Summary
- Joe Biden and Angela Merkel met in the Oval Office. Biden praised the German chancellor, who will soon step down after 16 years in office, as “a great friend, a personal friend and a friend of the United States”. Biden and Merkel are expected to soon hold a joint press conference after participating in a bilateral meeting with their senior aides.
- The president said he and Merkel discussed the European travel ban, and when it will be safe to lift the ban on travel from Europe to the US.“It’s in the process now. And I’ll be able to answer that question to you within the next several days, what is likely to happen,” Biden said, adding that he had asked his administration’s coronavirus team to assess when the restrictions should be lifted.
- Biden also said thatUS is sending marines to the embassy in Haiti “to make sure that they are secure and nothing is out of whack at all”. However, “the idea of sending American forces into Haiti is not on the agenda at this moment,” he said.
- Joyce Beatty, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was arrested on Capitol Hill during a voting rights protest. Beatty and her fellow protesters were calling on Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which have been held up in the Senate because of a Republican filibuster. Demonstrators entered the Hart Senate office building chanting, “End the filibuster!”
- Biden praised the monthly payments from the enhanced Child Tax Credit, which the IRS started distributing today. Biden predicted that the payments, which were included in the coronavirus relief package he signed in March, will produce “the largest ever one-year decrease in child poverty in the history of the United States of America”.
- The first procedural vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill will be held on Wednesday, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announced. The news comes as lawmakers race to finalize the details of the bill, which is based off the bipartisan infrastructure framework that Biden has endorsed.
- The US surgeon general warned that online misinformation about vaccines “has cost us lives”. The surgeon general, Dr Vivek Murthy, outlined a number of steps the Biden administration is taking to tackle health misinformation, including demands to tech companies to take action against super-spreaders of such misinformation. Murthy said, “It’s painful for me to know that nearly every death we are seeing now from Covid-19 could have been prevented.”
– Joan E Greve and Maanvi Singh
Updated
California lawmakers have approved a guaranteed income plan - the first state-funded guaranteed income plan in the US. Qualifying pregnant people and young adults leaving foster care will quality for monthly cash payments after the measure is passed with bipartisan support.
The AP reports:
California’s plan is taxpayer-funded, and there are no restrictions on how recipients can spend the money.
“If you look at the stats for our foster youth, they are devastating,“ said the Senate Republican leader, Scott Wilk. “We should be doing all we can to lift these young people up.”
Local governments and organizations will apply for the money and run their programs. The state department of social services will decide who gets funding. California lawmakers left it up to local officials to determine the size of the monthly payments, which generally range from $500 to $1,000 in existing programs around the country.
The vote came on the same day millions of parents began receiving their first monthly payments under a temporary expansion of the federal child tax credit many view as a form of guaranteed income.
“Now there is momentum, things are moving quickly,” said Michael Tubbs, an adviser to California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who was a trailblazer when he instituted a guaranteed income program as mayor of Stockton. “The next stop is the federal government.”
Read more:
Los Angeles county will require residents to wear masks in indoor public spaces starting Saturday.
“We’re not where we need to be for the millions at risk of infection here in Los Angeles county, and waiting to do something will be too late given what we’re seeing now,” health officer Dr Muntu Davis said.
The county has seen an uptick in cases as the Delta variant gains steam across the US. Here’s what my colleague Jessica Glenza reported earlier today:
Rates of Covid-19 cases in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi are among the highest in the country, and their vaccination rates among the lowest. Covid also appears to be gaining ground in the American west.
Even so, overall numbers of new Covid-19 cases are low. New infections are less than one-10th the average daily rate at the height of the pandemic in January, even as they have doubled in the last two weeks.
“We are not where we were in April 2020,” said Dr David Dowdy, an associate professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University and an expert in infectious diseases. Nevertheless, he said, “We’ve seen those counts can go up substantially and quickly, so we need to be cautious but without panicking.”
About 55% of all Americans are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration remain safe and highly effective against Covid-19 and its variants, including Delta. State officials said the overwhelming majority of people now hospitalized with Covid-19 are unvaccinated.
