Today's politics recap
- The office of the US director of national intelligence released a declassified report on the origins of coronavirus. The 18-page report concludes that the virus “was not developed as a biological weapon”. However, the US intelligence community could not reach a definitive assessment on the virus’ origins, and the report notes that officials will likely be unable to do so unless new information comes to light.
- The Food and Drug Administration approved a lower dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for children ages five to 11. The decision marks a key development in the approval process, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to authorize shots for children in that age group. A CDC advisory committee will meet next week to discuss Pfizer’s application, and the ultimate decision on authorization will be made by CDC director Rochelle Walensky.
- The supreme court denied a request to block a statewide requirement in Maine that healthcare workers get vaccinated against Covid-19. However, conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil M Gorsuch issued a dissent noting that the “plight” of workers with religious beliefs against vaccination “is worthy of our attention”.
- The court has also agreed to hear a case involving the federal government’s ability to limit carbon emissions. The news comes just days before Joe Biden is set to arrive in Glasgow for the Cop26 climate change conference, where the US president is expected to strongly urge fellow leaders to take significant steps to limit emissions.
- Biden met with Pope Francis at the Vatican this morning. The US president told reporters that the pope said Biden should keep receiving communion, despite criticism from some Catholic leaders. A number of American bishops have called for Biden to be denied communion because of his support for abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
- Adam Kinzinger, one of two House Republicans serving on the select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, announced he would not seek reelection. As one of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the insurrection, Kinzinger had already attracted several primary opponents. Illinois’ redistricting plan also meant that Kinzinger would likely need to face off against another Republican congressman, Darin LaHood, to win reelection.
– Joan E Greve and Maanvi Singh
Updated
The Capitol police officer who was charged with helping hide evidence of a rioter’s participation in the 6 January insurrection has pleaded not guilty and resigned from his post.
Michael Riley, 50, allegedly told a rioter to delete Facebook posts to shield themself from investigation.
“I’m a capitol police officer who agrees with your political stance,” Riley allegedly wrote, per the indictment. “Take down the part about being in the building they are currently investigating and everyone who was in the building is going to be charged. Just looking out!”
His legal team contests wrongdoing.
“With regard to the charges against him, the evidence will show that it is not a felony for one person to suggest to another that they take down ill-conceived Facebook posts,” the former officer’s legal team told NBC News.
Updated
The Liberty Counsel said that more than 2,000 individuals in Maine had objected to being vaccinated on religious and philosophical grounds.
Requests for religious exemptions have been growing as state and local governments enact coronavirus vaccine requirements.
A cottage industry of anti-vaccine and religious groups has cropped up to help people dodge requirements. In Rocklin, California – just north-east of the state capital, Sacramento – a megachurch pastor has been offering religious exemption letters to all who want them. Pastor Greg Fairrington of Destiny Christian church, who has organized protests at the state capitol against the state’s vaccine requirements for school children, healthcare workers and first responders, has held that he is not anti-vaccine, but “the vaccine poses a morally compromising situation for many people of faith”. The Christian legal advocacy group Liberty Counsel offers letter templates to claim a religious exemption, as well.
Here’s more on what it all means:
The supreme court refused to block Maine vaccine requirement
The supreme court denied a request to block a statewide requirement in Maine that healthcare workers get vaccinated against Covid-19, after a group of workers argued that the mandate violated their religious beliefs.
The state for decades has required health workers to get vaccinated against contagious diseases regardless or religious or philosophical disagreement. The court has for now allowed the policy to continue.
However, conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil M. Gorsuch issued a dissent noting that “health care workers who have served on the front line of a pandemic for the last 18 months are now being fired and their practices shuttered. All for adhering to their constitutionally protected religious beliefs. Their plight is worthy of our attention.”
Updated
Joe Biden’s nearly $3tn domestic agenda remains unrealized after an 11th-hour push to rally Democrats around a pared-down package that he framed as historic, failed to close the deal in time for his meeting with world leaders in Rome at the G20 summit.
But after a dramatic Thursday of bold promises and dashed hopes, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was forced to postpone a vote on a $1tn infrastructure bill for a second time in a month, as progressives demanded more assurances that a compromise $1.75tn social policy plan would also pass.
