present.

Biden and Harris closed the day by laying a wreath at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, where 184 people were killed when a hijacked jet targeted the hub of U.S. defense operations.

“On this day 23 years ago, terrorists believed they could break our will and bring us to our knees. They were wrong. They will always be wrong,” Biden said in a statement. “In the darkest of hours, we found light. And in the face of fear, we came together — to defend our country, and to help one another. That is why terrorists targeted us in the first place: our freedom, our democracy, our unity.”

“They failed. But we must remain vigilant. Today, our longest war is finally over. But our commitment to preventing another attack on our people never will be,” he continued.

Both the president and Harris hailed the Obama administration’s 2011 U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden, a known terrorist who antagonized the U.S. for years before directing his al-Qaida network to carry out the 9/11 attacks.

“(A)nd two years ago, President Biden ordered an operation that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden’s deputy,” Harris said in a statement. “We remain vigilant against any terrorist threat directed at the United States or the American people and we continue to disrupt terrorist networks wherever we find them.”

Tributes from Congress

Congressional leaders paid tribute to the victims as well Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York attended the morning ceremony at Ground Zero in Manhattan.

“Today and every day, we remember and honor the sacrifice, resiliency, and the bravery of New Yorkers, our first responders, the families of those who were taken from us, and Americans across the country,” Schumer posted on X Wednesday. “We will #NeverForget the souls we lost on 9/11 and in the years since.”

In remarks on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell honored the 9/11 victims and also criticized the Biden administration for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He also attacked Harris for comments she made on the debate stage Tuesday.

“The Biden-Harris Administration pretends the war on terrorism is over,” the Kentucky Republican said. “The vice president, herself, claimed last night that ‘there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone (for) the first time this century.’”

“This, of course, would be news to the U.S. service members who conducted operations against ISIS in Iraq last week, and to the sailors intercepting Houthi rockets in the Red Sea, and to the families of service members killed and injured in the attack on Tower 22 near Jordan’s border with Syria earlier this year,” McConnell said, referencing Iran-backed militant attacks on shipping vessels and a U.S. Air Force and Army base in the northernmost tip of Jordan.

Both U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries marked the anniversary by laying a wreath at the 9/11 memorial in the U.S. Capitol that honors the passengers and crew of Flight 93.

“The 9/11 terrorists sought to destroy America, but they were no match for the indomitable American spirit. On this solemn day, we honor the lives of those lost and remember the strength and courage of our first responders who ran towards danger, not from it. We will never forget their extraordinary sacrifice,” Johnson of Louisiana said in a statement.

Jeffries, a New York Democrat, called attention to emergency workers who developed chronic health issues following their duties at the Manhattan crash site.

“Hundreds of first responders selflessly and bravely answered the call and ran towards danger. They risked their own safety to rescue whoever they could find. Due to the toxic exposures they endured at Ground Zero, many went on to contract severe or terminal long-term illnesses,” Jeffries said in a statement, spotlighting the more than two dozen New York firefighters who died this year from their 9/11-related diseases.

“Our commitment to our courageous first responders is ironclad and must endure. House Democrats will always stand up for the heroes who gave everything on that tragic day,” Jeffries said, blasting Republicans who in 2019 stalled, and some who voted against, a government medical fund for the responders. “We will never forget their sacrifice.”

U.S. House speaker withdraws spending bill that would require ID to register to vote?

Jennifer Shutt — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 19:30:29 +0000

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks on his cell phone as walks back to his office in the U.S. Capitol building on Nov. 13, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson pulled a six-month stopgap spending bill from heading to the floor for a vote Wednesday, scuttling efforts by the GOP to show solidarity behind their plan, which included a provision requiring ID to register to vote in federal elections.

The spending bill, released by House Republicans last week in the heat of a presidential campaign in which immigration is a central focus, had no chance of becoming law amid opposition from Democrats, a cool response from many GOP senators and a veto threat from the Biden administration.

A number of House GOP lawmakers had also come out against the legislation.

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters that lawmakers plan to work through the weekend to find a path forward on the stopgap spending bill and language that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.

“No vote today because we are in the consensus-building business here in Congress; with a small majority, that’s what you do,” he said. “We’re having thoughtful conversations, family conversations within the Republican Conference and I believe we’ll get there.”

Johnson said Congress has “two primary obligations right now.”

One is funding the government ahead of the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, thereby avoiding a shutdown.

And he said the other is addressing concerns about the possibility that people who are not citizens could vote in the November election, even though that is already illegal.

“We’re going to continue to work on this. The whip is going to do the hard work and build consensus. We’re going to work through the weekend on that,” Johnson told reporters. “And I want any member of Congress, in either party, to explain to the American people why we should not ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting in U.S. elections.”

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump posted on social media Tuesday that Republicans should not vote for any short-term spending measure without the sidecar voter ID bill attached.

Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, called for a bipartisan negotiation after news broke of Johnson pulling the vote.

Harris tears into Trump over abortion rights and race in tense presidential debate

Ashley Murray — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 05:21:27 +0000

The Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, and the Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, debate for the first time during the presidential election campaign at The National Constitution Center on Sept. 10, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump touted policy proposals and traded barbs Tuesday during a presidential debate packed with promises to revive America’s economy and riddled with Trump’s falsehoods about abortion, the 2020 election results and immigration.

The debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia hosted by ABC News just 56 days before the election was also notable as the first exchange between the candidates since President Joe Biden exited the race weeks after his botched debate performance in late June.

It is the only debate the campaigns have agreed to before the November election, although the Harris camp afterward suggested they’re ready for another and Fox News offered to host it in October.

The night began with Democratic nominee Harris crossing the stage to initiate a handshake and introducing herself to Trump, the GOP candidate. The two had never before met.

But the back-and-forth quickly grew contentious, as Trump blasted Harris’ record as vice president under President Joe Biden, and Harris said Trump was unfit to be president for myriad reasons. The two did not shake hands at the close.

Harris portrayed herself as a champion of the middle class. She presented a hopeful vision of the country that she sought to contrast with what she described as Trump’s self-centered vision that included attacks on the country’s democratic traditions and people of color.

“I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America,” she said. “I believe in the ambition, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people.”

The vice president lambasted Trump as “extreme” and sought to tie him to the ultraconservative Project 2025, with which he denied an association. Harris also underscored the numerous legal cases Trump continues to face. Trump is the first former president to become a convicted felon.

“Donald Trump actually has no plan for you,” she said. “Because he is more interested in defending himself than he is in looking out for you.”

Protestors and curiosity seekers mixed with a heavy police presence outside the presidential debate site in Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Paige Gross/States Newsroom).

Trump repeated unverified claims about migrants eating dogs in Ohio, returned time and again to complaints about immigration, defended his plan to raise tariffs and boasted about campaign rally crowd sizes — after Harris taunted him about his events, saying people left.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said in one of the more jarring moments of the debate, when he repeated baseless claims about Haitian migrants. The rumors have circulated on social media in recent days, and have been amplified by Trump’s running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance.

Trump challenged Harris to use her position in the administration to address inflation and immigration, suggesting that she was not actually able to follow through on her promises.

“She doesn’t have a plan,” he said. “She copied Biden’s plan, and it’s like four sentences like, ‘Run, Spot, run,’ four sentences that are just, ‘Oh, we’ll try and lower taxes.’ She doesn’t have a plan.”

Polls show the race is virtually tied nationally and in seven key states that will decide the Electoral College margin: Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada. Harris enjoyed a polling bump soon after she became a candidate, but her numbers have dropped in the weeks since and recent polls showed her roughly even with Trump.

Among the top moments of the night touching on policy and politics:

Election integrity

The 2024 presidential election marks a test for the peaceful transfer of power after political violence marred the nation’s tradition when Trump’s refusal to accept his loss sparked a Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump repeated false claims during Tuesday’s debate that he won the 2020 presidential election, even walking back recent public statements that seemed to accept defeat.

Asked by moderator David Muir if recent statements that he “lost by a whisker” and similar sentiments were acknowledgements he’d lost, Trump said the comments were sarcastic.

“I don’t acknowledge that at all,” he said. “That was said sarcastically.”

Harris called Trump’s answer “deeply troubling.”

“You did, in fact, lose that election,” she told him. She added that his continued denial “leads one to believe that perhaps we do not have, in the candidate to my right, the temperament or the ability to not be confused about fact. That’s deeply troubling, and the American people deserve better.

When asked if he regretted any of his actions when the U.S. Capitol was violently overrun by his supporters, Trump defended himself and returned to the topic of immigration.

“I had nothing to do with that, other than they asked me to make a speech,” Trump said.

Harris responded: “For everyone watching who remembers what January 6 was, I say ‘We don’t have to go back.’”

Race

Moderators asked Trump about his disparaging comments about Harris’ biracial identity to the National Association of Black Journalists last month. Muir questioned if it was appropriate for Trump to weigh in on his opponent’s race.

Trump said it was not appropriate, but seemed to defend the comment that Harris had “turned Black” to promote her political career.

“I don’t care what she is,” he said. “Whatever she wants to be is OK with me. All I can say is that I read where she was not Black, that she put out, and I’ll say that, and then I read that she was Black, and that’s okay. Either one was okay with me. That’s up to her.”

Harris called it “a tragedy” that Trump continued “to use race to divide the American people.”

She invoked allegations that he refused to rent his residential properties to Black families, spread conspiracy theories that the first Black president, Barack Obama, was not born in the United States and supported the execution of Black and Latino boys accused of attempted murder and other charges?in New York’s Central Park. The suspects were later exonerated.

“The American people want better than that, want better than this,” she said, adding that voters wanted a conversation about how candidates could improve their lives. “Regardless of people’s color or the language their grandmother speaks, we all have the same dreams and aspirations, and want a president who invests in those, not in hate and division.”

Abortion and IVF

The 2024 presidential election is the first since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

While Trump told debate moderators that he would not sign a nationwide abortion bill into law, he refused to give a yes or no answer when asked if he would veto one.

Moderator Linsey Davis corrected Trump after he claimed that some states allow abortion “in the ninth month,” but he continued to repeat it throughout the debate.

Trump hailed the Supreme Court justices — three of whom he appointed — for giving full control of abortion laws to state governments.