Updated
Justice Stephen Breyer says he hasn’t decided when to retire as pressure grows
Maya Yang reports:
US supreme court justice Stephen Breyer has said he has not yet decided when he will retire, amid growing pressure from liberal activists and Democratic lawmakers who want to see the Biden administration nominate a younger liberal justice to the bench.
When asked whether he had decided when to step down, Breyer answered no in a CNN interview on Thursday. His ultimate decision will be based “primarily, of course, [on] health”, and “second, the court”, he said. The comments from Breyer, who is now 82 and the court’s oldest justice, follow his previous refusals to retire last month when the supreme court’s most recent term ended.
Breyer currently faces calls from liberal activists and Democratic lawmakers to step down immediately. Many on the political left are trying to persuade Breyer to make way for a younger justice who would be nominated by President Biden while the Senate still holds a thin Democratic majority.
Currently, the supreme court holds a conservative advantage at 6-3, with three justices nominated by President Trump during his presidency.
Nominated by President Clinton in 1994, Breyer said his “satisfaction” of now being the most senior liberal justice for the first time since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death “has made a difference to me”.
Recently, Breyer has led several cases including the court’s dismissal of a challenge to the Affordable Care Act and the backing of Google in a major multibillion dollar copyright case brought by Oracle.
Throughout his tenure, Breyer has sought to build consensus across the justices, noting that outside politics should not play a role in the court’s work. In a recent lecture at Harvard Law School, Breyer discussed the judges’ roles, saying: “They are loyal to the rule of law, not to the political party that helped to secure their appointment.”
Updated
The president also said he and Merkel discussed the European travel ban, and when it will be safe to lift the ban on travel from Europe to the US.
“It’s in the process now. And I’ll be able to answer that question to you within the next several days, what is likely to happen,” Biden said, adding that he had asked his administration’s coronavirus team to assess when the restrictions should be lifted.
Although Americans can now visit Europe for tourism, residents of Europe’s Schengen area cannot travel to the United States, unless they are US citizens or they spend two weeks before arrival in a country that isn’t on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of prohibited countries.
Biden said US is sending marines to the embassy in Haiti “to make sure that they are secure and nothing is out of whack at all”.
“But the idea of sending American forces into Haiti is not on the agenda at this moment,” he said.
Haitian authorities had requested that the US send troops after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
Updated
“Both of our nations understand the imperative that democracy can deliver the needs of our people,” Biden said.
Pres. Biden pays tribute to German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "On a personal note, I must tell you: I'll miss seeing you at our summits. I truly will. So thank you, again, Angela...for your friendship." https://t.co/xY8G8YiI04 pic.twitter.com/vioTG3mDeR
— ABC News (@ABC) July 15, 2021
The US president thanked Merkel for her “strong, principled leadership,” and for being “a stalwart champion of the transatlantic alliance”.
Updated
Joe Biden and Angela Merkel hold joint press conference
“She knows the Oval Office as well as I do,” joked Biden. Since she became German chancellor, Merkel has met with four US presidents.
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:
- Joe Biden and Angela Merkel met in the Oval Office. Biden praised the German chancellor, who will soon step down after 16 years in office, as “a great friend, a personal friend and a friend of the United States”. Biden and Merkel are expected to soon hold a joint press conference after participating in a bilateral meeting with their senior aides.
- Joyce Beatty, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was arrested on Capitol Hill during a voting rights protest. Beatty and her fellow protesters were calling on Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which have been held up in the Senate because of a Republican filibuster. Demonstrators entered the Hart Senate office building chanting, “End the filibuster!”
- Biden praised the monthly payments from the enhanced Child Tax Credit, which the IRS started distributing today. Biden predicted that the payments, which were included in the coronavirus relief package he signed in March, will produce “the largest ever one-year decrease in child poverty in the history of the United States of America”.
- The first procedural vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill will be held on Wednesday, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announced. The news comes as lawmakers race to finalize the details of the bill, which is based off the bipartisan infrastructure framework that Biden has endorsed.
-
The US surgeon general warned that online misinformation about vaccines “has cost us lives”. The surgeon general, Dr Vivek Murthy, outlined a number of steps the Biden administration is taking to tackle health misinformation, including demands to tech companies to take action against super-spreaders of such misinformation. Murthy said, “It’s painful for me to know that nearly every death we are seeing now from Covid-19 could have been prevented.”