It was a setback – though perhaps only a temporary one – for Democratic leaders, who had hoped to hand the president a legislative victory that he could tout during his six-day trip to Europe for a pair of international economic and climate summits.
The delay underscored the depth of mistrust among Democrats – between the House and Senate, progressives and centrists, leadership and members – after a lengthy negotiating process yielded a plan that was about half the size of Biden’s initial vision.
Read more:
Countless newspaper columns and hours of airtime have been expended trying to understand the motives of the two holdouts, who can effectively decide whether Democrats keep their campaign promises – with huge implications for next year’s midterm elections.
Manchin is not so mysterious. He hails from coal-rich West Virginia, a conservative state that Donald Trump won twice in a landslide, and once ran a campaign ad in which he shot a rifle at a legislative bill. He owns about $1m in shares in his son’s coal brokerage company and has raised campaign funds from oil and gas interests.
Critics accuse him of putting personal and local concerns ahead of his party, the nation and the world. The USA Today newspaper wrote in an editorial: “It’s no stretch to conclude that Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is risking the planet’s future to protect a dwindling pool of 14,000 coal mining jobs in his home state of West Virginia.”
Sinema, however, has been described as enigmatic, sphinx-like and whimsical. In 2018 she became Arizona’s first Democratic senator for more than two decades and, despite progressive credentials and a flair for fashion statements, has taken conservative positions on several issues.
She also provokes the left with stunts such as a thumbs-down gesture on the Senate floor when she voted against raising the federal minimum wage and, on Thursday, a parody of the TV comedy Ted Lasso with the Republican senator Mitt Romney. Perhaps tellingly, Sinema raised $1.1m in campaign funds in the last quarter with significant donations from the pharmaceutical and financial industries.
Read more:
Senate’s 50-50 split lets Manchin and Sinema revel in outsize influence
Joe Biden recently summed up his problems getting things done.
In an America where the US Senate is split 50-50, then effectively any single senator can hold a veto over the president’s entire agenda. “Look,” laughed Biden at a CNN town hall, “you have 50 Democrats, every one is a president. Every single one. So, you got to work things out.”
It explains why the most powerful man in the world is currently struggling to get his way in Washington – and why two members of his own party, Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, are standing in his way.
Such is the distribution of power that American presidents can only impose their will up to a point if Congress refuses to yield. While the White House can do much with executive orders and actions, major legislation must gain a majority of votes in the House of Representatives and Senate.
Democrats do currently control both chambers – but only just. The Senate is evenly divided between 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, meaning that Vice-President Kamala Harris must cast the tie-breaking vote. That means all 50 Democratic senators must be on board in the face of united Republican opposition – an increasingly safe (and bleak) assumption in polarised era.
By contrast, President Franklin Roosevelt’s Democrats reached 59 seats in the then 96-member Senate, while President Lyndon Johnson’s Democrats had 68 in what by then was a 100-seat chamber. Biden is trying to match the scale of both men’s ambition with no room for error.
This is why his agenda – huge investments in infrastructure and expanding the social safety net – depends on the blessing of Manchin and Sinema in what might seem to the watching world as a case of the tail wagging the dog.
Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont defeated by Biden in last year’s Democratic primary, tweeted earlier this month: “2 senators cannot be allowed to defeat what 48 senators and 210 House members want.”
But the cold reality is that, after months of painful wrangling and concessions, Manchin and Sinema have almost single-handedly narrowed the scale and scope of Biden’s grand vision.
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- The office of the US director of national intelligence released a declassified report on the origins of coronavirus. The 18-page report concludes that the virus “was not developed as a biological weapon”. However, the US intelligence community could not reach a definitive assessment on the virus’ origins, and the report notes that officials will likely be unable to do so unless new information comes to light.
- The Food and Drug Administration approved a lower dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for children between the ages of five and 11. The decision marks a key development in the approval process, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to authorize shots for children in that age group. A CDC advisory committee will meet next week to discuss Pfizer’s application, and the ultimate decision on authorization will be made by CDC director Rochelle Walensky.
- The supreme court has agreed to hear a case involving the federal government’s ability to limit carbon emissions. The news comes just days before Joe Biden is set to arrive in Glasgow for the Cop26 climate change conference, where the US president is expected to strongly urge fellow leaders to take significant steps to limit emissions.
