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Maanvi Singh in San Francisco (now) and Joan E Greve in Washington (earlier)

Beto O'Rourke dropping out of 2020 presidential race  – as it happened

Beto O’Rourke speaks during a campaign rally in Grand Prairie, Texas, Thursday, 17 October 2019.
Beto O’Rourke speaks during a campaign rally in Grand Prairie, Texas, Thursday, 17 October 2019. Photograph: Tony Gutierrez/AP

Evening summary

Here’s a recap of today:

  • Beto O’Rourke dropped out of the 2020 primary race. The former Texas congressman was trailing in polls and lacked funding.
  • Elizabeth Warren unveiled a $20.5tn plan to fund Medicare for all, without a middle-class tax hike. She figures the money can be raised through higher levies on capital gains and other investments and new taxes on the wealthiest 1% of Americans, among other things.
  • Joe Biden criticized the plan, saying that Warren is “making it up,”
  • Biden slipped to fourth in Iowa — the first caucus state — trailing Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.
  • The Democratic candidates have all converged in Des Moines for a party fundraising dinner that has become known as a launching pad for winning candidates.
  • Nancy Pelosi predicted public impeachment hearings would begin this month, but the House speaker emphasized that any case against Trump would have to be “ironclad”.
  • Donald Trump said that Chad Wolf was the new acting DHS secretary. A DHS spokesperson said Wolf is not the acting secretary. Confusion ensued.
  • Trump is holding a “Keep America Great” rally in Mississippi, after initially telling Louisiana “I’ll see you tonight.”
  • National security officer Lt Col Alexander Vindman, reportedly told impeachment investigators that he told by a White House lawyer to keep quiet about Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president.

But the energy secretary may not show up to his deposition.

According to CNN:

Department of Energy spokesperson Shaylyn Hynes said Perry will not participate in the closed-door deposition.

“The secretary will not partake in a secret star chamber inquisition where agency counsel is forbidden to be present,” Hynes said. “If the committee is interested in conducting a serious proceeding they are welcome to send for the secretary’s consideration an invitation to participate in an open hearing where the Department’s counsel can be present and the American people can witness.”

Rick Perry is called to testify in impeachment inquiry

Rick Perry, the energy secretary, is scheduled to testify on Wednesday, according to reports.

Perry resigned in October amid the Ukraine scandal. He has said that he urged Donald Trump to make the phone call at the center of the impeachment inquiry to offer Ukraine “an alternative to Russian gas” – saying the whole affair had nothing to do with Joe Biden or his son Hunter.

Updated

Maybe Chad Wolf isn’t DHS acting secretary after all...

According to the White House Pool reporters, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson contradicted Donald Trump’s assertion that Chad Wolf is “right now acting” secretary.

Kevin McAleenan remains the acting secretary and Wolf is the acting undersecretary for policy, the spokesperson reportedly said.

Stay tuned as we attempt to clarify.

Updated

National Security official testified that he was asked to keep mum

A White House lawyer instructed national security official Alexander Vindman not to discuss he concerns over Donald Trump’s conversations with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy with anyone outside the White House, the Washington Post reports:

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified that he received this instruction from John Eisenberg, the top legal adviser for the National Security Council, after White House lawyers learned July 29 that a CIA employee had anonymously raised concerns about the Trump phone call, the sources said.

The directive from Eisenberg adds to an expanding list of moves by senior White House officials to contain, if not conceal, possible evidence of Trump’s attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to provide information that could be damaging to former vice president Joe Biden.

Updated

2020 candidates thank Beto O’Rourke for his gun control advocacy

After a gunman opened fire at a Walmart in O’Rourke’s hometown of El Paso, Texas, and killed 22 people, the former congressman redoubled his commitment to ending gun violence.

During his campaign, O’Rourke found himself at odds with some of his running mates. Fellow Texan Julián Castro criticized O’Rouke’s immigration policies, sparring with him during a June debate. “I think you should do your homework on this issue,” Castro told O’Rourke.

O’Rourke has not endorsed any of the other candidates. “I can tell you firsthand from having the chance to know the candidates, we will be well served by any one of them, and I’m going to be proud to support whoever that nominee is,” he said in a statement.