Protestors and curiosity seekers mixed with a heavy police presence outside the presidential debate site in Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Paige Gross/States Newsroom).

“What I did is something, for 52 years, they have been trying to get Roe v. Wade into the states, and through the genius and heart and strength of six Supreme Court justices, we were able to do that,” Trump said, adding that he “strongly” believes in exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

Harris said she would “proudly” sign a bill into law that restored the federal right to an abortion.

“One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” Harris said.

She attacked what she dubbed “Donald Trump’s abortion bans” and said his actions resulted in a reality where couples “who pray and dream of having a family are being denied IVF treatments.”

In vitro fertilization, or IVF, has become a lightning rod for debate on the right after an Alabama court ruled in early 2024 that frozen embryos counted as children. Legislators in the state have since passed a law to restore IVF access.

Trump said Harris was telling “another lie.”

“I have been a leader on IVF, with which is fertilization, the IVF. I have been a leader,” he said.

Taxes, the economy, health care

With Trump’s signature 2017 tax law expiring at the end of 2025, tax policy has been front and center of the 2024 presidential race.

Harris trumpeted her plans for an “opportunity economy” and panned Trump’s proposal to raise tariffs and “provide a tax cut for billionaires and big corporations.”

“Donald Trump has no plan for you, and when you look at his economic plan, it’s all about tax breaks for the richest people,” Harris said on the debate stage.

Harris’ proposals include increasing the corporate tax rate to 28%, permanently expanding the child tax credit to pandemic levels and extending up to $6,000 to new parents, providing up to $50,000 in tax relief for business start-up costs, and offering new homebuyers a $25,000 tax credit.

A large part of Trump’s economic plan is to impose universal tariffs of at

least 10% on all U.S. imports, with tariffs on Chinese goods at 60%. When asked by Muir if the approach could cause consumer prices to increase, Trump denied the possibility.

“We’re not going to have higher prices. What’s going to happen, who’s going to have higher prices is China, and all of the countries that have been ripping us off for years,” Trump said.

Trump has promised, at minimum, to extend his tax policies, which cut individual income tax rates, lowered the corporate tax rate to 21%, loosened business expensing and deductions, and doubled the child tax credit to $2,000.

Economists warn that if extended, the Trump-era tax cuts would add trillions to the deficit. That total could reach between $4 trillion and $5.8 trillion over the next decade, according to the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model. In a separate model, the Tax Foundation estimated the policies could reduce federal revenue up to $6.1 trillion over a 10-year window.

The Penn Wharton model estimates Harris’ proposals would increase the deficit by up to $2 trillion over ten years. Modeling from the Tax Foundation released Tuesday predicts the vice president’s plan would increase taxes by $4.1 trillion over the next decade, but after accounting for various tax cuts and credits, the projected revenue drops to $1.7 trillion, and even further if slowed economic growth is considered.

On health care, Trump said he had “concepts of a plan” to overhaul the law signed by President Barack Obama in 2010.

“I would only change it if we come up with something that’s better and less expensive,” he said. “And there are concepts and options we have to do that, and you’ll be hearing about it in the not too distant future.”

Harris defended the law known as “Obamacare.”

Immigration and border security

Trump tried several times to steer the conversation to immigration, his signature issue since he began his first White House run in 2015.

He referenced viral —?but unverified —?stories of sensational disruptions caused by immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colorado, and blamed Harris and Biden for the supposed episodes.

“These are the people that she and Biden let into our country,” he said.

Continuing Biden’s immigration policies would turn the country into “Venezuela on steroids,” he said.

Harris laughed after Trump pressed unverified claims about immigration. “Talk about extreme,” she said.

Harris promoted a bipartisan immigration and border security bill this year that included measures Republicans sought to strengthen enforcement. But the bill fell apart, she said, under opposition from Trump, who preferred campaigning on the issue to solving the problem.

When moderators then asked Trump about the bill, he began his answer by bragging about crowds at his campaign rallies,?responding to a comment Harris had made.

Rally attendance remained high, he said, “because people want to take their country back.”

“Our country is being lost,” he said. “We’re a failing nation, and it happened three-and-a-half years ago. And what? What’s going on here? … What they have done to our country by allowing these millions and millions of people to come into our country and look at what’s happening to the towns all over the United States.”

He did not answer the question about the bill.

Energy and climate

Moderators asked Harris about her position on hydraulic fracturing, a technique for extracting natural gas better known as fracking.

The process is controversial among environmentalists, but a major industry in gas-rich Pennsylvania. During her unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in 2020, Harris told a climate activist during a televised town hall that she favored banning fracking, but has said this year that is not her position.

Asked by Davis to explain the change Tuesday night, she said she’s also made clear in 2020 that she did not want to ban fracking.

She also noted her tie-breaking vote in the Senate to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, a massive energy, taxes and domestic policy law Democrats passed along party lines in 2022 that included expanded leases for natural gas production.

Trump urged voters not to believe Harris.

“If she becomes president, fracking in Pennsylvania will end on day one,” he said.

The last question before closing statements was on climate change.

Harris called it a threat and touted the Biden administration’s work to expand the clean energy industry, while preserving natural gas jobs.

Trump declined to answer the question, instead focusing on the work of Hunter Biden, the president’s son, with a Ukrainian energy company. Trump called the Biden administration “corrupt.”

Foreign policy

As the humanitarian crisis continues in the Gaza Strip with deaths mounting 40,000, according to Gaza health officials, Davis asked Harris how she could break through a stalemate on a proposed cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas militants.

The vice president offered little detail on how to finally broker a deal, but said, “What we know is this war must end.”

“It must end immediately, and the way it will end is we need a cease-fire deal, and we need the hostages out, and so we will continue to work around the clock on that — work around the clock — also understanding that we must chart a course for a two-state solution,” she said.

Harris added that she will “always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to Iran.”

Trump lashed back with accusations that Harris “hates” Israel and the “Arab population,” and repeated his refrain that “if I were president, (the war) would have never started.”

“I will get that settled and fast, and I’ll get the war with Ukraine and Russia ended. If I’m president-elect, I’ll get it done before even becoming president,” Trump said.

He did not directly answer if he wanted Ukraine to win the war.

“I think it’s in the U.S. best interest to get this war finished and just get it done, negotiate a deal, because we have to stop all of these human lives from being destroyed,” Trump said when asked if a Ukraine victory is in the U.S.’s best interest.

Harris said she would continue to stand with NATO allies on defending Ukraine.

“I believe the reason that Donald Trump says that this war would be over within 24 hours is because he would just give it up. And that’s not who we are as Americans,” she rebutted.

Another foreign policy topic was on display at the U.S. Capitol hours before the debate when congressional leaders held a ceremony honoring 13 service members who were killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Trump and Republican lawmakers have ratcheted up criticism of Harris — implicating her hundreds of times in a damning report released Monday — for the Biden administration’s handling of the August 2021 exit from Afghanistan after two decades of war.

“I will tell you I agreed with President Biden’s decision to pull out of Afghanistan. Four presidents said they would, and Joe Biden did,” Harris told Muir when asked if she bears any responsibility for the deadly withdrawal.

Harris criticized Trump for “negotiating directly with a terrorist organization” when he struck a deal with the Taliban before he left office.

Trump defended himself saying “I got involved with the Taliban because the Taliban was doing the killing” and said he achieved a “very good agreement.”

Trump made waves on the recent third anniversary of the 13 service members’ deaths when his staffers pushed an Arlington National Cemetery official aside to take photos in a restricted area, according to the U.S. Army and reporting by NPR.

Swift endorsement

Shortly after the debate’s close, mega star Taylor Swift said in an Instagram post she would vote for Harris.

Part of Swift’s exuberant fan base had called on her to endorse Harris, following her support for Biden and Harris four years ago.

Taylor Swift performs onstage for the opening night of “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at State Farm Stadium on March 17, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

This article has been updated to more specifically describe the charges against Black and Latino boys in New York’s Central Park.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

Trump urges shutdown unless Congress passes bill requiring ID to register to vote

Jennifer Shutt — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 23:06:33 +0000

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La. speaks during a news conference following a House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 10, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Congress is stumbling toward another government shutdown deadline at the end of the month with no clear plan in place to enact a bipartisan stopgap spending bill — and some new meddling by the Republican presidential nominee.

House Republicans have, so far, taken the go-at-it-alone approach by scheduling a vote Wednesday on a six-month continuing resolution, despite that legislation lacking the votes needed to pass both chambers.

President Joe Biden has also issued a veto threat of the bill, ensuring it has no path to becoming law.

Meanwhile, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sought to stir the pot Tuesday by calling on his party to force a shutdown if Democrats don’t accept the GOP’s inclusion of a separate bill that would require an ID to register to vote.

“If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET,” Trump wrote on social media.

House Republican leaders have included a bill that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections in their stopgap spending bill. It is already illegal for people who are not citizens to vote in federal elections.

The original voting bill, H.R.8281, was first introduced by Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus. It passed 221-198 in July, with five Democrats voting with Republicans, but stalled in the Senate.

The White House rejected that sidecar in a Statement of Administration Policy released earlier this week, writing that the “unrelated cynical legislation… would do nothing to safeguard our elections, but would make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls.”

Congress must pass some sort of spending bill before the end of the month to avoid a partial government shutdown beginning just weeks before the November elections.

Senators react

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pressed for congressional leaders to get in a room and negotiate a bipartisan agreement during a press conference Tuesday.

“The bottom line is, we want a bipartisan negotiation,” Schumer said. “We will sit down and do a bipartisan negotiation, and that’s the only way to pass this.”

Schumer laid the responsibility for calling such a meeting at the feet of House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said during a separate press conference he’s reserving judgment on the House stopgap spending bill until he sees whether it will actually pass that chamber.

“I think we first have to see what the House sends us, and then, of course, how to handle that will be up to the majority leader,” the Kentucky Republican said. “But the first step ought to be what comes out of the House. And I think we don’t know right now.”

McConnell said there shouldn’t be a government shutdown under any circumstances, clearly rejecting Trump’s calls for one.

“A government shutdown is always a bad idea,” he said.