- Biden met with Pope Francis at the Vatican this morning. The US president told reporters that the pope said Biden should keep receiving communion, despite criticism from some Catholic leaders. A number of American bishops have called for Biden to be denied communion because of his support for abortion and LGBTQ rights.
- Adam Kinzinger, one of two House Republicans serving on the select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, announced he would not seek reelection. As one of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the insurrection, Kinzinger had already attracted several primary opponents. Illinois’ redistricting plan also meant that Kinzinger would likely need to face off against another Republican congressman, Darin LaHood, to win reelection.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
With no major climate legislation firmly in hand and international allies still smarting after four bruising years of Donald Trump, Joe Biden faces a major challenge to reassert American credibility as he heads to crucial UN climate talks in Scotland.
The US president, who has vowed to tackle a climate crisis he has described as an “existential threat” to civilization, will be welcomed to the Cop26 talks with a sense of relief following the decisions of his predecessor, who pulled his country out of the landmark Paris climate agreement and derided climate science as “bullshit”.
But Biden, who departed to Europe on Thursday and arrived in Rome on Friday morning for a G20 summit, will head to Glasgow with his domestic climate agenda whittled away by a recalcitrant Congress and a barrage of criticism from climate activists who claim Biden’s actions have yet to match his words.
This disconnect has perturbed delegates keen to see a reliable American partner emerge from the Trump era, amid increasingly dire warnings from scientists that “irreversible” heatwaves, floods, crop failures and other effects are being locked in by governments’ sluggish response to global heating.
“The US is still the world’s largest economy, other nations pay attention to it, and we’ve never had a president more committed to climate action,” said Alice Hill, who was a climate adviser to Barack Obama. “But there is skepticism being expressed by other countries. They saw our dramatic flip from Obama to Trump and the worry is we will flip again. A lack of consistency is the issue.”
Supreme court agrees to hear case involving federal government's ability to curb emissions
The supreme court has agreed to hear a case involving how far the federal government can go to limit carbon emissions, as environmental experts warn that countries must act quickly to address the climate crisis and prevent catastrophic temperature increases.
Reuters reports:
The court’s decision to take up the case could complicate efforts by President Joe Biden’s administration to issue new and more stringent regulations under the Clean Air Act aimed at reducing emissions linked to global climate change. ...
About 20 states and various industry groups, including coal interests, had appealed a lower court’s ruling striking down a regulation issued by Republican former President Donald Trump’s administration intended to constrain the regulation of carbon emissions from power plants. The ruling was made in January 2021 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Those states and groups have opposed regulating carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act. The Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy rule was challenged in court by states and groups that support aggressive action to curb such emissions.
The news comes just days before Biden is set to arrive in Glasgow for the Cop26 climate change conference, where the US president is expected to strongly urge fellow leaders to take significant steps to limit emissions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory committee will meet next week to discuss Pfizer’s application to make a lower dose of its coronavirus vaccine available to children between the ages of five and 11.
If the panel endorses the Pfizer vaccine for children in that age group, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to swiftly approve the company’s application.
The Biden administration has already started taking steps to ensure the vaccine can be quickly administered to those children, coordinating with with pharmacies, hospitals and doctors’ offices to get them prepared for the expected approval.
“We know millions of parents have been waiting for Covid-19 vaccine for kids in this age group,” Jeff Zients, the coordinator of the White House pandemic response team, said last week.
“And should the FDA and CDC authorize the vaccine, we will be ready to get shots in arms.”
FDA clears Pfizer shot for children aged five to 11
The Food and Drug Administration has cleared another hurdle on the way to making vaccinations against Covid-19 available to children aged five to 11, authorising the use of child-sized shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use.
Up to 28 million American children could be eligible for vaccinations as early as next week, once advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) make more detailed recommendations on who should get vaccinated. A final decision from the CDC director, Dr Rochelle Walensky, is expected shortly after that.
It’s a major moment in the US effort against the coronavirus. As the Associated Press puts it: “While children are at lower risk of severe illness or death from Covid-19 than older people, five- to 11-year-olds in the US have been seriously affected, including more than 8,300 hospitalisations, about a third requiring intensive care, and nearly 100 deaths.