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
US Capitol Police has issued a statement on the arrest of congresswoman Joyce Beatty and eight others during a voting rights protest on Capitol Hill today.
“This afternoon, nine people were arrested for demonstrating in a prohibited area on Capitol grounds,” the USCP said.
— U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) July 15, 2021
According to the USCP, officers arrived at the scene of the protest, in the Hart Senate office building, at approximately 3.30 pm after “reports of illegal demonstration activity”.
“After officers arrived on the scene they warned the demonstrators three times to stop. Those who refused were arrested,” the USCP said.
The arresting officers then transferred two males and seven females to USCP headquarters for processing.
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty also shared another tweet shortly after her arrest that said simply, “#GoodTrouble”.
— Joyce Beatty (@RepBeatty) July 15, 2021
That phrase is, of course, a reference to a quote from the late Democratic congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis.
“You must find a way to get in the way and get in good trouble, necessary trouble,” Lewis said in a 2016 commencement address.
“You have a moral obligation, a mission and a mandate, when you leave here, to go out and seek justice for all. You can do it. You must do it.”
Lewis was famously arrested more than 40 times over the course of his life, mostly for protesting during the Civil Rights Movement.
Democratic congresswoman arrested during voting rights protest at Capitol
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat of Ohio, was arrested during a voting rights protest at the Capitol this afternoon.
Beatty, who serves as chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, shared a photo on Twitter of US Capitol Police officers putting a zip-tie on her and escorting her out of the building.
“Let the people vote. Fight for justice,” Beatty said in the tweet.
Let the people vote. Fight for justice. pic.twitter.com/JnEUPl9KJW
— Joyce Beatty (@RepBeatty) July 15, 2021
The congresswoman had been participating in a protest calling on the Senate to pass the For the People Act, Democrats’ sweeping election reform bill.
The For the People Act passed the House in March, but it is being held up in the Senate because of a Republican filibuster.
Demands to amend the filibuster to pass the For the People Act, as well as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, have intensified as Republicans have enacted voting restrictions across the country.
An NBC News reporter shared a video on Twitter of protesters, led by Beatty, entering the Capitol chanting, “End the filibuster!”
Activists escorted into Hart by @RepBeatty chant “end the filibuster!” pic.twitter.com/1AedJth37d
— Haley Talbot (@haleytalbotnbc) July 15, 2021
And the list of attendees for the White House dinner tonight, which is being held in Angela Merkel’s honor, includes several notable names that our readers will recognize.
Two former secretaries of state, Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell, will attend the dinner in the State Dining Room.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell will also be present for Merkel’s White House dinner, her final such event as chancellor before she steps down later this year.
Several of Joe Biden’s senior advisers, including Steve Ricchetti and Susan Rice, will be in attendance as well.
Among the attendees of Joe Biden and Angela Merkel’s bilateral meeting are US secretary of state Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
On Merkel’s side, the chancellor is accompanied by state secretary Steffen Seibert and German ambassador to the US Emily Haber, among others.
Once the meeting concludes, Biden and Merkel will hold a joint press conference, so stay tuned.
Joe Biden said it was a “great pleasure” to welcome German chancellor Angela Merkel back to the White House.
“She has been to the Oval Office many times,” Biden said of Merkel. “She’s a great friend, a personal friend and a friend of the United States.”
In return, Merkel thanked the US president for inviting her to the White House, saying she was “delighted” to be in Washington.
“I’d like to say here how much I value friendship with the United States of America,” Merkel said. “We are more than aware of the contribution of America to a free and democratic Germany. So I am very much looking forward to deepening our relations yet again.”
As reporters were being pushed out of the Oval Office, one journalist asked Biden when he might visit Germany.
“Soon, I hope,” Biden replied.
Biden and Merkel meet in Oval Office
What a difference three years makes. Germany’s Angela Merkel smiling actual smiles in Washington as she meets Joe Biden for the first time in his presidency, and vice president Kamala Harris.