Thune cites predictability for military

Senate Republican Whip John Thune, of South Dakota, was critical of the House GOP’s six-month stopgap spending bill, which would likely push off negotiations on the dozen annual government funding bills until early next year.

That could have a detrimental effect on the Senate vetting, holding hearings and voting on the next president’s Cabinet nominees during the first few months of the new year.

“That is a very, I think, fair observation about what could happen next year, and is something I think everybody needs to factor in when we make a determination about how long the CR ought to be for,” Thune said.

The negative effects on the Defense Department and military readiness were also cited by Thune in connection with a longer stopgap spending bill.

“When we fund the government, we ought to do it in a way that provides predictability and certainty, especially to our military planners,” Thune said. “So I think that’s an argument for a shorter term and trying to resolve these issues before the new Congress comes in, in January.”

But, he said, GOP leaders in the Senate are planning to consider the stance of those who want the longer, six-month spending measure that House Republicans have put forward.

“There are those who believe that punting this in the next year is a good strategy,” Thune said. “We’ll hear everybody out on that in the next couple of days, and then, depending on what the House sends over, what Schumer decides to do with it, we’ll figure out how to respond from there.”

?Ariana Figueroa contributed to this report.?

Congressional Democrats, civil rights leaders call for changes in the Senate filibuster

Ariana Figueroa — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 21:29:15 +0000

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, Democrat of Alabama, speaks at a press conference on voting rights legislation outside the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 10, 2024. She said she is looking forward to reintroducing a voting rights act bill named after the late Rep. John Lewis, Georgia Democrat and voting rights icon. (Photo by Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers and a coalition of civil rights leaders Tuesday urged Congress to reform the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation next Congress.

“Voting rights, succinctly put, are preservative of all other rights,” U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, said at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol.

McConnell says GOP control of the U.S. Senate would protect the filibuster

Warnock was joined by Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Reps. Joe Morelle of New York, Terri Sewell of Alabama and John Sarbanes of Maryland, as well as dozens of representatives of civil rights groups, including plaintiffs in voting rights lawsuits in South Carolina and Alabama.

They advocated for Congress to pass several pieces of legislation including:

?H.R. 14, which would restore a preclearance section of the Voting Rights Act that was gutted by a U.S. Supreme Court decision;
?S. 1, which would curb political spending in campaigns and modernize federal elections; and
HR. 51, which would make the District of Columbia a U.S. state.

Another bill, H.R. 5008, is a voting rights act for Native Americans intended to help tribes access the ballot box.

The Senate filibuster means there is a 60-vote threshold required for almost all legislation. With Democrats in a slim majority, they have not been able to reach that number of votes for major legislation, from voting rights to gun safety.

Sewell is the sponsor of H.R. 14, named after the late Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat who was a civil rights and voting rights champion. She called for reform of the filibuster.

“We know that it’s been stymied in the Senate by an archaic structural practice,” Sewell said of her bill, which the House passed when Democrats controlled the chamber.

Klobuchar said she is hopeful that Senate Democrats can convince their colleagues to change the rules to create an exception in the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation.

Two independent senators who oppose exceptions to the filibuster are Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia. Neither is running for reelection.

“I’m excited about what the future holds in terms of what we’re gonna get done on these important pro-democracy bills,” Klobuchar said. “I want us never to give up heart.”

Sarbanes, who sponsored the House companion to S. 1, said that the path to passage of the four bills lies with the opportunity to challenge the “procedural path” of the filibuster.

“Everybody here is equipped and ready to take advantage of that clear day, that moment,” Sarbanes said. “We hope it’s coming soon. We believe it’s coming soon. We will be ready.”

Taiwan Scott, a plaintiff in Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, a case now before the South Carolina Supreme Court regarding racial gerrymandering in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, said he and about 30,000 Gullah Geechee residents “were removed from my rightful congressional district and packed into one in a deliberate move to lessen our political power.”

The U.S. Supreme Court in May issued a 6-3 ruling tossing out the case brought on behalf of Scott, a Black Hilton Head Island resident who lives in the 1st District.

Gullah Geechee residents are descendants of enslaved Africans on the rice and cotton plantations on the lower Atlantic Coast. They have the only distinctly African Creole language spoken in the U.S. in the coastal areas of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

“The Gullah Geechee cultural heritage corridor, which Congress itself established, was meant to protect our culture, but instead of support, we find ourselves marginalized,” he said. “Our voices diluted, our representation weaker, even though three federal judges ruled in our favor … after an eight-day trial, the Supreme Court chose to disregard that decision, forcing us to live and vote under a racially gerrymandered map. This is why federal voting rights legislation is so critical.”

Trump’s support of Florida marijuana legalization may show growing bipartisan consensus

Jacob Fischler — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 23:13:22 +0000

Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s early Monday statement that he would vote to legalize recreational marijuana use in Florida sent a strong signal that both major parties are moving to adopt popular marijuana reform efforts, unexpectedly elevating the issue in the presidential battle.

But the campaign for the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, expressed strong skepticism about Trump’s sudden embrace of reform and criticized Trump’s record in office, accusing him of “blatant pandering” after States Newsroom inquired about Harris’ position on legalization.

The statement from Trump, who has sought to portray himself as a “law and order” candidate throughout his political career, shows the growing support for marijuana legalization among voters of both parties nationwide — and could be a signal that GOP elected officials will align themselves with legalization, Josh Glasstetter, a spokesperson for the advocacy group U.S. Cannabis Council, said in an interview with States Newsroom.

“Trump’s statement on Truth Social signals that there is a political realignment that is well underway on the issue of cannabis reform,” Glasstetter said.

Trump said in a post to his social media platform that he would vote yes on Florida’s Amendment 3, a ballot initiative to legalize recreational cannabis use in the state.

He also said he supported federal legislation to remove federal restrictions on banking services for state-legal marijuana businesses and moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the federal Controlled Substances Act.

States with legal recreational marijuana industries, which now number 24, have long sought tweaks to federal law to allow banks to legally provide loans and other services to marijuana businesses that are legal under state law. Bills in Congress, while largely bipartisan, have been introduced for years but not yet won the consensus needed to become law.

Schedule I is the most restrictive category under federal law and indicates a drug has no medicinal value and high risk of abuse. President Joe Biden’s administration has started the move to Schedule III, which includes heavily regulated legal substances including Tylenol with codeine.

Harris camp blasts Trump

The Harris campaign said Trump is trying to gloss over his past.

“Despite his blatant pandering, Donald Trump cannot paper over his extensive record of dragging marijuana reform backward,” campaign spokesman Joseph Costello wrote in an email. “As president, Trump cracked down on nonviolent marijuana offenses – undermining state legalization laws, opposed safe banking legislation, and even tried to remove protections for medical marijuana.

“Donald Trump does not actually believe in marijuana reform, but the American people are smart enough to see through his campaign lies.”

The campaign did not respond to a follow-up message seeking clarity on Harris’ position on the issue.

Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, took a hard line against a growing trend of states legalizing marijuana use. He rescinded a 2013 document known as the Cole memo that required federal officials to stay out of state-legal marijuana operations.

But Glasstetter said Trump had “clearly reassessed his position” on the issue, reflecting a consensus among voters that Republican officials have been slower to adopt.

“For many years now, cannabis reform advocates have talked about the growing bipartisan consensus among voters in support of cannabis reform and elected officials have been a lagging indicator, particularly on the conservative side of the spectrum,” he said.

While Harris has not highlighted the issue — besides not answering emailed questions Monday, the campaign’s newly launched issues page on its website does not mention cannabis — she is seen as an ally of reformers based on her record, including as U.S. senator and California attorney general, Glasstetter said.

Harris convened a roundtable of marijuana reform advocates at the White House in March that included rapper Fat Joe and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat. At that event, she promoted the administration’s work to relax federal marijuana restrictions and spoke in favor of broad reforms.

“I’ve said many times: I believe — I think we all at this table believe — no one should have to go to jail for smoking weed,” she said.

Leading Republicans

Trump’s endorsement could be seen as an attempt to close the policy gap between the parties on a popular issue.

Republicans in Congress have lagged behind their Democratic colleagues in seeking marijuana reforms, even as polls and ballot initiatives in states that favor both parties have shown legalizing marijuana use is an increasingly popular position among voters of all political persuasions, Glasstetter said.

A Pew Research Center poll this year showed 88% of respondents thought marijuana should be legal for recreational or medical use. That was up from 68% in the same survey in 2022.

At a May hearing of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, just days after Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the administration would seek to reschedule cannabis, Republican representatives voiced skepticism over the move to federal Drug Enforcement Administrator Anne Milgram.

Rep. Robert Aderholt, an Alabama Republican, noted studies finding a connection between cannabis use and psychosis. The country is dealing with a mental health crisis, he said.

“My concern is rescheduling marijuana would make the crisis worse,” he said.

But an endorsement from Trump, who holds immense influence among congressional Republicans, could be crucial to getting more Republicans to change their positions, Glasstetter said.

“Former President Trump is a leading indicator,” he said. “We expect that his high-profile embrace of cannabis reform will make it much easier for other Republicans, particularly in Congress, to come out in support of cannabis reform.”

Trump and Harris to meet in long-anticipated debate Tuesday night in Philadelphia

Ashley Murray — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 21:38:34 +0000

Final preparations are made in the spin room prior to the ABC News Presidential Debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, will face off in their first debate Sept. 10 at the Constitution Center. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet in a highly anticipated and potentially consequential debate Tuesday night in Philadelphia — just over two months after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance precipitated his exit from the race.

The debate, to be hosted by ABC News, is set for 9 p.m. Eastern and will be the first time Trump and Harris will meet in person, according to Harris. Viewers can livestream the debate on ABC.com or on the platforms ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu. The debate will also be simulcast on C-SPAN.

The event is the only scheduled televised exchange between the candidates before Election Day in November, though early voting kicks off in the battleground state of Pennsylvania Sept. 16 and in four other states later this month.

‘We’ll be ready’

Trump surrogates on Monday said the former president plans to challenge Harris on views she’s changed over the years, including on fracking and immigration.