“The government has also counted more than 2,000 coronavirus-related school closings since the start of the school year, affecting more than a million children.”
The ODNI report reiterated the importance of getting more information from the Chinese government about the initial outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan.
“China’s cooperation most likely would be needed to reach a conclusive assessment of the origins of COVID-19,” the report says.
“Beijing, however, continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information, and blame other countries, including the United States.
“These actions reflect, in part, China’s government’s own uncertainty about where an investigation could lead as well as its frustration the international community is using the issue to exert political pressure on China.”
Joe Biden leveled similar criticism against the Chinese government after he received an intelligence report on the origins of coronavirus in August.
“Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in the People’s Republic of China,” Biden said after receiving the report.
“Yet from the beginning, government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing it.”
The ODNI report notes that the US intelligence community “remains divided on the most likely origin of COVID-19”.
“All agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident,” the report says.
“The IC judges they will be unable to provide a more definitive explanation for the origin of COVID-19 unless new information allows them to determine the specific pathway for initial natural contact with an animal or to determine that a laboratory in Wuhan was handling SARS-CoV-2 or a close progenitor virus before COVID-19 emerged.”
In short, the US intelligence community cannot say for certain how the virus started unless officials get more information about the early days of the pandemic, and the Chinese government has been very reluctant to share such data.
Updated
US director of national intelligence releases declassified Covid-19 report
The office of the US director of national intelligence has released a declassified report on the origin of the coronavirus.
The 18-page report concludes that the first human exposure to the virus occurred “no later than November 2019” and resulted in the initial outbreak in Wuhan.
“We judge the virus was not developed as a biological weapon,” the report says.
“Most agencies also assess with low confidence that SARS-CoV-2 probably was not genetically engineered; however, two agencies believe there was not sufficient evidence to make an assessment either way.”
The report adds that the US intelligence community concluded Chinese officials “did not have foreknowledge of the virus before the initial outbreak”.
Updated
Cuomo to appear in Albany court next month to face sexual misconduct charge
Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo will appear in Albany city court next month to face a misdemeanor charge for his alleged sexual misconduct.
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Albany county sheriff Craig Apple said Cuomo’s court appearance had been scheduled for November 17. After appearing in court, Cuomo will be processed and likely released, Apple added.
Andrew Cuomo could face an arrest warrant if he doesn't show up for November 17 court date for misdemeanor charge of forcible touching, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple says
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 29, 2021
"It's my hope that he shows up. I don't think he wouldn't." https://t.co/qz9BkdxFLb pic.twitter.com/THiba9dAqZ
Cuomo is facing a misdemeanor charge for allegedly groping a woman at the New York Executive Mansion last year, one of several accusations of sexual misconduct that led to the governor’s resignation in August.
Apple applauded his investigative team for building a “solid case” for the misdemeanor charge.
Asked about whether he expects Cuomo to appear in court next month, Apple said, “It’s my hope that he shows up. I don’t think he wouldn’t.”
But if Cuomo doesn’t appear, Apple added, “At that point, you could have a criminal arrest warrant issued.”
Updated
Reactions are pouring in to an announcement this morning from Illinois Representative Adam Kinzinger, one of two House Republicans serving on the select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, that he will not be running for re-election and would be retiring from Congress.
Many pro-Trump Republican representatives have already released statements celebrating Kinzinger’s decision, including North Carolina representative Madison Cawthorn.
“The RINO turncoats will keep falling...Enjoy your CNN contract, loser,” said Cawthron in a statement provided to Politico. (RINO refers to the label “Republican in name only” used by Trumpist GOPers to insult those in their party they think have drifted too far left.)
Here's a taste:
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 29, 2021
Rep. MTG in stmt called Kinzinger a “traitor to the Republican party” and said he is retiring to avoiding losing in a primary.
Rep. Cawthorn in stmt said: "The RINO turncoats will keep falling...Enjoy your CNN contract, loser."
In a statement obtained by Politico, Donald Trump also commented on Kinzinger’s retirement, saying “2 down, 8 to go!”, referencing the 10 Republicans who crossed party lines to approve one article of impeachment against Trump in January.
Trump statement re: Kinzinger retirement: "2 down, 8 to go!"
— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) October 29, 2021
Illinois representative Darin LaHood has already announced that he will be running for re-election in Illinois’s newly drawn 16th ward, the district that he and Kinzinger would’ve faced off in if Kinzinger were running for re-election.
Kinzinger made the announcement in a video posted to Twitter this morning, where he recounted how he was first elected to the House in 2010 following his deployment in Iraq.
“I also remember during that campaign saying that, if I ever thought it was time to move on from Congress, I would. And that time is now,” Kinzinger said in the video.
There are reports that Kinzinger has not ruled out running for other office positions.
Looking forward to the next chapter! pic.twitter.com/SvdFCVtrlE
— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) October 29, 2021
Congressional progressives have endorsed Joe Biden’s framework for the $1.75tn reconciliation package, but some Democrats have still not given up hope on getting certain initiatives included in the bill.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar is specifically calling for Medicare drug price negotiation to be added back to the reconciliation package, after it was omitted from Biden’s framework.
Big Pharma doesn’t own the government, the people do.
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) October 29, 2021
And the vast majority of the people want Medicare to be able to negotiate lower drug prices. Let’s get it done.
“Big Pharma doesn’t own the government, the people do,” the Minnesota senator said on Twitter. “And the vast majority of the people want Medicare to be able to negotiate lower drug prices. Let’s get it done.”
The Medicare drug price negotiation proposal was a key priority for Senate budget committee chair Bernie Sanders, and he has also indicated he will keep fighting for it.
“I have some serious concerns about what is not in the bill,” Sanders said yesterday, per the Wall Street Journal. “For years, we have been talking about lowering the cost of prescription drugs and that is not in the bill. At all.”
New York attorney general Letitia James, the first woman of color ever to hold statewide elected office in New York, just issued a campaign video announcing that she’ll run to be the next governor of New York.
She said: “I’ve spent my career guided by a simple principle, stand up to the powerful on behalf of the vulnerable, to be a force for change.
She added that she had gone after the drug companies “for fueling the opioid crisis” and had fought for better conditions and transparency in nursing homes during the coronavirusa pandemic.
“I’ve sued the Trump administration 76 times,” she said, then, raising her eyebrows and shrugging ironically, added: “But who’s counting?”
“I’ve taken action to divest our pension funds from fossil fuels. I’ve held accountable those to mistreat and harass women in the workplace, no matter how powerful the offenders. I’ve fought for affordable housing and worked to eliminate the NRA,” she said.
Then, smiling, while sitting in a leather office chair, James said: “Today, I am announcing my campaign to be your next governor.”
An explosive 165-page report released in early August by James delivered a mountain of damning and often graphic evidence that played an instrumental role in bringing down the career of now-former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a leading figure in the Democratic party who served in Bill Clinton’s cabinet. Cuomo accused her of going after him for political gain.
The attorney general is also investigating the Trump Organization. The current governor, Democrat Kathy Hochul, is New York’s first female governor. It’s unclear if she plans to seek election next November, having assumed her role after Cuomo resigned, per protocol as she was the lieutenant governor. But there’s been every expectation that Hochul would seek to remain in the office.
New York state attorney general Letitia James makes run for governor official
Breaking, though not surprising, news. It’s on! NY AG Tish James is going to challenge incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul for the governorship of New York.
Hochul took over from her post as lieutenant governor in August when Andrew Cuomo resigned after multiple women accused him of misconduct ranging from alleged sexual assault to sexual harassment at work and cultivating a toxic workplace in Albany.
James investigated and backed the women, issuing a devastating report in the summer that damned Cuomo even though he denied assaulting or harassing people.
I'm running for Governor of New York because I have the experience, vision, and courage to take on the powerful on behalf of all New Yorkers.
— Tish James (@TishJames) October 29, 2021
Let's do this, together. pic.twitter.com/JA21M19p5m
Biden administration issues new memo ending Trump-era 'remain in Mexico' policy for migrants
The Biden administration was expected to reinstate the harsh Trump-era policy around the middle of next month, whereby migrants unlawfully crossing into the US from Mexico are forced to wait south of the US border while their legal cases, principally to be granted asylum, are processed – which in the past has taken months or years for some, in an overwhelmed US immigration system.