White House names Chad Wolf as acting DHS secretary

Wolf will be the fifth person to lead the department since Donald Trump took office. Trump announced recently that acting DHS secretary Kevin McAleenan was leaving his post.

This news was first reported by Politico, and confirmed by NPR. Trump confirmed that Wolf could take the position. According to White House pool reporters, the president said: “Well he’s right now acting and we’ll see what happens. We have great people in there.”

Per NPR:

Wolf would seem to be a less controversial choice than others, in that he has not publicly espoused the hard-line views on immigration that the acting head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli has, for instance.

Some advocates for immigration restrictions have raised concerns about Wolf’s prior work as a lobbyist on H-1B and other employment visas - programs that Trump has opposed. Wolf would become the latest person in charge at DHS “who is not completely on board” with Trump’s immigration agenda, said RJ Hauman, head of government relations at the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

“If officially named, Wolf must recuse himself from work on all guest worker related issues, not just H-1B and L-1,” Hauman said.

Updated

O’Rourke held a town hall meeting in Aurora, Colorado in September.
O’Rourke held a town hall meeting in Aurora, Colorado in September. Photograph: Helen H Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images/Denver Post via Getty Images

Beto O’Rourke was once a front runner in the Democratic primaries, who raised huge amounts of money from small donors across the country.

When he ran for US senator, he earned an endorsement of Barack Obama and energized the democratic base before he narrowly lost to incumbent Ted Cruz in the Republican stronghold of Texas. But O’Rourke is not expected to run for the Senate again. It’s unclear what his political future holds.

Updated

Goodbye to all that: Donald Trump edition

Following in the footsteps of Joan Didion, and Meghan Daum and Luc Sante – Donald Trump has penned his own version of the “Goodbye New York” essay after announcing yesterday that he had changed his primary residence from Manhattan to Mar-a-lago.

“I love New York, but New York can never be great again,” he begins. Like so many bigly figures in the literary world, Trump has written about that bittersweet feeling of leaving the iconic city.

For Trump, the decision to leave stems, he writes, from his disappointment with the “current leadership of Governor Andrew Cuomo (the brother of Fredo), or Mayor Bill DeBlasio”.

Moreover, Trump continued, “Upstate is being allowed to die as other nearby states frack & drill for Gold (oil) while reducing taxes & creating jobs by the thousands.” He lamented, “NYC is getting dirty & unsafe again.”

Echoing Didion, who described the city as “an infinitely romantic notion, the mysterious nexus of all love and money and power, the shining and perishable dream itself”, Trump concluded that he wants this “wonerful (sic) City and State to flourish and thrive.”

“I Love New York!” Trump said.

Updated

Beto O'Rourke drops out of 2020 presidential race

“I am announcing that my service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee,” he said in a statement.

The former Texas congressman has suffered low polling numbers and his campaign has been under financial strain. “Though it is difficult to accept, it is clear to me now that this campaign does not have the means to move forward successfully,” O’Rourke said.

He had not met the thresholds for participating in the upcoming debates in November and December.

Updated

That’s it from me this week. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Joe Biden attacked Elizabeth Warren following the release of her $20.5tn plan to fund Medicare for all, claiming the Massachusetts senator was “making it up” on the cost estimate of the proposal.
  • A new poll showed Biden slipping to fourth in Iowa – narrowly trailing Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg in the first caucus state.
  • Nancy Pelosi predicted public impeachment hearings would begin this month, but the House speaker emphasized that any case against Trump would have to be “ironclad”.
  • Lt Col Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the national security council, reportedly told impeachment investigators that he was instructed by a White House lawyer not to discuss Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president.

Maanvi will have plenty more on the news of the day, so stay tuned. Some of my Guardian colleagues will be anchoring the blog next week as I travel to Iowa to report on the Democratic presidential primary, so enjoy their coverage – and have a wonderful weekend!

Updated

Biden says Warren is 'making it up' on her Medicare for all cost estimate

Joe Biden has now personally weighed in on the release of Elizabeth Warren’s $20.5 trillion plan to fund her Medicare for all proposal, and his response boils down to: you’re full of it.

“She’s making it up,” Biden told PBS NewsHour. “Nobody thinks it’s $20 trillion. It’s between $30 and $40 trillion.”

The former vice president once again offered Bernie Sanders the backhanded compliment of recognizing that Medicare for all would require tax increases on the middle class.