“We’ll be ready tomorrow, President Trump will be ready. The question is will Kamala Harris be ready because she’s gonna have a lot of things to defend,” Jason Miller, Trump campaign senior adviser, said on a call organized by the Republican National Committee that also featured Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a Democratic Party defector who has endorsed Trump.

“You can’t prepare for President Trump. There’s just no way to do it,” Miller later added.

Trump will also seek to tie Harris to all decisions made under the Biden administration. Gaetz dubbed her “co-president” and alleged on the call that Harris is “in charge of the entire administration.”

Republicans are using the narrative to blame Harris for the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in which 13 service members died.

The GOP-led House Committee on Foreign Affairs released a 353-page report Monday blaming the deadly conclusion of the two-decade U.S. war in Afghanistan squarely on the Biden-Harris administration. Harris’ last name is mentioned 285 times in the report.

“Kamala Harris is unfit to be our president and commander-in-chief,” Gabbard said on the call.

Retired U.S. military leaders issued a letter defending Harris’ fitness to lead the country, and blaming Trump’s “chaotic approach” to negotiating with the Taliban before leaving office.

“He repeatedly fails to take responsibility for his own role in putting service members in harm’s way,” the former generals wrote on behalf of the veterans’ advocacy group National Security Leaders for America.

Trump attracted his own attention related to the Afghanistan withdrawal when his campaign staffers confronted an Arlington National Cemetery official on Aug. 26, the third anniversary of the 13 service members’ deaths. The incident was first reported by NPR.

Trump has denied his staffers pushed the cemetery official aside in order to take photos in a restricted area, but the U.S. Army confirmed the incident.

‘Go to Bat 4 Harris’

The vice president prepped for the debate in a Pittsburgh hotel over the weekend before traveling across the swing state Monday for the following night’s prime-time event.

The Harris campaign began the week by releasing an ad Monday featuring several former Trump administration officials, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, who have spoken out against a second Trump presidency.

The Democratic National Committee flew a banner Monday above Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia ahead of the division-leading Phillies’ home game against the Tampa Bay Rays. The banner read: “Don’t Strikeout W/Trump Go to Bat 4 Harris.”

After roughly 50 days into her campaign and just 56 days until the election, Harris released her policy platform one day ahead of the debate. The four-pillar plan includes promises to lower taxes on the middle class and build affordable housing, protect reproductive freedoms and civil rights, secure the border and address gun violence, and “stand up to dictators” and support veterans.

Harris also vowed to support an ethics code for the U.S. Supreme Court, and to “ensure that no former president has immunity for crimes committed while in the White House” — a reference to the high court’s July ruling that granted former presidents immunity for core official acts and presumptive immunity for “outer perimeter” duties, but none for personal actions.

The Trump campaign accused Harris’ platform of “dishonesty” in a campaign email sent Monday. “We know the results of her policies: chaos, devastation and destruction.”

Trump and the Republican party released a platform in July that centered on 20 core promises which swore to “seal the border,” “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history,” and “end inflation,” among others.

When asked by reporters Saturday in Pittsburgh’s Strip District market area if she was ready to debate Trump, the former California prosecutor and U.S. senator answered, “Yes, I am. Yes.”

What’s the main message she wants to tell Trump on the debate stage?

“There is a lot,” Harris said in response to the question.

“But look, it’s time to turn the page on the divisiveness. It’s time to bring our country together to chart a new way forward,” she said.

Trump’s legal issues ahead of debate

While Harris hunkered down for debate prep, Trump has been focusing in recent days on his myriad legal issues and hosting long-winded? appearances.

On Saturday the former president held court for nearly two hours at a campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, and repeated a debunked claim that Venezuelan gang members had overtaken an Aurora, Colorado, apartment building. He told the crowd that removing Venezuelan immigrants from the state will “be a bloody story.”

He also downplayed his New York state conviction as a “witch hunt,” as he has several times before.

Trump, the only former president to become a convicted felon, learned Friday that a Manhattan judge delayed his sentencing until after the November election. Trump was convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to a porn star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump also spoke for nearly an hour Friday at Trump Tower during what was billed as a press conference but included no questions. The appearance followed oral arguments in his appeal of a civil trial verdict in which he was found liable of sexual abuse and defamation of writer E. Jean Carroll.

On Thursday his lawyers pleaded not guilty on his behalf in federal court to a renewed indictment alleging he co-conspired to subvert the 2020 presidential results. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan set a pre-trial schedule that includes deadlines both before and after November’s election.

The vice presidential debate between Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is scheduled to be hosted by CBS News in New York City on Oct. 1.

U.S. House GOP sets up fight over noncitizen voting in bill averting government shutdown

Ariana Figueroa — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 20:12:38 +0000

The U.S. House as it returns from a five-week recess is preparing to vote on a stopgap spending bill that also includes a provision to bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — As Congress returns from a five-week recess Monday, House Republicans have attached a provision to bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections — which is already unlawful — to a stopgap funding bill that is already teeing up a battle with the Senate and White House.

The GOP drive in Congress echoes state lawmakers’ push for ballot measures this November that would bar noncitizens from voting in Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

It also comes in the heat of the presidential campaign, as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump repeatedly calls for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and faces the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, in a crucial Tuesday night debate.

Current federal government spending will expire Oct. 1, so Congress must pass a continuing resolution, or CR, to approve temporary spending beyond that date or risk a shutdown.

The measure that requires proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, which U.S. House Republicans and some vulnerable Democrats passed in July, has been added by the House GOP to a CR that would extend spending until March 28. A vote by the House is expected this week.

The White House on Monday vowed President Joe Biden would issue a veto if Congress passed the measure in that form.

“Instead of meeting the security and disaster needs of the Nation, this bill includes unrelated cynical legislation that would do nothing to safeguard our elections, but would make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls,” the White House said in a statement Monday. “It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in Federal elections—it is a Federal crime punishable by prison and fines.”

Senate opposition

The voting language is a nonstarter among Senate Democrats, who hold a slim majority in the chamber.

“As we have said repeatedly, avoiding a government shutdown requires bipartisanship, not a bill drawn up by one party,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray of Washington said in a joint statement Friday.

“If Speaker Johnson drives House Republicans down this highly partisan path, the odds of a shutdown go way up, and Americans will know that the responsibility of a shutdown will be on the House Republicans’ hands,” they continued.

Democrats have argued that the bill is an attempt to sow distrust in U.S. elections ahead of November elections.

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana has stressed that noncitizen voting in federal elections is an issue, although research has found it rarely happens.?

“As the 2024 election nears, it is imperative that Congress does everything within our power to protect the integrity of our nation’s election system,” he said in a statement.

The bill is also supported by Trump.

In April, Johnson while at Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida,? announced the House would pass a bill relating to noncitizen voting. The former president has often falsely blamed voting by large numbers of undocumented people for his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton as the reason he lost the popular vote.

Other Democrats objected to passing a CR that would last until next year.

The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, criticized the six-month measure because it is “shortchanging veterans and jeopardizing their care by kicking the can down the road until March.”

“A continuing resolution to the end of March provides Republicans with more leverage to attempt to force their unpopular cuts to services that American families depend on to make ends meet,” she said in a statement.

Texas congressman spearheads bill

The original noncitizen voting bill, H.R.8281, was first introduced by Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus. It passed 221-198, with five Democrats voting with Republicans, but stalled in the Senate.

Those five Democrats who voted in support of the measure are: Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Donald Davis of North Carolina, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington.

Under current U.S. law, only citizens can vote in federal elections, but the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 prohibits states from confirming citizenship status.

Along with the ballot measures, hundreds of Republican state legislators have also signed on to a letter by the Only Citizens Vote Coalition urging Congress to pass a bill to bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

The Only Citizens Vote Coalition includes election denier activists, organizations headed by former Trump aides and anti-immigrant groups. It was founded by Cleta Mitchell, a key figure who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election and is now running a grassroots organization to aggressively monitor elections in November.

Five of the eight states — Idaho, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin —? with votes set on ballot measures have state legislators who sponsored bills to put the question on the ballot and are signed on to the letter by Only Citizens Vote.

Walz underlines Democrats’ support of LGBTQ rights, slams Vance on school shootings

Ariana Figueroa — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 20:51:58 +0000

The Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, addresses the 2024 Human Rights Campaign National Dinner on Sept. 7, 2024 in Washington, D.C. Walz spoke to the LGBDQ+ group as part of Human Rights Campaign National Dinner and Equality Convention Weekend. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Saturday night touted his and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ advocacy for LGBTQ rights in a keynote address he delivered at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual gala — and also criticized comments by his GOP opponent Sen. J.D. Vance that school shootings are a “fact of life.”

“It’s a fact of life, some people are gay,” Walz said in his remarks. “But you know what’s not a fact of life? That our children need to be shot dead in schools.”? In a Wednesday school shooting in Georgia at Apalachee High School, two students and two teachers were killed.

Vance, when asked at a campaign stop in Phoenix Thursday about policies to stop school shootings, said, “I don’t like this. I don’t like to admit this. I don’t like that this is a fact of life. But if you’re, if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets, and we have got to bolster security at our schools.”

The school shooting renewed calls from Democrats to ban assault weapons, push for safe storage of firearms and enact red flag laws, which allow a court to temporarily remove firearms from an individual who is deemed a threat to themselves or others.

“Our kids should be free to go to school without being shot dead in the halls,” Walz said Saturday night.

In his speech, Walz praised Vice President Harris for her long history of supporting LGBTQ rights, including officiating some of the first marriages in California after the U.S. Supreme Court deemed same-sex marriage was a legal right in 2015.

“This is the most pro LGBTQ+ administration in American history,” Walz said of Harris and President Joe Biden, noting the enactment of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would ensure same-sex and interracial couples continue having their marriages recognized regardless of future U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

When Harris picked Walz as her running mate in early August, the Human Rights Campaign, which is the largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in the country, praised the decision.

“Coach Walz not only embraces the fabric of our community, he embraces the fabric of our society, that thing that lifts us up, that strengthens us, that connects all of us,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said before introducing Walz at the dinner.

Walz has a long history of supporting LGBTQ rights. As a teacher and coach, he said he agreed to serve as an adviser for the gay-straight alliance at the high school where he taught in the late 1990s after concerns were raised about queer students being bullied.