But today officials are making fresh efforts to cancel the policy started by Donald Trump.
The Reuters news agency reports that:
Biden officials made a renewed attempt to end a Trump-era immigration program that forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for US court hearings, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo previewed by officials.
The administration first ended the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program, informally called “Remain in Mexico”, earlier this year, but was ordered to restart it by a federal judge, who said it had failed to follow proper regulatory procedure.
The U.S. Supreme Court in August rejected an effort by the Biden administration to block the judge’s ruling.
The new memo is comprehensive, DHS officials said on a call with reporters. It “squarely addresses some of the alleged failures of the prior memo,” one of the officials said.
“It takes into account a whole range of new information that’s been made available or that’s occurred since June,” when the previous memo was issued, one official said. The administration will seek to have the court order vacated in light of the new memo, the officials said.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration will continue to take steps to restart the program by mid-November, to comply with the judge’s ruling, officials said.
The possible reinstatement of MPP - even on a short-term basis - would add to a confusing mix of U.S. policies in place at the U.S.-Mexico border, where arrests of migrants crossing into the United States have hit record highs.
The administration said it can only move forward if Mexico agrees. The DHS officials said Mexico and the United States are still in talks.
Mexico’s foreign ministry said earlier this month that it has expressed a “number of concerns” over MPP to U.S. officials, particularly around due process, legal certainty, access to legal aid and the safety of migrants.
Updated
US regulators expected today to approve coronavirus vaccine for younger kids – report
The US Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) is expected to authorize a reduced dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, on an emergency use basis for children aged five to 11.
Coronavirus shots are already allowed for children in the US ages 12 and up. But word on the vaccine for younger children has been “eagerly anticipated by millions of families looking to protect some of the only remaining Americans left out of the vaccination campaign”, the New York Times has reported today, citing unnamed sources familiar with the FDA’s planning.
About 28 million children in the group would be eligible to receive one-third of the adult dose, with two injections three weeks apart. If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off, as is expected, they could start getting shots as early as Wednesday, the newspaper reported.
Updated
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Adam Kinzinger, one of two House Republicans serving on the select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, announced he would not seek reelection. As one of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the insurrection, Kinzinger had already attracted several primary opponents. Illinois’ redistricting plan also meant that Kinzinger would likely need to face off against another Republican congressman, Darin LaHood, to win reelection.
- Joe Biden met with Pope Francis at the Vatican this morning. The US president told reporters that the pope said Biden should keep receiving communion, despite criticism from some Catholic leaders. A number of American bishops have called for Biden to be denied communion because of his support for abortion and LGBTQ rights.
- The House vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill was delayed last night, after progressives demanded the reconciliation package advance at the same time. But the Congressional Progressive Caucus has formally endorsed Biden’s framework for the $1.75tn reconciliation package, raising Democrats’ hopes that both bills will ultimately pass.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Joe Biden met with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi today, ahead of the start of the G20 summit in Rome tomorrow.
“Both leaders recognized the historic achievement of a global minimum tax, building resilience against future pandemics, and the commitment to rapidly decarbonize how we produce electricity,” the White House said in its readout of the meeting.
“President Biden thanked Prime Minister Draghi for all Italy has done to support the people of Afghanistan, including by convening an extraordinary G20 session to address counter-terrorism efforts and humanitarian aid, and by temporarily housing over 4,000 Afghans en route to the United States last August.”
The White House also noted that the two leaders expressed their ongoing commitment to ensuring “the rules governing the 21st century economy are based in shared democratic values”.
In June, the US Conference of Bishops took steps to rebuke Catholic politicians like Joe Biden who support abortion and LGBTQ rights.
After the conference took those steps, Biden was asked whether he was concerned about the potential rebuke and calls from some Catholic leaders to deny him communion.
“That’s a private matter, and I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Biden said in June.
Pope said Biden should 'keep receiving communion,' president tells reporters
Joe Biden said Pope Francis told him during their one-on-one meeting this morning that he should keep receiving communion, amid some Catholic leaders’ criticism of the president’s views on abortion.
At the start of Biden’s meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, a reporter asked the president whether abortion came up during his discussion with the pope.
“No, it didn’t,” Biden said. “We just talked about the fact that he was happy that I was a good Catholic.”