„I know what the USA have done for the history of a free and democratic Germany.“ Angela Merkel has been invited to the Oval Office during her first visit to Washington since #Biden was inaugurated as @POTUS. https://t.co/xmRhddFYrM
— All about Germany | deutschland.de (@en_germany) July 15, 2021
Biden and Merkel are due to hold a press conference later this afternoon, but snippets of their Oval Office meeting have been released and it’s a huge contrast to Merkel’s meeting there with Donald Trump in May, 2017, when he was president. He snubbed her suggestion that they shake hands for the camera, smirked and postured and then spent a joint press conference talking over reporters’ questions, while the two leaders almost speaking past each other.
And a year later, Merkel was at a G7 meeting with an obstreperous Trump, during which he threw two Starburst chews at her and said “Don’t say I never give you anything.” Leaders intimated that Trump was prone to fits of anger and other acts of rudeness.
Contrast with today. Here’s Merkel being greeted by Harris.
I had a wide-ranging discussion with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. We discussed strengthening democratic institutions and the transatlantic relationship, and addressing shared challenges like health and climate. @POTUS and I will work to deepen the U.S.-German partnership. pic.twitter.com/Ur1bRQmjI1
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) July 15, 2021
And here are some screenshots via Twitter of the Oval with Merkel and Biden.
Not the original Angela Merkel! She’s been replaced.
— Richard We Will Win! 🇺🇸 (@Chichigozaimas) July 15, 2021
And Uncle Joe has a new and improved mask with bushier eyebrows and blonder hair 😉 pic.twitter.com/NDgdjWC2zQ
Updated
Approximately 20,000 Afghans have applied for the special immigrant visas on offer for those, such as interpreters and advisors, who helped the US during the war in Afghanistan, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the briefing earlier today
Psaki says approximately 20,000 Afghans have applied for the special immigrant visas for Afghans that supported the U.S. during the Afghanistan War and details how the vetting process for the visas will work. pic.twitter.com/PDhEx6QZnk
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 15, 2021
The US said yesterday that it will urgently begin evacuating, from Afghanistan, the special immigration visa applicants whose lives are at risk because they worked for the US government as translators and in other roles.
Dubbed Operation Allies Refuge, the extraction is set to start during the last week of July. Fighting between US-backed Afghan forces and the Taliban has surged, with the militants gaining territory and capturing border crossings.
My colleague Emma Graham-Harrison reports today on Afghanistan’s neighbors taking action to try to prevent the country descending swiftly into civil war and a hotbed for terrorism again.
Updated
A Fox News reporter asked Jen Psaki about the president’s thoughts on the protests happening in Cuba right now.
Specifically, the reporter asked whether Joe Biden believes the protests are a sign of discontent with Cuba’s communist government or a response to the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.
.@PressSec on Cuba: "Communism is a failed ideology and we certainly believe that." pic.twitter.com/eb5Sl9Fn0O
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 15, 2021
“Communism is a failed ideology, and we certainly believe that,” Psaki replied. “It has failed the people of Cuba. They deserve freedom. They deserve a government that supports them.”
She added, “This has been a government, an authoritarian communist regime that has repressed its people and has failed the people of Cuba. Hence, we’re seeing them in the streets.”
Psaki argued that the “failed” communist government had led to “a lack of access to economic opportunity, to medical supplies, to Covid vaccines”.
“So all of those pieces are true,” Psaki said of the cause of the protests.
Taking over the podium in the White House briefing room, Jen Psaki announced that Haiti received 500,000 doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine last night, which were provided by the US through the Covax program.
The White House press secretary added that the US will send “significant amount of additional doses” to Haiti as soon as possible, in consultation with local health authorities.
Psaki reiterated that the US remains a “partner of the Haitian people,” as they attempt to recover from the assassination of their president, Jovenel Moïse.
Taking a few questions from reporters, Dr Vivek Murthy was asked about where online health misinformation seems to be coming from.
The surgeon general noted that much of the online misinformation on coronavirus and vaccines seems to be coming from individuals who incorrectly believe they are helping inform their communities about the risks of getting vaccinated.
(Public health experts have said the vaccines are safe and provide much-needed protection against coronavirus.)
Underscoring the need to crack down on health misinformation, Murthy pointed to polls showing the majority of unvaccinated Americans believe common myths about the vaccines or think that some of those myths might be true.