“Look, we don’t have to go that route,” Biden added. “All we have to do is go back, restore Obamacare, provide a public option.”

Biden noted that his plan could be implemented immediately if passed, while Warren and Sanders have proposed transitional periods to shift to a single-payer system.

Updated

Warren defends Medicare for all funding plan amid Biden campaign's attacks

Elizabeth Warren defended her newly released plan to fund Medicare for all after Joe Biden’s campaign released a statement accusing the Massachusetts senator of proposing a roundabout way to tax the middle class in order to pay for the sweeping policy.

Warren emphasized that the cost and revenue projections outlined in the plan were authenticated by former senior Obama administration officials. She said: “So if Joe Biden doesn’t like that, I’m just not sure where he’s going.”

Warren argued that her plan built on the progress of the Affordable Care Act and added: “Democrats are not going to win by repeating Republican talking points.”

At least one of the Washington Nationals, relief pitcher Sean Doolittle, does not intend to visit the White House to celebrate the team’s World Series championship.

The White House announced earlier today that the Nationals would meet with the president on Monday afternoon to celebrate their victory, but some winning sports teams have opted out of the traditional visit since Trump took office.

When the Boston Red Sox won the World Series last year, most of the team’s minority players chose not to participate in the White House visit, while most of the team’s white players met with Trump.

Conway says impeachment is 'certainly possible'

Senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said that it was “certainly possible” the House would vote to impeach Trump.

Speaking to reporters on the White House driveway, Conway went on to attack House Democrats for pursuing an “unconstitutional” investigation and argued the passage of the impeachment resolution did not alter the illegitimacy of the inquiry.

Conway sarcastically asked: “Do you think you can actually apply due process retroactively?” She also applauded the two House Democrats who voted with every House Republican to oppose the impeachment resolution.

Nancy Pelosi said on Capitol Hill yesterday that the procedures outlined in the resolution were “fairer than anything that have gone before in terms of an impeachment proceeding.”

Biden sees fundraising surge amid Trump attacks

Joe Biden’s campaign raised $5.3 million last month as Trump repeated false corruption claims against the former vice president and his son, Hunter.

The AP reports:

The swell of cash was raised from 182,000 donors who made an average donation of about $28, according to figures provided to The Associated Press by Biden’s presidential campaign. It comes after his internet fundraising operation stumbled over the summer, leading critics to suggest he lacked grassroots support for his campaign.

‘All of the Trump attacks have started to catalyze. More people understand what is at stake,’ deputy campaign manager Pete Kavanaugh said in an interview. ‘People out there are seeing Joe Biden getting attacked day after day. They understand he needs to fight back.’

The fundraising boost comes amid growing anxiety over Biden’s campaign from would-be allies in the Democratic establishment, who have fretted about his prospects following underwhelming debate performances, middling fundraising success and withering attacks from rivals in his own party and from Trump.

Trump’s baseless attacks may continue to provide momentum to Biden’s campaign, especially given that the impeachment inquiry will soon advance to public hearings.

If witnesses publicly confirm that Trump pushed Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, it could incentivize voters to offer the former vice president their support -- and maybe even some donations.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is reportedly closing her three field offices in New Hampshire as her campaign devotes the vast majority of its resources to Iowa.

Harris’ campaign said in an internal memo earlier this week that it was pursuing a massive overhaul in response to the candidate’s dwindling fundraising and polling numbers. A number of employees in Harris’ Baltimore headquarters are being laid off, and many campaign staffers have been redeployed to Iowa.

However, the California senator is still struggling to gain traction in the first caucus state. A new poll out today showed Harris hitting only 3 percent in Iowa.

New deposition requests announced in impeachment inquiry

Impeachment investigators have scheduled two more depositions next week. They intend to speak to Wells Griffith, the senior director for international energy and environment at the national security council, and Michael Duffey, the associate director for national security programs at the office of management and budget, on Tuesday.

Duffey was previously asked to testify in the impeachment inquiry, but his boss at OMB, Russ Vought, tweeted that no one from the agency would be cooperating with the investigation.

Given that it seems unlikely Griffith or Duffey will appear for the depositions, House Democrats appear to be running out of witnesses willing to cooperate with the investigation before it advances to public hearings.