“I understood what it meant to be that older, straight, white guy who was coaching football,” he said. “It’s easy to be an ally, when it’s easy to be an ally. What really matters is knowing who’s going to be at your side and stand up when it’s hard.”

Advocacy in Congress

Walz said during his run for Congress in 2006, he was asked during a debate if he supported same-sex marriage.

“My marriage to my wife Gwen is the most important thing in my life. I love her deeply. Why would I stop anybody else from marrying the person they love?” he said. “That makes no sense.”

He highlighted his work in Congress as an early proponent of same-sex marriage and related how he voted to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gay, lesbian and bisexual military members.

“No one should get a pat on the back for doing what’s right,” he said. “For God’s sake, the bar is pretty damn low here to treat people like human beings. Equal justice under law, it’s not a high bar.”

Walz talked about his work passing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, which expands the federal hate crime law to include a crime motivated by the victim’s gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. Matthew Shepard was a student who was tortured and murdered in Wyoming in 1998 because he was gay.

Walz said he walked to the U.S. Capitol for the final vote on the bill with Matthew’s mother and the sheriff who found Matthew’s body.

“I remember walking with a mother who’d lost her son and hearing the sheriff tell me the only place it wasn’t bloody is where the tears ran down Matthew’s eyes, and I watched a mother, and the unbelievable pain that I couldn’t even fathom, to lose a child this way, walk with her head held high to make sure that none of the rest of us ever have to get a call from someone,” Walz told the crowd.

Walz said when he was elected governor, for the first time in more than a decade, Minnesota had control of both chambers in the state legislature and quickly moved to pass Democratic legislation.

“You don’t get elected to office to bank political capital, so you can get elected again,” Walz said. “You get elected (to) office to burn political capital to improve lives as quickly as you can.”

As governor, Walz signed an executive order protecting access to health care for transgender people and a “trans refuge” bill that protects transgender people and their families from legal repercussions if they travel to Minnesota to seek health care.

He also signed into law a ban on conversion therapy for children and adults.

“In Minnesota, you are seen, heard, loved and respected and safe,” he said of LGBTQ rights.

Book bans, school shootings

Walz heavily criticized Republicans who have led a wave of book bans by LGBTQ authors, and advocated for laws banning transgender student athletes and restricting access to health care for transgender people.

He noted that Minnesota passed a law that banned the act of banning books.

“This is what these folks are focusing on spending all their time, like reading about two male penguins who love each other is somehow going to turn your children gay, and that’s what you should worry about,” he said.

Walz’s speech represented a stark difference with the GOP presidential ticket and former President Donald Trump’s false claims about transgender people.

During Trump’s first term, the administration rolled back an Obama-era regulation to mandate health care as a civil right for transgender patients under the Affordable Care Act. Trump also enacted a ban on transgender people from serving in the U.S. military, a policy the Biden administration rescinded.

Walz called it a “stupid, bigoted policy.”

“If you want to serve this nation, you should be allowed to, and what we should do is respect that service,” Walz said. “They should not get incoming fire from their commander in chief, attacking their basic dignity, humanity and patriotism.”

When Trump announced Vance as his running mate, the Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD, a national LGBTQ media advocacy group, raised concerns about past comments Vance made about LQBTQ people.

“I’ll stop calling people ‘groomers’ when they stop freaking out about bills that prevent the sexualization of my children,” Vance wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in 2022.

During a Saturday afternoon campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, Trump accused Walz of signing a bill to require menstrual products like tampons be available in boys bathrooms, which is not what the 2023 law says.

The law requires district or charter schools to provide menstrual products free to students in fourth grade through the end of high school. It does not specify which bathrooms must provide access to the products.

“He’s a wack job,” Trump said of Walz.

Trump also continued to perpetuate a false right-wing claim that children are obtaining surgeries at schools and changing their genders.

“Keep critical race theory and transgender insanity the hell out of our schools,” Trump said.

Cheney endorsement

In other campaign developments, former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday endorsed Harris for president. His daughter, former GOP U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, also endorsed Harris.

Harris, who is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, preparing for her debate with Trump, said Saturday that both Republicans put their country over their party.

“People are exhausted about the division and the attempts to kind of divide as Americans, and them stepping up to make this public statement, I think is courageous,” Harris said, according to White House pool reports.

Trump sentencing in New York hush money case postponed until after presidential election

Ashley Murray — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 19:00:59 +0000

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he arrives to court for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump will not face criminal sentencing in New York for his state felony convictions ahead of the November election, according to a decision released Friday by New York Judge Juan Merchan.

The New York judge said Friday the new sentencing date will be Nov. 26,? according to a letter he issued Friday.

Merchan wrote that the court is “now at a place in time that is fraught with complexities,” referring to the fast-approaching presidential election and the consequential U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity that Trump’s legal team has now brought to the center of the New York case.

“Adjourning decision on the motion and sentencing, if such is required, should dispel any suggestion that the Court will have issued any decision or imposed sentence either to give an advantage to, or to create a disadvantage for, any political party and/or any candidate for any office,” Merchan wrote.

“This is not a decision the court makes lightly but it is the decision which in this court’s view best advances the interests of justice,” Merchan later concluded.

Trump, vying again for the Oval Office as the Republican nominee, is the first-ever former president to become a felon.

He was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in May after a weeks-long Manhattan trial that centered on hush money payments to a porn star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump asked the New York court to delay the sentencing until after the 2024 election, arguing that the question of presidential immunity as it related to the New York conviction remains unresolved.

Friday’s decision marks the second time Merchan has delayed Trump’s sentencing.

Merchan delayed Trump’s initial July sentencing date, just one day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former presidents enjoy criminal immunity for official “core constitutional” acts and at least presumptive immunity for “outer perimeter” activities, but not for personal ones.

Trump’s lawyers argued the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision nullified his New York state convictions, particularly because the evidence presented at trial could now be considered subject to immunity.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg agreed to a delay while the parties filed legal arguments on the issue of immunity, which Bragg ultimately argued had “no bearing” on Trump’s convictions and evidence examined by the jury.

Trump, who has been entangled on several legal fronts, escalated his separate federal criminal case alleging 2020 election interference all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing presidential immunity for any criminal charges stemming from his time in office.

The case alleging Trump schemed to overturn the 2020 presidential election results was returned to federal trial court. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Thursday released a pre-trial calendar that extends beyond this November’s election.

Despite opt-outs by GOP states, debut of kids’ summer food program seen as a success

Shauneen Miranda — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 17:18:41 +0000

The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program, known as Summer EBT, popped up in 37 states, the District of Columbia and multiple territories and tribal nations this year and is intended to feed hungry kids. (Stock photo by Inti St. Clair/Getty Photos)

A U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative to feed hungry kids during the long summer months is mostly winding down, with advocates calling it a success despite some hiccups — and the federal government and many states are already working to bring the program back in 2025.

The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program — or Summer EBT — has popped up in 37 states, the District of Columbia and multiple territories and tribal nations this year. Advocates say that despite the program’s fair share of challenges, especially given its first year of implementation, the program emerged as an important resource in the fight against kids’ summer hunger.

Summer EBT, also known as SUN Bucks, provides low-income families with school-aged children a grocery-buying benefit of $120 per child. Children are automatically enrolled in Summer EBT if already enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, known as TANF; or the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, per the USDA.

Students might also be automatically enrolled if their school offers the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program and their family qualifies for free or reduced-price school meals, according to the USDA. Most states’ deadlines to apply for the benefit this summer have already passed, and many have already issued the benefit for the summer months.

Allan Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the USDA, said it’s too early to say just how many children have been served through the program so far this summer, but based on the participating states, territories and tribes, an estimated 21 million children are eligible to receive the benefits.

‘Critical support to families’

Kelsey Boone, senior child nutrition policy analyst at the Food Research & Action Center, told States Newsroom that “like any new program, there are challenges with Summer EBT.”

The national nonprofit works to reduce poverty-related hunger through research, advocacy and policy solutions.

“That has included tight implementation timelines, logistical complexities and the need to raise awareness among eligible families,” Boone said.

Despite those challenges, Boone said the program is “definitely worth it” and “provides critical support to families by ensuring children have access to nutritious foods during the summer months, bridging the gap when school meals are unavailable.”

Boone said “we are still in the midst of implementation, so there aren’t hard statistics on how the programs are really rolling out at this point.”

She added that “some states have had to return to USDA and ask for … higher amounts of benefits, and that is due to the fact that they are streamline certifying, or automatically giving benefits to more students than they expected, and that is a very big positive for the streamlined certification process.”

Boone noted that some states have been delayed in issuing the benefits, “which means some families will not be receiving benefits until September or even October or November.”

Still, Boone said that despite the importance of receiving the benefits during crucial summer months when school meal programs are not an option, “it is also going to be helpful no matter what.”

Over a dozen states opted out??

But 13 states — all with Republican governors — chose not to partake in the program this year, including Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Multiple tribal nations in Oklahoma are participating despite the state opting out.

Rodriguez said the department expects that even more states and tribes will provide SUN Bucks next year.

States have until Jan. 1 to submit a notice of intent if they plan to participate in Summer EBT for 2025, according to the USDA. Alabama has already allocated millions of dollars in funding for the program next summer.

“We recognize that standing up a new program in a very short time period is no easy task,” Rodriguez said, adding that “potential challenges may include making systems changes, identifying sufficient staff, and securing financial resources to cover program administration, particularly (states’) responsibility for covering 50% of the administrative costs associated with operating the program.”

The USDA “is committed to working closely with all states, U.S. territories, and eligible tribes to support our shared goal of ensuring children have access to critical nutrition in the?summer?months through SUN Bucks,” Rodriguez added.

Justin King, policy director at Propel — a financial technology company helping low-income Americans track Electronic Benefit Transfer balances, like Summer EBT, through an app — said “there’s a lot of frustration and disappointment among folks who feel left out because their state has chosen not to participate this year.”

The company, which has partnered with the Biden administration, serves more than 5 million households each month.

King said “the big takeaway from looking at Summer EBT is that while there might be inevitable hiccups and challenges, Summer EBT can work, and it does make a difference for the households that it serves.”