After taking a handful of questions from reporters, Murthy left the briefing room.
Dr Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, asked Americans to always be careful when sharing information online about coronavirus or the vaccines.
“If you’re not sure, don’t share,” Murthy said. “When it comes to misinformation, not sharing is caring.”
The surgeon general noted that the American Academy of Pediatrics is launching an educational campaign to advise parents on navigating online health misinformation.
Coronavirus vaccine misinformation 'has cost us lives,' surgeon general says
The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing, and she was joined by Dr Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general.
Murthy described the steps that the Biden administration is taking to crack down on misinformation surrounding coronavirus and vaccines.
The surgeon general called on major tech companies to more closely monitor misinformation and take action against super-spreaders of false claims about coronavirus.
Murthy also asked news outlets to take proactive steps to answer Americans’ questions about the vaccines to promote accurate information about the benefits of getting the shot.
U.S. @Surgeon_General Dr. Vivek Murthy gets personal about 10 of his family members who died of COVID, saying he “wishes each and every day that they had had the opportunity to get vaccinated.” pic.twitter.com/QRH86dDza8
— The Recount (@therecount) July 15, 2021
Murthy described health misinformation as “an imminent and insidious threat to our nation’s health,” particularly because false claims have prevented some Americans from getting vaccinated against coronavirus.
“Simply put, health misinformation has cost us live,” Murthy said.
Noting that he has lost 10 of his own families to coronavirus, Murthy added, “It’s painful for me to know that nearly every death we are seeing now from Covid-19 could have been prevented.”
Updated
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Joe Biden praised the monthly payments from the enhanced Child Tax Credit, which the IRS started distributing to American families today. Biden predicted that the payments, which were included in the coronavirus relief package he signed in March, will produce “the largest ever one-year decrease in child poverty in the history of the United States of America”.
- Angela Merkel will visit Biden at the White House this afternoon. The German chancellor, who will soon step down after 16 years in office, met with Kamala Harris this morning. Merkel and Biden are scheduled to soon participate in a bilateral meeting, and they will hold a joint press conference later today.
- The first procedural vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill will be held on Wednesday, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announced. The news comes as lawmakers race to finalize the details of the bill, which is based off the bipartisan infrastructure framework that Biden has endorsed.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Joe Biden predicted Republicans will try to boast about the enhanced Child Tax Credit, even though they did not vote for the coronavirus relief package that authorized the monthly payments.
The president is now calling on Congress to extend the program beyond 2021, and Republicans are expected to also oppose the $3.5tn bill that will approve that extension.
The president repeatedly referred to the enhanced tax credit as a “tax cut” for working families, criticizing those who do not support the program.
“To the people that say we cannot afford to give the middle-class a break, I say we can afford it,” Biden said.
The president’s speech on the Child Tax Credit has now concluded. Biden and Harris left the event without taking any questions.
Joe Biden predicted that the monthly Child Tax Credit payments would produce “the largest ever one-year decrease in child poverty in the history of the United States of America”.
“The benefits will be felt for years,” Biden said of the payments, which started being distributed to families today.
Pres. Biden says the Child Tax Credit will create "the largest ever one year decrease in child poverty in the history of the United States of America." pic.twitter.com/98Bxnecxme
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 15, 2021
However, as things currently stand, the enhanced tax credit will not extend beyond 2021. The policy was included in the coronavirus relief package that Biden signed in March, and Congress would need to pass an extension to keep the monthly payments going.
The president called on lawmakers to extend the program, saying, “We shouldn’t let taxes go up on working families.”
Democrats will likely include an extension of the enhanced tax credit in their $3.5tn “human infrastructure” plan, which the Senate is working to advance.
Updated
Biden praises monthly Child Tax Credit payments as a 'historic' step in ending child poverty
Joe Biden is now speaking at the White House, praising the benefits of the monthly payments from the enhanced Child Tax Credit.
The president first welcomed the nine families who are present for the event. Each of the nine families will benefit from the monthly payments, the White House said.
Biden acknowledged that this event must be “boring, boring, boring” for the children in the audience, so he suggested that their parents give them ice cream once it’s done.