Vindman was reportedly told not to discuss Ukraine call

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the national security council, reportedly told impeachment investigators that he was told not to discuss Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president.

Politico reports:

[Vindman] told lawmakers that he went to the [White House] lawyer, John Eisenberg, to register his concerns about the call, in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, according to a person in the room for Vindman’s deposition on Tuesday.

Eisenberg recorded Vindman’s complaints in notes on a yellow legal pad, then conferred with his deputy Michael Ellis about how to handle the conversation because it was clearly ‘sensitive,’ Vindman testified. The lawyers then decided to move the record of the call into the NSC’s top-secret codeword system—a server normally used to store highly classified material that only a small group of officials can access.

Vindman did not consider the move itself as evidence of a cover-up, according to a person familiar with his testimony. But he said he became disturbed when, a few days later, Eisenberg instructed him not to tell anyone about the call—especially because it was Vindman’s job to coordinate the interagency process with regard to Ukraine policy.

Einsenberg’s alleged instruction not to discuss the call will likely be cited by House Democrats as evidence of a cover-up by the Trump White House.

Eisenberg will almost certainly be asked about this direction to Vindman if he shows up for his deposition with impeachment investigators on Monday -- although it remains unclear whether the White House lawyer will actually appear.

Trump announces nominee to lead FDA

Trump has announced that he intends to nominate Stephen Hahn as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

The Washington Post reports:

But in a surprise move, acting FDA commissioner Norman ‘Ned’ Sharpless, will immediately return to his previous position as the director of the National Cancer Institute, and Brett Giroir, a top official at the Department of Health and Human Services, will oversee the FDA until Hahn is confirmed, according to individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues.

Sharpless has been acting commissioner since April, when the previous commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, stepped down. However, Sharpless’ term as acting agency head expires Friday. His time at FDA could be extended only if the White House officially nominated a successor, which it cannot do because the Hahn paperwork isn’t finished, according to people familiar with the situation.

If confirmed, Hahn, the chief medical officer of Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center, will help oversee the FDA’s efforts to crack down on vaping. Trump announced back in September that his administration would ban most flavors of e-cigarettes, but the FDA has not yet issued its policy on the matter.

Democratic presidential candidates have started arriving in Des Moines for tonight’s Liberty and Justice Dinner, a major campaign event in the first caucus state.

The dinner comes on the same day that a poll was released showing a tight race in Iowa — with Elizabeth Warren narrowly leading over Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden.

Castro meets fundraising goal

Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro announced this morning that his campaign had met its goal to raise $800,000 in the last ten days of October.

Maya Rupert, Castro’s campaign manager, said in a statement: “We set an extremely ambitious goal to keep Secretary Castro’s voice in this race, and our supporters met the challenge and delivered one of the best months of the campaign to date. ... We will keep lifting up important issues others choose to ignore, and demonstrating by example why Secretary Castro is the best candidate to take on Donald Trump.”

Castro’s team said last month that the former San Antonio mayor and cabinet secretary would have to drop out of the race unless the campaign saw a spike in fundraising.

Fellow Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker pulled the same gimmick a month earlier and also met his fundraising goal.

In her Bloomberg interview, Nancy Pelosi downplayed the likelihood of a government shutdown as the impeachment inquiry advances to a more public stage.

The House speaker said of the Trump administration: “They don’t care about shutdowns because they don’t believe in government. However I do think that they learned a lesson from the last shutdown, since it didn’t do them very well.”

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer suggested earlier this week that Trump might force a shutdown to distract from the impeachment investigation.

The New York Democrat told reporters: “He always likes to create diversions.”

Paula White, the president’s personal pastor who has just joined the administration, is promoting a book in which she details her long friendship with Trump.

In a Washington Examiner interview about the book, White claimed that Trump once proposed building a glass cathedral for her ministry. “He wanted to build a house of God,” White said. “He said, ‘Let’s do this, let’s build this before we’re too old.”

Trump’s relationship with White has previously caused consternation among some of his evangelical supporters, and her new role in the White House will surely only escalate those tensions. The New York Times reported yesterday:

Ms. White will work in the Office of Public Liaison, the official said, which is the division of the White House overseeing outreach to groups and coalitions organizing key parts of the president’s base. Her role will be to advise the administration’s Faith and Opportunity Initiative, which Mr. Trump established last year by executive order and which aims to give religious groups more of a voice in government programs devoted to issues like defending religious liberty and fighting poverty.