“The comments that we’ve gotten from households who’ve received the benefit this year are overwhelmingly positive about it making a real difference in their ability to keep their kids healthy and fed in summertime.”

Trump promotes raising tariffs, corporate tax cut in battle over economy with Harris

Jacob Fischler — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 23:47:54 +0000

Taxes and the economy are taking center stage in the 2024 presidential campaign. (Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump said Thursday he would protect American industries if he is reelected by increasing tariffs on imports while cutting other taxes and regulations, in a speech to the Economic Club of New York.

The GOP presidential candidate’s remarks came as the economy has taken center stage in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. Both Trump and the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, have criticized a ballooning national deficit, high housing costs and increasingly expensive groceries.

In a wide-ranging speech that also framed his hardline immigration position in economic terms and blasted Harris for what he said were the policy shortcomings of the Biden administration, Trump laid out several planks of an economic platform focused on corporate tax cuts and protectionist policies that he predicted would boost domestic manufacturing.

“Some might say it’s economic nationalism,” he said. “I call it common sense. I call it America First … We have to take care of our own nation and our industries first.”

Trump’s speech came one day after Harris delivered new proposals to cut taxes on small businesses during a speech at a brewery in New Hampshire.

While Trump would cut corporate taxes and extend the tax cut for high earners that he signed during his first term, he said he would raise tariffs, which are taxes on foreign goods. Doing so would compel U.S. companies to keep their production jobs in the country, he said.

Tariffs would also seed a new “sovereign wealth fund” that would “return a gigantic profit,” he said.

He told the economists and business professionals in the room that he would lean on them to advise on the fund, and that it would be flush with cash from tariffs on foreign imports.

The “greatest sovereign wealth fund,” he said, would also pay for infrastructure, defense capabilities and “cutting-edge medical research,” as well as pay down the nation’s debt.

“We’ll create America’s own sovereign wealth fund to invest in great national endeavors for the benefit of all of the American people,” he said. “Why don’t we have a wealth fund? Other countries have wealth funds. We have nothing. We have nothing. We’re going to have a sovereign wealth fund or we can name it something different.”

Tax battle

Trump told the group that Harris would raise taxes, including on unrealized gains on investments before they are sold.

“Unbelievably, she will seek a tax on unrealized capital gains,” he said.

Trump would lower the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, he said, while Harris would raise it to 28%.

He also said he would appoint Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X who has endorsed Trump and regularly posts about the election, to lead a government efficiency commission.

Trump would seek to make permanent the tax cuts he signed into law in 2017. Taxes have featured prominently on the campaign trail ahead of the 2025 expiration of the law that cut individual tax rates, reduced the corporate tax rate and doubled the child tax credit.

In her remarks in New Hampshire, Harris promised to increase deductions tenfold on business start-up costs, up to $50,000 from $5,000. She also vowed to simplify the tax filing process for entrepreneurs by allowing them to claim a standard deduction, similar to what’s available for individual income taxpayers.

Harris also drew attention to her New Hampshire speech when she broke with President Joe Biden’s tax plan for capital gains, promising “a rate that rewards investment in America’s innovators, founders and small businesses.”

Harris told the crowd that anyone earning $1 million or more would see a 28% rate on long-term capital gains under her administration, if elected. The proposal deviates from Biden’s plan to raise revenue by taxing capital gains over $1 million at 39.6%. Biden also proposed a 5% Medicare surcharge on long-term capital gains for high earners.

The current rate for high earners is 20%.

A long-term capital gain tax is applied to any profit made on the sale of an asset, like stocks, bonds, or real estate, held by the owner for more than a year.

Immigration

Trump also sought to make his signature policy issue —?an ultra-hardline immigration stance —?an economic one.

An increasing number of migrants entering the country through the border with Mexico are taking jobs from Americans, he said, singling out Americans of color.

“Hispanic American jobs are under massive threat from the invasion taking place at our border,” Trump said. “They’re taking jobs from Hispanic Americans, African Americans.”

He added, falsely, that all jobs created during the Biden administration were filled by immigrants in the country illegally.

Trump has called for an unprecedented deportation program of undocumented immigrants and has placed the blame for record migrant crossings on Biden and Harris.

‘Like nobody’s ever grown before’

Trump promised “tremendous growth,” mostly attributing that growth to a yet unnamed percentage tariff on foreign imports. He signaled his target for tariffs will be higher than any percentage floated so far.

“We’re gonna grow like nobody’s ever grown before,” he said. “We will be bringing in billions and billions of dollars, which will reduce our deficit.”

He also suggested during the question-and-answer portion that funds raised through tariffs could help families reduce the cost of child care, but offered little detail.

But economists and critics say Trump’s major economic plans to raise tariffs and extend his signature tax cuts will put additional costs on consumers and add trillions to the deficit.

Trump’s plan to extend the 2017 tax cuts would add between $4.1 and $5.8 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade, according to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Budget Model.

Rule of law

Trump said the country has suffered economically under Biden and Harris because of his legal issues.

Trump has faced four criminal prosecutions, including two federal cases related to his mishandling of classified documents following his presidency and his conduct to provoke the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He was also convicted of New York state felonies related to an illegal hush money arrangement during his first White House campaign and is charged in Georgia with election interference related to the 2020 campaign.

He said Thursday the prosecutions were politically motivated, making investors lose faith in the country’s governance. He hinted that he would retaliate and said that he would eliminate political prosecutions.

“They always have to remember that two can play that game,” he said. “Nobody ever thought this was possible. This is how you create massive capital flight and turn once prosperous nations into absolute ruins. I will have no higher priority as president than to restore the fair, equal and impartial rule of law in America. We have lost the rule of law.”

Trump’s Jan. 6 case to extend beyond Election Day under timeline laid out by judge?

Ashley Murray — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 23:38:41 +0000

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Clinton Middle School on Jan. 6, 2024 in Clinton, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Exactly two months out from the presidential election, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan plans to move ahead with the case accusing former President Donald Trump of subverting the 2020 presidential election results, telling Trump’s attorneys that she is “not concerned with the electoral schedule.”

Chutkan released a timeline for the case late Thursday afternoon setting several deadlines for evidence, briefs and replies for the weeks prior to November’s election, and ultimately stretching beyond Election Day.

Judge Tanya Chutkan (uscourts.gov)

While it had been evident for some time that the Republican presidential nominee likely would not face a trial before Nov. 5 on election interference charges, Chutkan’s calendar made it certain.

Trump did not appear in federal court for Thursday morning’s hearing in Washington, D.C., but his lawyers pleaded not guilty on his behalf to the four charges that remained unchanged in U.S. special counsel Jack Smith’s new indictment, filed last week.

The case had been in a holding pattern for eight months as Trump appealed his claim of presidential immunity all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. prosecutors say they are ready to restart the case in the coming weeks, while Trump’s team has argued for more time to review evidence and dismiss the superseding indictment.

The Supreme Court returned Trump’s case to the trial court after ruling that former presidents are immune from criminal charges for official “core constitutional” acts while in office and hold at least presumptive immunity for “outer perimeter” activities, but not for personal actions.

This gave Chutkan, an Obama administration appointee, the major task of parsing Smith’s indictment, deciding which allegations against Trump fall under the umbrella of official acts and which relate to actions taken in a personal capacity.

Chutkan set the following deadlines on the pre-trial calendar:

The government must complete all mandatory evidentiary disclosures by Sept. 10, with other disclosures ongoing afterward.
Trump’s reply briefs to certain evidence matters are due Sept. 19.
The government’s opening brief on presidential immunity is due Sept. 26, and the Trump legal team’s reply is due on Oct. 17. The government’s opposition is thereafter due on Oct. 29.
Trump is also scheduled to provide a supplement to his original motion to dismiss based on statutory grounds by Oct. 3, and the government must reply by Oct. 17.
Trump’s request to file a motion based on his argument that Smith was illegally appointed to his special prosecutor position is due on Oct. 24, with the government’s reply due on Oct. 31. The due date for Trump’s opposition to the government’s reply is Nov. 7, stretching the pre-trial calendar beyond the presidential election.

Chutkan skeptical?

Chutkan did not issue any decisions on immunity at the Thursday hearing but rather spent significant time grilling Trump’s attorney John Lauro on why he believes it is “unseemly” for Smith’s office to lay out its case this month in an opening brief. Thomas Windom, a federal prosecutor in Smith’s office, said the government would be ready to file the brief by the end of September.

Lauro argued that Smith wanting to file “at breakneck speed” is “incredibly unfair that they are able to put in the public record (evidence) at this sensitive time in our nation’s history.”

“I understand there’s an election impending,” Chutkan snapped back, reminding him that it “is not relevant here.”

“Three weeks is not exactly breakneck speed,” Chutkan added.

Lauro argues that Chutkan should examine parts of the indictment that accuse Trump of pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to accept false slates of electors leading up to Pence’s ceremonial role in certifying the election results on Jan. 6, 2021.

“The problem with that issue is if in fact the communications are immune, then the entire indictment fails,” Lauro argued.

“I’m not sure that’s my reading of the case,” Chutkan replied.

The government maintains that all actions and communications by Trump described in the new indictment were “private in nature,” Windom argued.

Chutkan also spent time during the roughly 75-minute hearing questioning Lauro on the Trump legal team’s numerous plans to request the case’s dismissal. One anticipated plan is to try its successful play in Florida, where a Trump-appointed federal judge tossed his classified documents case after Trump argued Smith was illegally appointed as special counsel.

Chutkan said she will allow the defense to file that motion but warned that attorneys must provide convincing arguments on why “binding precedent doesn’t hold” for the time-tested position of special prosecutor.

New indictment, same charges

Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct, an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights for his alleged role in conspiring to create false electors from seven states and spreading knowingly false information that whipped his supporters into a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

A federal grand jury handed up a revised indictment Aug. 27 in an effort to tailor the charges to the Supreme Court’s July 1 immunity ruling. The fresh indictment omitted any references to Trump’s alleged pressure campaign on Justice Department officials to meddle in state election results.

But the document added emphasis on Trump’s personal use of social media outside of his actions as president, and said he and several co-conspirators schemed outside of his official duties. The new indictment also stressed Trump’s pressure on Pence to accept the fake electors in his role outside of the executive branch as president of the Senate.