"I believe this is actually a historic day," President Biden says on eligible families in the U.S. will get their first monthly payments of the expanded child tax.
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 15, 2021
"It's historic and it's our effort to make another giant step towards ending child poverty in America." pic.twitter.com/1ARCPgcx7j
Pivoting to the Child Tax Credit, Biden said the monthly payments were “historic” and marked a “giant step toward ending child poverty in America”.
The president compared the impact of the payments, which started being distributed today, to the effect that Social Security had in reducing poverty for the elderly.
“This can be life-changing for so many families,” Biden said.
Updated
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are now holding their event to celebrate the monthly payments from the enhanced Child Tax Credit, which started being distributed today.
The vice-president delivered remarks first, saying that the monthly payments would help lift American families out of poverty.
“The payments may be monthly, but the impact of this Child Tax Credit will undoubtedly be generational,” Harris said. “Today is a good day, America. It is a historic day.”
Trump responds to Milley's concerns about potential coup: 'I’m not into coups!'
Donald Trump is pushing back against new reporting that the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Mark Milley, feared the US was facing a potential “Reichstag moment” in the final days before Joe Biden took office.
“Sorry to inform you, but an Election is my form of ‘coup,’ and if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley,” Trump said in a new statement. “I’m not into coups!”
The statement includes a number of insults hurled at Milley, who was nominated in 2019 by ... Donald Trump.
The former president’s statement comes one day after New York magazine reported on excerpts from the new book I Alone Can Fix This, by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker.
According to the book, Milley spoke to an “old friend” shortly before the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. The friend warned Milley that Trump was attempting to overturn the results of the presidential election, which he still claims were tainted by widespread voter fraud. (That is obviously not true. Trump fairly lost the election to Biden.)
Milley is reported to have said: “They may try, but they’re not going to fucking succeed. You can’t do this without the military. You can’t do this without the CIA and the FBI. We’re the guys with guns.”
Read Martin Pengelly’s full report on the book here:
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will soon deliver remarks on the monthly payments from the enhanced Child Tax Credit, which the IRS started distributing today. (More details on that here.)
According to the White House, nine families who are benefitting from the payments will be in attendance for the president and vice-president’s remarks.
The blog will provide details on the event once it starts, so stay tuned.
More details from the Guardian’s Daniel Strauss:
Earlier in the week, Bernie Sanders met with Joe Biden at the White House. The meeting suggests that the White House is working to keep Sanders satisfied through the sausage-making process of crafting this $3.5tn reconciliation bill.
The meeting also indicates Sanders is seeing eye-to-eye with the Biden administration on a legislative package that could easily spark interparty fighting.
“If you’re asking at the end of the day do I think we’re going to pass this, I do,” Sanders told me on Capitol Hill yesterday.
“And by the way, as all of you know, the House is an independent body and they will go where they will. And they may want to go with larger funding, and if that’s the case I would be very supportive of that.”
Democrats need unity as they move forward on both the bipartisan part of their infrastructure package and their more expansive infrastructure proposals.
On Thursday, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate majority leader, said he would take the necessary legislative steps to move both parts of the infrastructure package forward next week.
The Guardian’s Daniel Strauss reports on his conversation with Bernie Sanders about the $3.5tn “human infrastructure” plan:
Bernie Sanders had initially hoped that the massive infrastructure package making its way through Congress now would have a price tag of about $6tn.
But earlier this week, Democratic leadership in the Senate came out with a compromise topline at $3.5tn. The gap between Sanders’ number and the compromise number sparked some criticism among progressives.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Sanders stressed that the topline was still satisfactory. I asked the senator from Vermont and progressive champion what he would say to liberals who felt the $3.5tn price tag is too small and a concession to moderates.
“Well, what I say is, there are 50 members in the Democratic caucus. The topline is the line developed by me. That’s the line that I would want. What I can say is that this is the most consequential piece of legislation passed since the Great Depression,” Sanders said.
“It addresses almost all of the issues that progressives, that working class people feel are important. In some cases it doesn’t provide all of the funding that I would like to do right now, but given the fact that we have 50 members and compromises have got to be made, I think this is very, very significant.”
Updated
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer also said that Wednesday is the deadline for “the entire Senate Democratic caucus to agree to move forward on the budget resolution with reconciliation instructions”.