As Mr. Trump campaigns for a second term, he cannot afford to lose support from the religious conservatives who voted for him in 2016 in significant numbers. Without their backing, his path to re-election would be significantly narrower. ...

But Ms. White cannot be easily categorized as either a political asset or a liability. She has a large following among Christians who believe in the ‘prosperity gospel,’ which teaches that God blesses people he deems to be of strong faith with wealth, good health and other gifts.

But many other Christians consider these beliefs to be heresy. And Ms. White’s presence in the top tier of Mr. Trump’s coterie of informal religious advisers has long been a source of contention with many evangelical Christians.

For more on White, read Jessica Glenza’s piece on her from earlier this year.

Pelosi predicts public impeachment hearings this month

In her Bloomberg News interview, Nancy Pelosi predicted that public hearings in the impeachment inquiry would begin this month.

The House speaker said: “I would assume there would be public hearings in November.”

Pelosi added that impeachment investigators would continue closed-door depositions as long as the interviews are “productive.”

“I don’t know what the timetable will be -- the truth will set us free,” the California Democrat said. “We have not made any decisions on if the president will be impeached.” Pelosi noted that any case against Trump would have to be “ironclad.”

Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, also told PBS NewsHour yesterday that transcripts from the closed-door depositions may be released as soon as early next week.

Updated

Pelosi criticizes Medicare for all

Speaking to Bloomberg News, Nancy Pelosi questioned the wisdom of supporting Medicare for all, arguing that Obamacare was a better option.

The House speaker said in an interview: “I’m not a big fan of Medicare for all.”

Pelosi’s comments come just hours after Elizabeth Warren released her plan to fund Medicare for all by raising taxes on the wealthy and redirecting spending on private insurance.

Biden adviser slams Warren's Medicare for all funding plan

In a statement criticizing Elizabeth Warren’s plan to fund Medicare for all, a senior adviser to Joe Biden accused the Massachusetts senator of proposing an indirect tax on the middle class to pay for the sweeping policy.

Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager and communications director, argued that Warren’s proposal to raise $8.8 trillion by redirecting most of employers’ spending on healthcare to the federal government amounted to a tax on the middle class.

Bedingfield said: “For months, Elizabeth Warren has refused to say if her health care plan would raise taxes on the middle class, and now we know why: because it does. Senator Warren would place a new tax of nearly $9 trillion that will fall on American workers.”

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Elizabeth Warren released her $20.5 trillion plan to pay for Medicare for all, insisting she could avoid tax hikes on the middle class by increasing taxes for the wealthiest Americans.
  • Joe Biden has slipped to fourth in Iowa, according to a new poll of the first caucus state. Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg are narrowly beating him as the race has become tighter than ever.
  • Senior House Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, said they will “soon” initiate public hearings and transcript releases in the impeachment inquiry.

The blog will have plenty more coming up, so stay tuned.

World Series champion Nationals visiting the White House Monday

The White House has just announced it will host the Washington Nationals, the 2019 World Series champions, on Monday.

The announcement comes less than a week after Trump was booed at Nationals Park, as the team was facing the Houston Astros in Game 5 of the World Series. After booing the president, the crowd broke out in a chant of, “Lock him up!”

Washington is an overwhelmingly Democratic town, and there had been predictions that Trump would not be well received by the Nationals’ fans, but the chant still caused much hand-wringing among certain political commentators.

One Republican congressman, Don Young of Alaska, is pursuing a new strategy for responding to questions about the impeachment inquiry: headbutting the camera.

The longtime lawmaker was being repeatedly asked by activists from the progressive group MoveOn.org whether it was acceptable for a president to pressure a foreign government to interfere in an election, as Trump is alleged to do.

As one of Young’s staffers tried to direct the activists to his press secretary, the congressman approached the camera and collided with it before saying, “There you go.”

This unusual evasion tactic is not likely to please the president, who has urged Republican lawmakers to attack the “substance” of the impeachment inquiry. Headbutting cameras is probably not what Trump had in mind.

Fiona Hill, Trump’s former top adviser on Russia, is back on Capitol Hill after testifying in the impeachment inquiry.