Biden, who is only the second Catholic to ever serve as president of the United States, then added that the pope told him he should “keep receiving communion”.
Some Catholic leaders have suggested that Biden and other Democratic politicians should be denied communion because of their support for abortion rights.
When asked about the debate last month, Pope Francis said Catholic bishops should focus on leading with “compassion and tenderness,” rather than condemnation, but he did not explicitly say whether politicians like Biden should receive communion.
The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack is confronting a pivotal moment as resistance from top Trump administration aides threatens to undermine their efforts to uncover the extent of the former president’s involvement in the 6 January insurrection.
The select committee remains in the evidence-gathering phase of the investigation that now encompasses at least five different lines of inquiry from whether Donald Trump abused the presidency to reinstall himself in office or coordinated with far-right rally organizers.
But unless House investigators can secure a breakthrough to obtain documents and testimony from Trump’s White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and others in the next few weeks, the most pressing questions about Trump’s role in 6 January may go unanswered, two sources said.
The select committee has designated its “gold” team to examine the extent of Trump’s personal involvement in the events that left five dead and more than 140 injured as his supporters stormed the Capitol in his name, the sources said.
One major focus of the investigation is whether Trump had advance knowledge of the insurrection, the sources said – since if they uncover evidence of conspiracy to violently stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election win, that could constitute a crime.
In his video announcing his retirement from Congress, Adam Kinzinger also denounced the tribalism that has come to define the Republican party.
“In this day, to prevail or survive, you must belong to a tribe. Our political parties only survive by appealing to the most motivated and the most extreme elements within it,” the Illinois congressman said.
“And the price tag to power has skyrocketed, and fear and distrust has served as an effective strategy to meet that cost. After all, if a man is convinced that his very survival is at stake, he’ll part with anything, including money to ensure he does survive.”
Kinzinger emphasized his commitment to changing the narrative around party politics, and he said he wanted to focus on “a broader fight nationwide” instead of a reelection battle.
If Adam Kinzinger had decided to seek reelection, he would have faced a bruising primary campaign that will likely include another Republican congressman.
As one of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the Capitol insurrection in January, Kinzinger had already attracted several primary opponents.
But perhaps even more challenging for Kinzinger was the reality that he would have to face off against Republican incumbent Darin LaHood in the race.
As Politico reports, the newly approved congressional map in Illinois would have pitted Kinzinger against LaHood, after the state lost one House seat due to the results of the 2020 Census.
The incumbent pairings in the new Illinois 14D-3R congressional map, which passed both chambers & is headed to Gov JB Pritzker's desk#IL04 - Reps Chuy Garcia (D) & Marie Newman (D)#IL16 - Reps Darin LaHood (R) & Adam Kinzinger (R)#IL12 - Reps Mike Bost (R) & Mary Miller (R) pic.twitter.com/UVijr8gpqM
— Ally Mutnick (@allymutnick) October 29, 2021
Kinzinger, House Republican on Capitol attack committee, will not seek reelection
Adam Kinzinger, one of two House Republicans serving on the select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, will not seek reelection next year.
The Illinois congressman made the announcement in a video posted to Twitter this morning.
In the video, Kinzinger recounted how he was first elected to the House in 2010, after he returned from a deployment in Iraq.
“I also remember during that campaign saying that, if I ever thought it was time to move on from Congress, I would. And that time is now,” Kinzinger said in the video.
Looking forward to the next chapter! pic.twitter.com/SvdFCVtrlE
— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) October 29, 2021
But Kinzinger made clear that he will remain involved in politics, possibly hinting at a statewide or national campaign in the future.
“My desire to make a difference is bigger than it’s ever been,” Kinzinger said. “This isn’t the end of my political future but the beginning.”
Kinzinger is one of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the Capitol insurrection in January. Another one of those members, Anthony Gonzalez, has already announced he will also not seek reelection next year.
Updated
Pope Francis has urged world leaders to take “radical decisions” at next week’s global environmental summit in a special message recorded for BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day.
Leaders attending the Cop26 conference in Glasgow must offer “concrete hope to future generations”, the pontiff said.
Francis is not attending the summit, despite earlier suggestions that he would fly in for a brief appearance to reinforce the significance of the event. His message was recorded in Italian and lasted almost five minutes. It was broadcast on Friday morning with a voiceover in English.