If an agreement is reached, it will (eventually) set up a vote on Democrats’ $3.5tn plan to invest in “human infrastructure”.
The plan is expected to cover much of Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan that was left out of the bipartisan infrastructure framework.
I say “expected to cover” because we haven’t yet seen any text for that bill either, so it’s unclear what exactly will be included in the legislation and how Democrats will pay for their proposals.
But because they intend to pass that bill via reconciliation, they do not need any Republican support to advance the spending package.
The bipartisan working group that has been hammering out the details of the infrastructure bill had hoped to wrap up negotiations today, but it seems like that deadline is not going to be met.
Politico has more details:
While working groups within the cross-aisle group of 22 senators will convene again Thursday, members still need to resolve key disagreements over how to pay for the $1.2 trillion physical infrastructure deal that President Joe Biden has thrown his weight behind. The bipartisan group met Tuesday evening and made progress, but a host of questions about spending priorities also remain unanswered.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer’s announcement that he will file cloture on a vehicle for the bill on Monday sends a clear message to the bipartisan group: wrap up your work as quickly as possible.
Senate will vote to advance bipartisan infrastructure bill on Wednesday, Schumer says
The Senate will hold its first procedural vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill on Wednesday, majority leader Chuck Schumer just announced.
The Democratic leader said he will file cloture on a vehicle for the bill on Monday, setting up the Wednesday vote. That vehicle will then be filled in with the details of the bill.
The procedural motion will need 60 votes to pass, so assuming all Democrats support the legislation, they will need 10 of their Republican colleagues to join them in order to advance the bill.
But there are still a couple details that need to be finalized, such as ... the actual text of the bill.
The legislation will be based off the bipartisan infrastructure framework that Joe Biden has endorsed, but senators are still squabbling over how to finance the project.
Schumer’s announcement means the clock is ticking to get the bill done. The majority leader previously said he hoped to pass the bill by the end of July, although he has acknowledged work may spill over into the August recess.
Alexandra Villareal reports on how Texas’ Republican leaders are moving farther to the right as the state trends away from them:
From restricting voter access and politicizing the US-Mexico border to targeting transgender student athletes and further rolling back abortion rights, Texas’s current legislative agenda set by its governor, Greg Abbott, reads almost like a conservative bingo card.
But in the shadow of next year’s Republican primary contest, Abbott is already facing hostile challengers in his own party who are ideologically even more extreme and are pushing the radical governor even further to the right as he seeks re-election.
So it may not be a coincidence that, during recent legislative overtime in Texas, he’s heaped on enough red meat to try to foil his rivals, who claim he’s only Republican in name – to the shock of many civic society activists in the state.
“We’re really seeing a race of who can throw Texans under the bus in the fastest and most cruel way, simply to score political points and to remain in power,” said Juan Benitez, the communications director for Workers Defense Action Fund.
For years, Democrats have been slowly chipping away at Republicans’ ironclad grip on Texas in a belief that the state may eventually turn blue. But the state’s conservative leadership in the Republican party is now doubling down on rightwing talking points ahead of 2022, relying on hot-button, emotional issues to rile up supporters.
Updated
Before meeting with Angela Merkel, Joe Biden will deliver remarks this morning on the monthly payments from the federal Child Tax Credit.
As part of the coronavirus relief package that Biden signed in March, eligible American families with children under the age of 18 are now receiving monthly cash payments for their enhanced Child Tax Credit.
The relief package increased the credit from $2,000 to $3,600 for each child under 6 or $3,000 for children between the ages of 6 and 17.
Starting today and continuing for the rest of the year, families who meet certain income requirements will receive monthly payments that will make up half of the total tax credit. Families will receive the rest of the credit as a lump sum after filing their tax returns, as they did before this change.
Starting this morning, nearly all working families in America are receiving their first monthly payment from the expanded Child Tax Credit. If you file your taxes electronically, look for a deposit labeled “CHILDCTC.”
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 15, 2021
Have questions? Learn more at https://t.co/P8gN7UHoqN. pic.twitter.com/lYFhnM2b8v
The payments are meant to help low- and middle-income families incorporate the credit into their monthly budgets as the country financially recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a statement from the treasury department, payments totaling roughly $15 billion have already been distributed for nearly 60 million children.