If Trump wins the Oval Office in November, he would have the power to hinder or altogether shut down the Department of Justice’s election interference case against him.

If he loses to Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, the case is sure to be set back by further delays, as the Trump team plans numerous challenges and will almost certainly appeal — likely to the Supreme Court again — Chutkan’s decisions on which allegations against Trump are or are not subject to immunity.

According to Friday’s joint filing in which each side laid out plans for the case going forward, Trump’s team also warned they will challenge that Trump’s tweets and communication about the 2020 presidential results should be considered all official acts.

Additionally, Trump plans to file a motion to dismiss the case based on the Supreme Court’s June ruling that a Jan. 6 rioter could not be charged with obstructing an official proceeding — a charge that Trump also faces.

5 things to know about the Harris-Trump presidential debate

Shauneen Miranda — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 19:37:05 +0000

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, will debate Sept. 10 in Philadelphia. (Getty stock photo)

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will take the stage next week in the only planned debate between the respective Democratic and GOP presidential candidates between now and November.

It’s the first presidential debate since President Joe Biden bowed out of the race following his own disastrous debate performance in late June against Trump. Biden, who faced mounting calls to resign, passed the torch to Harris back in July.

The veep has embarked on an unprecedented and expedited campaign as she and Trump vie for the Oval Office. The election is just two months away.

Though the Harris and Trump campaigns clashed over debate procedures in recent weeks, both candidates have agreed to the finalized rules. ABC News, host of the debate, released the rules Wednesday.

When and where is the debate??

The debate will be Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 9 p.m. Eastern time at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The debate will be 90 minutes long and include two commercial breaks, according to ABC.

The Keystone State — where both Harris and Trump have spent a lot of time campaigning — could determine the outcome of the presidential election. The battleground state has narrowly flip-flopped in recent elections, with Biden turning Pennsylvania blue in 2020 after Trump secured a red win in 2016.

How can I watch the debate??

The debate will air live on ABC News and will also be streaming on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.

ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the debate.

Harris and Trump will each have two minutes to answer questions and two minutes to give rebuttals. They will also be granted one additional minute to clarify or follow up on anything.

Will the mics be muted??

Microphones will be muted when it’s not a candidate’s turn to speak, just like the previous debate between Biden and Trump in June.

The candidates will not give opening statements. Trump won a coin flip to determine the order of closing statements and podium placement. Trump, who selected the statement order, will give the final closing statement.

Each closing statement will be two minutes long.

Harris and Trump are not allowed to bring any props or prewritten notes to the debate stage. They will each receive a pen, a pad of paper and a water bottle.

Will there be a live audience??

There will be no live audience at the National Constitution Center, as was the case in the last presidential debate.

Harris and Trump are not permitted to interact with their campaign staff during the two commercial breaks.

Trump slams ABC ahead of debate

Trump went on the attack over the details of the debate, telling Fox News’ Sean Hannity during an interview Wednesday in Pennsylvania that “ABC is the worst network in terms of fairness” and “the most dishonest network, the meanest, the nastiest.”

He accused the network of releasing poor polls on purpose ahead of a previous election to drive down voter turnout.

Trump also claimed, without evidence, that Harris would get the questions in advance of the debate. ABC’s debate rules state that no candidates or campaigns will receive any topics or questions ahead of the event.

Meanwhile, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance will battle it out at the vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News on Oct. 1 in New York City.

In a ‘town hall’ with no questions, Trump grouses about polls, attacks debate host

Jacob Fischler — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 12:34:24 +0000

The Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, participates in a Fox News Town Hall with Sean Hannity at the New Holland Arena on Sept. 4, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Trump and the Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, continue to campaign across swing states as polls show a tight race prior to next week’s presidential debate in Philadelphia. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump questioned polls showing a close race against Vice President Kamala Harris and complained about the conditions of an upcoming debate during a Fox News interview Wednesday in Pennsylvania.

Under questioning from a friendly interviewer, Sean Hannity of Fox News, in front of an arena of cheering supporters in Harrisburg, the Republican presidential nominee also reiterated a pledge to conduct a massive deportation operation if elected to another term and attacked Harris for her former position to ban the natural gas extraction technique known as fracking.

Trump agreed to the interview, which had been advertised as a town hall but did not include audience questions, after Harris rejected his proposal for a Fox News debate on the same date. He said Wednesday he would have preferred to be meeting Harris on stage.

“I think he’s a nice guy, but I would have preferred a debate,” Trump said of Hannity. “But this is the best we could do, Sean.”

But Trump spent part of the hour Wednesday criticizing the details of the 90-minute debate the campaigns have agreed to, in Philadelphia on Sept. 10 on ABC.

He called ABC News “the most dishonest network, the meanest, the nastiest,” claimed the network purposely released poor polls ahead of the 2016 election to suppress turnout and said, without evidence, executives would share questions with Harris ahead of the event.

Hannity said he should host the debate instead.

Trump also claimed the family of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, endorsed him. Charles Herbster, who sought the GOP nomination for Nebraska governor in 2022, posted to X a photograph of a group of Walz’s second cousins wearing Trump shirts.

Walz’s sister, Sandy Dietrich, told The Associated Press the family was not particularly close with that branch, and said she would be voting for the ticket that included her brother.

Walz’s brother, Jeff Walz, made disparaging remarks about the Minnesota governor on Facebook, but later told NewsNation he would not comment further.

Bad polls

Hannity’s introduction Wednesday noted polls showed a tight race, but Trump said the enthusiasm among his supporters made that seem unlikely.

“I hear the polls are very close and we have a little lead,” he said. “I just find it hard to believe, because first of all, they’ve been so bad.”

Trump has sought to delegitimize polls and even election results that have not shown him ahead, including during the 2020 campaign, when he said he could only lose by fraud. After his loss to Biden, he made a series of spurious fraud allegations that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He said Wednesday he did well in 2016, when he won the election, but “much better” in 2020, which he lost. The enthusiasm for the current campaign tops either, he said.

Trump also complained that Harris’ entry into the race, after President Joe Biden dropped out following a bad debate performance in June, was “a coup” against Biden.

Immigration claims

Trump spent much of the hour talking about immigration, an issue he has highlighted throughout his time in politics.

He repeated claims, without evidence, that immigrants entering the country illegally were largely coming from prisons and “insane asylums” and said terrorists were entering the country through the southern border.

He described immigrants as a threat to public safety and to safety net programs like Medicare and Social Security.

“These people are so bad,” he said. “They’re so dangerous. What they’ve done to our country is they’re destroying our country. And we can’t let this happen.”

He seemed to reference a viral claim that Venezuelan immigrants had “taken over” an apartment in Aurora, Colorado. Residents of the building have disputed that description.

Fracking and Pennsylvania

Playing to the audience of supporters in Pennsylvania’s state capital, Trump also attacked Harris for her former position on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a technique for extracting natural gas that is a major industry in the commonwealth.

Harris said during her short-lived campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 election she supported an end to fracking. Trump and Hannity brought that up several times Wednesday, with Trump saying it should disqualify her for voters in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes will be key in deciding the election.

“You have no choice,” he said. “You’ve got to vote for me, even if you don’t like me.”

Harris has said this year she does not support a ban on fracking.

More to come

The event was advertised as a town hall and Hannity several times said audience questions would be upcoming, but no members of the pro-Trump audience were given an opportunity to ask a question.

During the interview, Hannity acknowledged Dave McCormick, the Republican challenger to Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races, in the crowd.

Hannity indicated at the end of the broadcast that taping would continue, with McCormick asking “the first question,” and air Thursday night. In an email following the event, Fox News spokeswoman Sofie Watson said the portion of the event with audience questions would air “later this week.”

Pocketbook issues rank high for Latino voters in 2024 election, survey finds

Ariana Figueroa — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 21:37:09 +0000

A poll worker walks past voting booths as he waits for voters to arrive at the Miami Beach Fire Station 4 to cast their ballot during the primary on March 19, 2024 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Latino voters are concerned with the high cost of living, the minimum wage and rising housing costs heading into the November elections, according to a comprehensive survey released Wednesday by UnidosUS, the largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy center in the nation.

“Laying out a coherent economic policy agenda that will resonate with Latinos … would go a long way, I think, for our community,” Janet Murguía, the president and CEO of UnidosUS, said on a call with reporters detailing the results of the survey.

The survey included 3,000 eligible Hispanic voters who were interviewed in either English or Spanish, from Aug. 5-23, with oversampling of residents of Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Florida, Texas and California. The poll, conducted by BSP Research, had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.

Murguía said Latinos are the second-largest voting-age population and 1 in 5 of them will be casting ballots for the first time in a presidential election this November.

“Top of mind are pocketbook issues,” she said. “Hispanic voters are most deeply concerned, like many of their fellow Americans, about the rising cost of living.”

Another issue that Latinos strongly supported is access to abortion. By a 71% to 21% margin, Latinos oppose abortion bans, according to the survey.

“They do not support making it illegal,” Murguía said.

Minimum-wage workers

Wages and jobs that provide economic security are a top priority for Latino voters, Gary Segura, who conducted the research poll for UnidosUS, said.

Latino workers are disproportionately workers who earn the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which has not increased since 2009. If the federal minimum wage had kept pace with inflation, it would be around $24 an hour, according to the AFL-CIO.

“The lived economy for Latinos is different than the lived economy for the nation as a whole,” Segura said.

Segura said during the poll, interviewers followed up with respondents on their concerns about jobs and wages and found that being able to afford necessities like food and housing were top issues.

“People are struggling to make ends meet,” he said.

The number one response was that “jobs don’t pay enough, or I have to take a second job to make ends meet,” Segura said. “We talk a lot about the low levels of unemployment in this society now, which is certainly good news, but the issue is that many of those jobs do not pay enough for the holder of that job to essentially pay their basic living expenses.”

Opinions on immigration

Murguía noted that immigration, which the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, has made a core campaign issue, ranks fifth in priorities among Latino voters, tied with concern about gun violence and too-easy access to assault weapons.

“We want to be crystal clear that Latino voters overall are not buying into campaign tactics that demonize immigrants,” Murguía said. “They know the difference between those who mean us harm and those who are contributing to the fabric of our nation.”