Hill reportedly told impeachment investigators last month that Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, oversaw a shadow foreign policy in Ukraine to benefit Trump.

Joe Biden appeared to take a swipe at some of his Democratic primary opponents hours after Elizabeth Warren announced her plan to fund “Medicare for all.”

The former vice president advertised the beginning of Obamacare’s open enrollment, warning that “many Americans can’t afford to wait for far off promises.”

Warren said she would soon release a plan on how the country can shift from its current healthcare system to a single-payer framework, and it’s unclear whether the transitional period would be shorter or longer than the four years proposed by Bernie Sanders.

Bennet not sold on Warren plan at all

Colorado Senator and 2020 Democratic candidate Michael Bennet isn’t impressed with Elizabeth Warren’s mathematics on Medicare for all, the Guardian’s Joanna Walters writes.

“Voters are sick and tired of politicians promising them things that they know they can’t deliver,” Bennet said in a statement just earlier today.

“Warren’s new numbers are simply not believable and have been contradicted by experts. Regardless of whether it’s $21 trillion or $31 trillion, this isn’t going to happen, and the American people need health care,” it continued.

Bennet hasn’t qualified for the more recent Democratic primary debates but is still out on the trail.

Instead of Medicare for all, the progressive plan for universal US health insurance paid for by the government, Bennet favors a more moderate public option that would give Americans the option to buy a government plan or keep their private sector insurance.

That was then. Michael Bennet, left, at the Democratic primary debate night in Detroit in July. Since then, Kirsten Gillibrand, to his left, and the two candidates on the right side of the stage, New York mayor Bill de Blasio and Washington State governor Jay Inslee have dropped out of the race.
That was then. Michael Bennet, left, at the Democratic primary debate night in Detroit in July. Since then, Kirsten Gillibrand, to his left, and the two candidates on the right side of the stage, New York mayor Bill de Blasio and Washington State governor Jay Inslee have dropped out of the race. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Trump’s press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, told Fox News that the White House feels no need to create an impeachment war room because of the president’s own messaging against the inquiry.

Grisham said of Trump: “He is the war room.”

Asked when she might hold her first press briefing, Grisham, who assumed her role about four months ago, replied: “Whenever it’s time.”

Trump celebrated the stock market gains following news that the US economy added 128,000 jobs last month, stronger than the 89,000 predicted by economists. (Follow the Guardian’s business live blog for more updates.)

However, a former Republican congressman noted the president was complaining yesterday that the impeachment inquiry was allegedly dragging down US markets.

Schiff says deposition transcripts could be released 'early next week'

Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, said that transcripts of the closed-door interviews in the impeachment inquiry could be released “early next week.”

Asked about the timing of the release, Schiff told PBS NewsHour: “You know, I think early next week is probably the realistic time. And we still need to go through some of the transcripts and excise any potentially classified information or personal information. But they will be released very soon.”

Nancy Pelosi also told late-night host Stephen Colbert yesterday that public hearings in the impeachment investigation would begin “soon.”

The impeachment resolution passed by the House outlines next steps in the inquiry as it advances to a more public stage, but Democratic leadership was evasive yesterday when asked about the specific timing of hearings or transcript releases.

The accelerated timeline could help the House wrap up hearings in time for an impeachment vote potentially by the end of this month.

In releasing her “Medicare for all” funding plan, Elizabeth Warren also noted that she would soon release a proposal on how the US would transition from its current healthcare system to a single-payer framework.

Bernie Sanders, who has centered his campaign around a Medicare-for-all proposal, has said the US would shift to his system over four years, so it’ll be interesting to see if Warren proposes a shorter or longer transitional period.

Progressive activists praised the release of Elizabeth Warren’s funding plan for her “Medicare for all” proposal, complimenting the Massachusetts Senator for not abandoning the expansive policy.

Some of the other Democratic presidential candidates, including Joe Biden, have attacked “Medicare for all” proposals for being too dramatic of an overhaul of the US healthcare system. Of course, candidates like Warren and Bernie Sanders have replied that a dramatic overhaul is exactly what the US healthcare system needs.

Updated

Warren releases plan to pay for 'Medicare for all'

Elizabeth Warren has released a plan to pay for her Medicare-for-all proposal after some of her fellow Democratic presidential candidates, including Joe Biden, criticized her not laying out how she would fund the idea.

