House Democrats attack ‘extreme Maga Republicans’ over abortion restrictions – live | US politics

Martin Pengelly

Speaking of angry scenes in Congress, there have been some chaotic goings-on today over at the “Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government”, chaired by Jim Jordan, the hardline Republican from Ohio.

It all hinges on how two Republican witnesses, the Missouri senator Eric Schmitt and the attorney general of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, appeared to give statements about supposed censorship involving the Biden administration and big tech platforms, but departed without being cross-examined.

Amid Democratic protests and Republican counters, Linda Sanchez of California, a Democrat, told Jordan: “If allowing them to leave is not weaponisation, I don’t know what is.”

In another confrontation, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a Republican, sought to introduce into the congressional record a letter from Landry in which, he said, the state AG “decries all political violence and calls for an end to that and asks for respect for all political viewpoints”.

The ranking Democrat on the panel, Stacey Plaskett, the delegate from the US Virgin Islands, sighed and said: “Another thing we can’t examine because he’s not here.”

Jordan said: “You can examine it, it’s a document.”

Plaskett said: “No, examine him for what he wrote and the intent behind what he said.”

As Johnson walked over and plonked the document on Plaskett’s desk, Jordan said: “I would just point out that … we got the document right here, I can hand it to you.”

Plaskett picked up the document, walked over the dais to Johnson, and threw it back on his desk.

Here’s the video:

Martin Pengelly

Footage of an extraordinary confrontation between two members of Congress, the far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, from Georgia, and the Florida Democrat Jared Moskowitz, continues to spread widely online.

The exchange happened yesterday, during a House oversight committee hearing about the governance of Washington DC which grew contentious amid Republican attacks and questions about crime and, in particular, public urination.

Moskowitz said: “Do you think parents in this country, as they’re putting their young kids into pajamas at night and are tucking them into bed, you think they’re worried about public urination in Washington DC? Or do you think they’re worried about sending their kid to school and their kid not coming home?”

Referring to the school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday in which three children and three adults were killed, Moskowitz said: “Mass murder in schools is crime. That’s crime. You want to talk about 1,300 cars being stolen? 550 people have been murdered in school. Who cares about the cars? What about the kids? No hearing for them.”

Greene said children could be made safer by arming more people in schools.

Growing angry, Moskowitz said: “You know, there are six people that are dead in that school [in Nashville] including three children because you guys got rid of the assault weapons ban. Because you guys made it easy for people who don’t deserve to have weapons, who are mentally incapable of having weapons of war, [to be] able to buy those weapons and go into schools.

“Did the good guys with the gun stop six people from getting murdered? No, but you know what? AR-15s, you ever seen what those bullets do to children? You know why you don’t hunt with an AR-15, with a deer? Because there’s nothing left. And there’s nothing left of these kids when people go into school and murder them while they’re trying to read.”

Moskowitz then referred to widespread Republican moves to ban books about race, sexuality, gender and other culture war issues from public schools.

“You guys are worried about banning books,” he said. “Dead kids can’t read.”

You can watch part of the exchange here.

Martin Pengelly

After the White House remarks earlier, we also have brief comments from the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, about the reported arrest in Russia on espionage charges of Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen and reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Blinken says: “We are deeply concerned over Russia’s widely-reported detention of a US citizen journalist. We are in contact with the Wall Street Journal on this situation.

“Whenever a US citizen is detained abroad, we immediately seek consular access, and seek to provide all appropriate support.

“In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices.

“The Department of State’s highest priority is the safety and security of US citizens abroad. We reiterate our strong warnings about the danger posed to US citizens inside the Russian Federation. US citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately, as stated in our Travel Advisory for Russia.”

The charges against Gershkovich carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Here’s the latest Guardian report, from Shaun Walker, our central and eastern Europe correspondent:

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries kicked off the press conference introducing the Women’s Health Protection Act by taking aim at “extreme Maga Republicans” he said want to control women’s health care choices.

“The Women’s Health Protection Act is so critical because extreme Maga Republicans want to impose a nationwide abortion ban. We’re gonna stop them,” Jeffries said. “Extreme Republicans want to criminalize abortion care across the nation. We’re gonna stop them.”

“Extreme Republicans think that they should be the ones who make a decision about abortion care and we’re here to say, back up off the women of America.”

House Democrats are about to reintroduce legislation to protect abortion rights nationwide, a symbolic effort that has no chance of passing the chamber as long as Republicans remain in control. We’ll keep you posted on the press conference set to begin shortly, at 12:45 pm eastern time. Meanwhile, Washington is reacting to news that Russia has detained an American reporter working for the Wall Street Journal.

Here’s what else has happened today so far:

• Joe Biden issued a proclamation in recognition of today’s Transgender Day of Visibility that decried an “epidemic of violence” against the group.

• Joe Manchin, the centrist Democratic senator who stymied progressive demands over the past two years, called on the White House to negotiate with Republicans over the debt ceiling.

• Prayer is all one Republican lawmaker has to offer when it comes to solving America’s epidemic of gun violence.

The Biden administration is “deeply concerned” by Russia’s reported detention of Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Russian authorities arrested Gershkovich on Wednesday in the Urals city of Ekaterinburg and accused him of espionage, a charge that carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Here’s Jean-Pierre’s full statement:

We are deeply concerned by the troubling reports that Evan Gershkovich, an American citizen, has been detained in Russia.
Last night, White House and State Department Officials spoke with Mr. Gershkovich’s employer, the Wall Street Journal. The Administration has also been in contact with his family. Furthermore, the State Department has been in direct touch with the Russian government on this matter, including actively working to secure consular access to Mr. Gershkovich. The targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable. We condemn the detention of Mr. Gershkovich in the strongest terms. We also condemn the Russian government’s continued targeting and repression of journalists and freedom of the press. I want to strongly reiterate that Americans should heed the U.S. government’s warning to not travel to Russia. U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately, as the State Department continues to advise.