Latino voters strongly support a legal pathway to citizenship for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, referred to as Dreamers, and for long-term undocumented immigrants, the survey found.

Trump has promised mass deportations should he win a second term, a policy issue that has “virtually no support” by Latino voters sampled in the survey, Segura said.

Segura added that while Trump has campaigned on the issue, his promise to launch mass deportations is not particularly well known in Latino communities.

“Many of the people we speak to believe that (Trump) will do it if he can, but they just don’t actually believe that he can pull that off,” Segura said. “So there’s both a lack of awareness of these really draconian measures or proposals and then a lack of belief that they would actually come to pass.”

He added that he thinks it’s an opportunity for Democrats to campaign on the issue, but Vice President Kamala Harris has mainly criticized Trump for tanking a bipartisan border security deal.

“Our own results suggest that the primary border concern comes from voters who lean in the GOP direction in the first place, and so I don’t see a lot of movement there or a lot of risk for (Democrats), particularly in targeted advertisements and Hispanic voters,” Segura said.

‘Dismissive and diminishing language’

The poll found that 55% of those Latinos had not been contacted by either political party this year.

“We often hear a really dismissive and diminishing language about Latino participation in elections,” Segura said. “‘Latinos don’t vote as often as they should. Latinos will let you down’ and so forth, and no one ever wants to address the elephant in the room, which is that no one is asking Latinos to vote.”

The Harris campaign last month launched a bilingual WhatsApp campaign to target Latino voters. Michelle Villegas, the national Latino engagement director for the Harris campaign, said during a Hispanic Caucus meeting at the Democratic National Convention that the Latino vote is key to victory in three battleground states — Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

The survey also found that running mates had an impact on Latino voters. Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, gave her a 3-point boost, Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, made his rating drop by 3 points.

“Vance has (a) negative impact on the Republican ticket, which is consistent with his low favorability among Latino voters,” according to the survey.

While Democrats have an advantage with Latino voters, and Harris has seen a boost in support compared to when President Joe Biden was in the race, she is still not reaching the levels of Latino support seen in previous elections, Clarissa Martinez De Castro, the vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative at UnidosUS, said.

“There is work to be done to reach the levels of support Democrats need and had achieved in previous elections, and more intense communication with these voters is needed, particularly on economic issues and immigration,” Martinez De Castro said.
Equis Research, which conducts research and polling specifically about Latino voters, found in a recent poll that Harris has gained significant support from Latinos but that Harris “remains a few points shy of what Biden received in 2020” across battleground states.

Harris to roll out new plan on tax relief for small businesses

Ashley Murray — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 21:01:22 +0000

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Aug. 22, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to announce economic policy proposals aimed at helping small businesses during a campaign speech Wednesday in New Hampshire.

The Democratic presidential candidate will stump in Portsmouth for expanding the tax deduction to $50,000 on business start-up costs, up from $5,000, a campaign official said on background Tuesday. Harris will also propose a standard deduction for businesses as a way to simplify tax filing for entrepreneurs.

Congress writes the nation’s tax laws, so any changes will hinge on which party wins control of the House and Senate in November. Many provisions enacted under the 2017 Trump-era tax law are set to expire at the end of 2025, teeing up for the next Congress the major task of reworking the tax code.

The announcement comes as part of Harris’ pitch for what she calls an “opportunity economy” that would include an expanded child tax credit — up to $6,000 — for new parents, $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time home buyers, and tools to combat “price gouging” by big businesses, whom Harris blames for high grocery prices, she told CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday.

Middle-class message

Harris, whose running mate is Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has in recent weeks largely homed in on helping the middle class.

The former California attorney general and U.S. senator is also expected to announce a host of other proposals Wednesday to incentivize the creation of more small businesses — with her goal of 25 million new business applications under her administration, if elected.

Among the proposals are easing licensing to allow businesses to expand across state lines and incentivizing state and local governments to “cut red tape” and reduce regulations. Harris will also pitch granting more federal contracts to small businesses and launching a fund that would allow community banks to pay interest costs for businesses expanding in regions that see little investment.

Former President Donald Trump (Photo by Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images)

Harris’ stop in New Hampshire is one of at least three presidential campaign events this week. On Thursday she will return to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she and President Joe Biden campaigned on their support for organized labor during Monday’s Labor Day holiday.

The Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, is scheduled to attend a town hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday and a Saturday campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin.

Trump attacked Biden and Harris on his online platform Truth Social Monday, blaming the administration for high prices.

Trump wrote in his signature mix of upper and lowercase letters that under Harris, whom he refers to as “comrade,” “all Americans are suffering during this Holiday weekend – High Gas Prices, Transportation Costs are up, and Grocery Prices are through the roof. We can’t keep living under this weak and failed ‘Leadership.’”

U.S. presidents do not set transportation or grocery prices.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

Trump taps into culture war issues, seeks to energize base at Moms for Liberty event

Ariana Figueroa — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 12:31:42 +0000

Former President Donald Trump speaks with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice during the 2024 Joyful Warriors National Summit on Aug. 30 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump late Friday rarely touched on education issues during the third conference of Moms for Liberty, a conservative parental rights group that has ties to Project 2025, the far-right playbookTrump has tried to distance himself from.

Instead, in a more than one-hour interview with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice, he gave lengthy commentary on immigration; the Afghanistan withdrawal; his false claim that he won the 2020 presidential election; his old T.V. show “The Apprentice;” and frustration at running against Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris instead of President Joe Biden.

“Our country is being poisoned,” Trump said of migrants and their children in public schools. “And your schools and your children are suffering greatly because they’re going into the classrooms … they don’t even speak English.”

Trump didn’t give details on how he would enact education policy changes at the federal level but said he was against public schools allowing transgender students to identify with their gender identity in the classroom.

Trump added that he was supportive of “parental rights” and the mission of Moms for Liberty, which supports vouchers for private school tuition, running for local school boards and dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.

“I’m for parental rights all the way,” Trump said. “I don’t even understand the concept of not being.”

Across the campaign trail Trump has also floated the idea that parents should be allowed to elect principals in public schools.

Trump attacked Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and called her a “Marxist.” He added that he looked forward to debating her on Sept. 10 on ABC News.?

The Harris campaign criticized Trump for speaking at the event.

“Donald Trump is celebrating the new school year by pushing his frightening Project 2025 agenda that would hurt kids and dismantle public education as we know it, while Vice President Harris helped deliver the largest public education investment in American history and is fighting for every child to have access to a good school and a shot at the American dream,” Joseph Costello, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, said in a statement.

Harris has said little about education policy on the campaign trail. But during her campaign speeches she has opposed book bans and has stressed the need to address the student loan debt crisis, while touting some of the debt forgiveness initiatives of the Biden administration.

During Friday’s interview, Justice took aim at the policies of Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Walz is a former geography teacher who was the teacher adviser for his school’s first gay, straight, alliance club in 1999. And as governor, he signed a bill into law making free school lunches available for students.

Justice raised a question about a bill Walz signed into law making Minnesota a safe haven for access to gender-affirming care.

Justice asked Trump what were some of the things he would be able to do as president because “there’s been an explosion in the number of children who identify as transgender, and children are being taught that they were born in the wrong body.”

“Well, you can do everything,” Trump said. “President has such power.”

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that presidents have immunity for some official acts in office.

Justice asked Trump what policies he would enact at the federal level to protect “parental rights,” such as school choice, which gives parents an option to enroll their children in a school other than the assigned public one, often using public funding to do so.

House Republicans already passed a similar bill last year, but it’s likely to go nowhere in the Senate where Democrats hold a slim majority.

Trump said that Republicans are “the party of common sense.”

“I mean we’re conservative,” he said. “All of these things we’re talking about, no men in women’s sports, no gender operation, I mean it’s these operations, it’s crazy.”

Project 2025 ties

This is the second time Trump has attended a Moms for Liberty conference, and while he embraces their culture war issues, the former present has not made “parental rights” a predominant issue in his reelection campaign.

Instead, he has centered his campaign on immigration and on the promise of undertaking mass deportations of undocumented people. During the interview, he mainly criticized the Biden administration over its immigration policies.

Moms for Liberty has strong GOP ties, appearing at the Republican National Convention this summer in Milwaukee. It has more than 130,000 members across 300 chapters in 48 states, according to the organization.

The group considers the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that wrote Project 2025, a key sponsor. Moms for Liberty also sits on an advisory board for Project 2025, which Trump has tried to distance from his campaign as Democrats highlight his ties to the aggressive conservative playbook.

The Heritage Foundation put together several sessions during the Moms for Liberty summit, one by Lindsey Burke, the director of the Center for Education Policy at the think tank. She was the lead author on the Department of Education section of Project 2025 that calls to abolish the agency. Another Heritage session was titled: “Boyhood and the Changing Role of the Man in American Life.”

While Moms for Liberty rose to prominence in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic, with a focus on public schools and culture war topics, its hold on local school board elections has started to wane.

In school board election races last year, candidates endorsed by the group underperformed, with fewer than one-third winning their races, according to an analysis from the left-leaning think tank, the Brookings Institution.

Moms for Liberty also announced a $3 million campaign and advertising blitz in key states with a focus on local school board elections in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin — all battleground states.

The group, which is a nonprofit, started in Florida and was at the forefront of pushing against mask mandates during school reopenings, eliciting book bans and challenges, and objections to structural racism being discussed in classrooms.

With the new Title IX regulations from the Biden administration, the group filed lawsuits against the new rules, which broaden sex discrimination to include gender ideology and sexual orientation, and give protections to transgender students.

While Moms for Liberty quickly rose on the far right, the organization has had its share of controversy, from its co-founder to local chapters.

Police records from a now-closed criminal investigation allege that Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler helped her husband, former Florida GOP chairperson Christian Ziegler, look for women the couple could have sexual relations with, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Authorities were investigating Christian Ziegler for allegedly illegally filming a woman who accused him of sexual assault, but the state attorney’s office in Sarasota announced in March that it would not pursue charges.

A local chapter in Indiana had to apologize for using a quote by former Nazi leader Adolf Hilter in a newsletter to members, and two Kentucky chapter leaders were removed after posing in a photo with the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group.