“For the first time in our nation’s history, American working families are receiving monthly tax relief payments to help pay for essentials like doctor’s visits, school supplies, and groceries,” treasury secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
“This major middle-class tax relief and step in reducing child poverty is a remarkable economic victory for America – and also a moral one.”
Kremlin papers appear to show Putin’s plot to put Trump in White House
The Guardian’s Luke Harding, Julian Borger and Dan Sabbagh report:
Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a “mentally unstable” Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia’s national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents.
The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present.
They agreed a Trump White House would help secure Moscow’s strategic objectives, among them “social turmoil” in the US and a weakening of the American president’s negotiating position.
Russia’s three spy agencies were ordered to find practical ways to support Trump, in a decree appearing to bear Putin’s signature.
By this point Trump was the frontrunner in the Republican party’s nomination race. A report prepared by Putin’s expert department recommended Moscow use “all possible force” to ensure a Trump victory.
Western intelligence agencies are understood to have been aware of the documents for some months and to have carefully examined them. The papers, seen by the Guardian, seem to represent a serious and highly unusual leak from within the Kremlin.
The Guardian has shown the documents to independent experts who say they appear to be genuine. Incidental details come across as accurate. The overall tone and thrust is said to be consistent with Kremlin security thinking.
Read the full report:
In their meeting this afternoon, Joe Biden and Angela Merkel will almost certainly discuss the future of Afghanistan as the US military withdraws from the country.
Biden said last week that the withdrawal from Afghanistan will conclude by August 31, although the Pentagon has said that the operation is already 90% complete.
The US is now trying to secure a location for a military base in Central Asia to remain near Afghanistan in case there is a resurgence of outside militants there.
The AP reports:
But even as high-level US diplomats head to the region, they are encountering doubts from Afghanistan’s neighbours about any such security partnerships with the US. This is in contrast to 2001, when Central Asian countries made their territory available for US bases, troops and other access when the US hit back for the 9/11 attacks plotted by al-Qaida in Afghanistan.
There is distrust of the US as a reliable long-term partner, after an only partly successful war in Afghanistan and years of widely fluctuating US engagement regionally and globally, say former American diplomats. Russia also says a permanent US military base in its Central Asia sphere of influence would be ‘unacceptable’.
Meanwhile, the Taliban leadership, more internationally savvy than it was in 2001, has been visiting regional capitals and Moscow in a diplomatic push of its own, offering pledges it will pursue regional security, peace and trade whatever comes of its fight with the Kabul government.
Kamala Harris is now hosting German chancellor Angela Merkel for a meeting at the vice-president’s residence, the Naval Observatory.
The meeting marks the first time that Harris has hosted a foreign leader at the Naval Observatory since she took office in January. (Harris did not move into the residence until April because of ongoing repairs.)
NOW: @VP Harris hosts German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a working breakfast at the Vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory pic.twitter.com/kGQmSxSv9M
— Tim Perry (@tperry518) July 15, 2021
According to memo from the vice-president’s team, the two leaders will discuss the threats facing democracies around the world and the importance of the US-German alliance.
“The Vice President will emphasize that we must work together to navigate many challenges together, including global health and climate crises, gender inequality, an increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment, and the Russia and China relationships,” the memo says.
Biden to meet Merkel at White House as German chancellor prepares to step down
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
Joe Biden will meet with German chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House today, as the longtime leader prepares to step down from her post after 16 years.
The two leaders will participate in a bilateral meeting before holding a joint press conference this afternoon. Merkel will also join Biden and Kamala Harris for a dinner with their spouses tonight.
Merkel’s visit marks Biden’s latest attempt to strengthen US alliances, after four years of Donald Trump’s divisive leadership.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that Merkel’s visit “will affirm the deep and enduring bilateral ties between the United States and Germany” and “address our robust partnership on shared global challenges”.
Merkel will also likely push Biden on the future of Afghanistan now that the US military is leaving and Taliban forces are making territorial gains across the country.
The blog will have more details on Merkel’s visit coming up, so stay tuned.