Joe Biden warned of “discriminatory state laws” and an “epidemic of violence” targeting transgender Americans in a proclamation recognizing this year’s Transgender Day of Visibility.

The president’s statement came as GOP-led states nationwide pass laws that ban gender-affirming care for minors or restrict transgender people’s ability to use their preferred pronouns on official documents or the bathrooms of their choice. It also came days after the mass shooting at a Nashville elementary school by a gunman who identified as transgender – which some rightwing figures seized on to further demonize the group.

Here’s more from the White House proclamation:

Transgender Day of Visibility celebrates the joy, strength, and absolute courage of some of the bravest people I know — people who have too often had to put their jobs, relationships, and lives on the line just to be their true selves. Today, we show millions of transgender and nonbinary Americans that we see them, they belong, and they should be treated with dignity and respect. Their courage has given countless others strength, but no one should have to be brave just to be themselves. Every American deserves that freedom.

Transgender Americans shape our Nation’s soul — proudly serving in the military, curing deadly diseases, holding elected office, running thriving businesses, fighting for justice, raising families, and much more. As kids, they deserve what every child deserves: the chance to learn in safe and supportive schools, to develop meaningful friendships, and to live openly and honestly. As adults, they deserve the same rights enjoyed by every American, including equal access to health care, housing, and jobs and the chance to age with grace as senior citizens. But today, too many transgender Americans are still denied those rights and freedoms. A wave of discriminatory State laws is targeting transgender youth, terrifying families and hurting kids who are not hurting anyone. An epidemic of violence against transgender women and girls, in particular women and girls of color, has taken lives far too soon. Last year’s Club Q shooting in Colorado was another painful example of this kind of violence — a stain on the conscience of our Nation.

House Democrats will today introduce legislation to restore abortion rights nationwide, but the measure has no chance of passing the chamber as long as Republicans maintain their majority.

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, whip Katherine Clark and other members of Democratic leadership will introduce the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2023 in a press conference at 12.45pm ET. The legislation would create a federal right to abortion and protect against restrictions on the procedure – such as those many GOP-led states have enacted since the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade last year.

A version of the bill was earlier this month proposed in the Senate, but the push is largely symbolic. Republicans remain broadly against abortion access, dooming the legislation’s chances both in the House and the Senate, where they can use the filibuster to stop its passage.

Joe Manchin acted as something of a congressional kingmaker for the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency. With Democrats needing unanimity among the party’s lawmakers to get anything through the Senate without Republican support, Manchin flexed his muscles to, among other things, water down provisions addressing climate change from Biden’s signature legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Manchin saw his power diluted in last year’s midterm elections, when the Democrats increased their margin in the Senate and lost the House, ending the chances for Biden to get any big legislation through Congress for the next two years. But Manchin is still an influential voices and perhaps the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, and thus his criticism of the Biden administration’s strategy on the debt ceiling, and implementation of the IRA, is worth listening to.

Here’s some of what he wrote in the Wall Street Journal:

Instead of implementing the law as intended, unelected ideologues, bureaucrats and appointees seem determined to violate and subvert the law to advance a partisan agenda that ignores both energy and fiscal security. Specifically, they are ignoring the law’s intent to support and expand fossil energy and are redefining “domestic energy” to increase clean-energy spending to potentially deficit-breaking levels. The administration is attempting at every turn to implement the bill it wanted, not the bill Congress actually passed. Ignoring the debt and deficit implications of these actions as the time nears to raise the debt ceiling isn’t only wrong, it’s policy and political malpractice.

I believe the only person who can rein in this extremism is Mr. Biden.

The first step is for the president to sit down with fiscally minded Republicans and Democrats to negotiate common-sense reforms to out-of-control fiscal policy. While we can all acknowledge that raising the debt limit is an absolute necessity and Republicans shouldn’t threaten otherwise, are we seriously to believe there is no room to negotiate? Does the federal government operate so efficiently and effectively that there truly isn’t a dollar of waste, fraud or abuse? Let’s get serious.

In short, Manchin has two demands: “The president has the power, today, to direct his administration to follow the law, as well as to sit down with congressional leaders and negotiate meaningful, serious reforms to the federal budget.”

Good morning, US politics blog readers. The Wall Street Journal’s right-leaning editorial pages are rarely comforting reading for Democrats, and on Wednesday, they played host to a column criticizing the Biden administration from perhaps its top frenemy: Joe Manchin. West Virginia’s Democratic senator has acted as the gatekeeper for much legislation over the past two years of Biden’s administration, and in the column, he took issue with Joe Biden’s refusal to negotiate with Republicans over America’s debt limit. Manchin called for the White House to instead sit down with the opposition to find ways to reduce spending, which he argued was on an unsustainable path.

Here’s what else is going on today:

• The Republican-dominated House of Representatives is expected to finish up consideration of a bill meant to lower energy costs via increased oil and gas drilling.

• White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief reporters at 2pm eastern time.

• Biden will not stop a Republican-backed measure to end the national emergency over the Covid pandemic, according to the Associated Press.