The New York Times reports:

Ms. Warren would use a mix of sources to pay for the $20.5 trillion in new spending over a decade, including by requiring employers to pay trillions of dollars to the government, replacing much of what they currently spend to provide health coverage to workers. She would create a tax on financial transactions like stock trades, change how investment gains are taxed for the top 1 percent of households and ramp up her signature wealth tax proposal to be steeper on billionaires. She also wants to cut $800 billion in military spending.

The plan crucially does not include tax hikes on the middle class, a question she has repeatedly faced on the debate stage. The release of the funding plan could also help Warren to address criticisms that her proposals are unrealistic.

Biden slips to fourth in new Iowa poll

A new Iowa poll found that the Democratic presidential primary in the early voting state is a tight race as Joe Biden has lost his lead.

According to the New York Times-Siena College poll, Elizabeth Warren leads the Iowa race, attracting the support of 22 percent of the state’s Democratic voters. Bernie Sanders is a close second at 19 percent, and Pete Buttigieg is just behind him at 18 percent. Biden narrowly comes in fourth at 17 percent.

No other candidate hits 5 percent, but a number of contenders are hoping to make a splash at tonight’s Liberty and Justice Dinner in Des Moines, as Barack Obama did in the 2008 race.

However, it’s worth noting that a clear group of frontrunners has emerged just 100 days from the caucus, and any of the four top-polling candidates appears capable of winning at this point.

Americans evenly divided on whether to impeach Trump, poll finds

Just a day after the House passed a resolution outlining next steps in the impeachment inquiry, a new poll has come out showing Americans are evenly divided on whether Trump should be impeached and removed from office.

According to the Washington Post-ABC News poll, 49 percent of Americans say Trump should be impeached and removed from office, while 47 percent say he should not.

However, that 49 percent backing impeachment overwhelmingly comes from Democrats, reflecting the nearly party-line vote in the House yesterday on the impeachment resolution.

These numbers could shift once the House committees leading the inquiry advance to public hearings, as yesterday’s resolution outlines, and Americans are able to hear directly from witnesses for the first time.

Impeachment inquiry reportedly zeroing in on White House lawyers

Good morning, live blog readers!

There are no depositions scheduled in the impeachment inquiry today, but investigators are already planning for three major interviews next week — assuming the witnesses show up, which is not guaranteed.

The AP reports:

Deepening their reach into the West Wing, impeachment investigators have summoned former national security adviser John Bolton to testify next week. But they also are seeking testimony of two other political appointees — John Eisenberg, the lead lawyer for the National Security Council, and Michael Ellis, a senior associate counsel to the president. ...

The lawyers’ role is critical because two witnesses have suggested the NSC legal counsel — when told that Trump asked a foreign leader for domestic political help — took the extraordinary step of shielding access to the transcript not because of its covert nature but rather its potential damage to the Republican president.

News of Bolton’s requested interview made headlines earlier this week, but the testimony of Eisenberg and Ellis could prove even more damaging for the president.

As the lawyers who were notified of concerns about Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president shortly after it took place, Eisenberg and Ellis could provide insight into the immediate aftermath of the conversation — and why they went to such great lengths to keep it from becoming public.

Supporters of Donald Trump cheer during a campaign rally for the president.
Supporters of Donald Trump cheer during a campaign rally for the president. Photograph: Jeffrey McWhorter/AP

Here’s what else the blog is keeping its eye on:

  • Trump will hold a campaign rally in Mississippi at 7 p.m. C.T.
  • Democratic presidential candidates are in Des Moines, Iowa, for the Liberty and Justice Dinner.
  • Congress is on recess.

The blog will have plenty more coming up, so stay tuned.

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Homes & Gardens
Homes & Gardens
McDonald’s burger prices vary a whopping 74% depending on where you live. Here is the cheapest state
The Big Arch burger contains 1,020 calories and 53 grams of protein and varies in price across the country
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
How to shop at the farmers’ market like a pro
Tips from experts on where to find the freshest fruits and veggies
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
‘The lyrics to Lola by the Kinks are gross – I was really taken aback’: Moby’s honest playlist
The DJ and multi-instrumentalist thinks Donna Summer still sounds like the future, but which ‘unevolved’ Kinks staple can he no longer stomach?
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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