He said: “Climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have exposed our deep vulnerability and raised numerous doubts and concerns about our economic systems and the way we organise our societies.
“We have lost our sense of security, and are experiencing a sense of powerlessness and loss of control over our lives. We find ourselves increasingly frail and even fearful.”
Joe Biden tweeted another photo from his one-on-one meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican this morning.
It was an honor to meet with Pope Francis again at the Vatican today. I thanked His Holiness for his advocacy for the world’s poor and those suffering from hunger, conflict, and persecution, and lauded his leadership in fighting the climate crisis and ending the pandemic. pic.twitter.com/PGF5axSK4X
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 29, 2021
“It was an honor to meet with Pope Francis again at the Vatican today,” the president said in the tweet.
“I thanked His Holiness for his advocacy for the world’s poor and those suffering from hunger, conflict, and persecution, and lauded his leadership in fighting the climate crisis and ending the pandemic.”
And in an extremely on-brand moment for Biden, the US president apparently parted ways with the pope by telling him, “God love ya!”
Biden departed with a final, "God love ya!" to the pope.
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) October 29, 2021
Biden meets with Pope Francis in Vatican City
Joe Biden met with Pope Francis in Vatican City this morning, marking the first time that the president has met with the Catholic leader since taking office in January.
Biden, who is only the second Catholic to ever serve as president of the United States, met one-on-one with the pope for about 90 minutes before participating in a bilateral meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state.
“In his audience with Pope Francis today, President Biden thanked His Holiness for his advocacy for the world’s poor and those suffering from hunger, conflict, and persecution,” the White House said in its readout of the meeting.
“He lauded Pope Francis’ leadership in fighting the climate crisis, as well as his advocacy to ensure the pandemic ends for everyone through vaccine sharing and an equitable global economic recovery.”
Complicating the reconciliation bill negotiations for Democratic leaders was a lack of certainty from the key holdouts, Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Both sounded hopeful that a deal was within reach, but stopped short of offering their firm support.
“After months of productive, good-faith negotiations with Biden and the White House, we have made significant progress on the proposed budget reconciliation package,” Sinema said yesterday, adding: “I look forward to getting this done.”
Manchin also did not commit to supporting the legislation he played a significant role in shaping. Asked whether he would vote for the plan, he said only that its fate was presently “in the hands of the House”.
After months of prolonged negotiations, the proposed framework is far smaller in size and scope than the $3.5tn package Joe Biden initially envisioned. Even so, the president claimed a pre-emptive legislative achievement on par with those enacted by Franklin D Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.
“Any single element of this framework would be viewed as a fundamental change in America. Taken together they’re truly consequential,” Biden said yesterday before leaving for Europe.
“If we make these investments, we will own the future,” he added.
Biden's economic agenda hangs in the balance after another delayed vote on infrastructure
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi did not get the vote she wanted on the bipartisan infrastructure bill yesterday, after the Congressional Progressive Caucus indicated its members would not support the proposal until the reconciliation package advanced as well.
But there was some good news for Pelosi yesterday: while delaying the infrastructure vote (again), the CPC also indicated its members support Joe Biden’s framework for the $1.75tn reconciliation package.
The president released the framework yesterday just before leaving for his week-long trip to Europe. The proposal includes $555bn to invest in climate initiatives and $400bn to expand access to prekindergarten and affordable childcare.
Our statement regarding a vote on the infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Hu0KGh3UYv
— Progressive Caucus (@USProgressives) October 28, 2021
“The Congressional Progressive Caucus just overwhelmingly voted to endorse, in principle, the entire Build Back Better Act framework announced by President Biden,” CPC chair Pramila Jayapal said in a statement yesterday.
“The reality is that while talks around the infrastructure bill lasted months in the Senate, there has only been serious discussion around the specifics of the larger Build Back Better Act in recent weeks, thanks to the Progressive Caucus holding the line and putting both parts of the agenda back on the table. Now, Congress needs to finish the job and bring both bills to a vote together.”
So it is looking more and more likely that Democrats will be able to pass both the reconciliation package and the infrastructure bill, but it remains unclear when they will be able to do so.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
