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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Gabrielle Canon (now) and Ben Jacobs in Washington (earlier)

Congress rebukes Steve King after white supremacy remarks - as it happened

Summary

Shutting down for today, thanks for following along! In case you’re just tuning in, here’s a Tuesday breakdown:

  • New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand officially announced her bid for the presidency on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show. Dubbed the “#MeToo” Senator, Gillibrand was an advocate for women and long before the movement began, and she has framed her campaign around “restoring power to people”. The GOP issued a quick response, in a video that frames her as an opportunist.
  • Bill Barr, the president’s attorney general nominee, faced the Senate judiciary committee and pledged that he would not interfere with the special counsel’s investigation.
  • The House voted to admonish white supremacy following the fallout over Iowa Republican Steve King’s racist remarks. King was removed from high-powered committees by his own party, but has refused to resign. Meanwhile, NBC was caught in their own controversy, after telling staffers not to refer to King’s comments as “racist”.
  • The shutdown stalemate continued today, as Congress announced it would not be breaking for a scheduled week-long recess. Federal employees will soon miss their second paycheck of the year.

See you tomorrow!

GOP responds to Gillibrand 2020 announcement

It didn’t take long for the Republican National Committee to issue a takedown on the newly-announced 2020 candidacy of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Mere hours after she shared with Stephen Colbert that she was assembling an exploratory committee, the GOP published a video featuring the NY Democrat apologizing over a backing track of Bryan Adam’s “Please Forgive Me”.

Echoing criticisms from her own party, in a statement sent to The Guardian Republican Spokesman Michael Ahrens called Gillibrand an opportunist.

“If you looked up ‘political opportunism’ in the dictionary, Kirsten Gillibrand’s photo would be next to it”, he said. “From jumping on the ‘abolish ICE’ bandwagon to turning on the Clintons, Gillibrand always goes where the political wind blows. Democrats know it, which is why she’s barely registering in the polls.”

He paired the statement with the video, claiming it was preview of what’s to come from her campaign.

Gillibrand meanwhile, has released a video of her own:

Updated

After being rebuked for racist comments and removed from committee assignments, today Rep. Steve King pushed back against Republicans for their criticism and said he had no intention of resigning.

As a guest on a conservative radio show King admonished House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, for “[deciding] he’s going to believe The New York Times over Steve King”, referring to himself in third-person.

He also went after Liz Cheney who called for him to step down, saying “if there’s support out there for Liz Cheney after this, you can’t ever put her in the category of being a conservative again. She called for my resignation. She’s been here two years. What would give her the moral authority or the intellectual judgement to do something like that?”

Congress cancels recess as shutdown stalemate continues

House and Senate leaders announced today that Congress will work through the upcoming week-long recess and stay in session until there is a solution to the shutdown, which is now the longest in US history.

Roughly 800,000 federal workers have gone without pay over the last four weeks and with no end to the impasse in sight, will likely soon miss their second paychecks of the year.

In a letter to members of the United States Coast Guard published today, Admiral Karl L. Schultz expressed his apologies that they would not be receiving their mid-month paychecks, marking “the first time in our Nation’s history that servicemembers in a US Armed Force have not been paid during a lapse in government appropriations”.

An official from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) also warned that soon no workers would be left.

“I, for one, could not sustain six months, a year without a paycheck — I don’t know too many people that could, so you’re looking at an air controller here that would resign,” regional NATCA vice president Eddie DeLisle told The Hill.

Still, both sides dug their heels in this week, and high-level talks have been at a standstill. A group of House Democrats declined a lunch invitation from Trump today, which was seen as an attempt to undermine party leadership but, according to reporting by the Associated Press, Trump told supporters that things were going smoothly and expressed no desire to bend.

“We’re going to stay out for a long time, if we have to,” he said. “We’ll be out for a long time”. He added that “people are very impressed with how well government is working with the circumstances that we’re under”.

Updated

As the UK grapples with the turmoil following the sweeping defeat of Theresa May’s Brexit deal, US politicians have begun to weigh in. In a statement to The Guardian today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi emphasized the international concern over the future of global institutions, and compared the political divisions abroad to those at home:

“It’s disturbing to see such an important ally as politically divided as the United Kingdom is by the issue of Brexit. While domestic concerns are central to any political issue, the Brexit movement is clearly one form of the global retrenchment from international institutions. We’ve seen a domestic parallel in the Trump administration’s rumored flirtation with withdrawing the United States from NATO. It would be a horrible mistake for any nation, including the United States, to abandon the economic and military alliances that have brought such prosperity and security since the Second World War.”

Special counsel files documents on Manafort

The office of Robert Mueller, the special counsel, submitted a new court filing on Tuesday detailing communications between former Trump aid Paul Manafort and alleged Russian intelligence operative Konstantin Kilimnik.

Updated

New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand announces bid for 2020

At a taping for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” this evening, Sen. Gillibrand shared that she was officially joining the race for the white house. Announcing that she was assembling an exploratory committee and will soon be on her way to Iowa, she told Colbert she was running as a mom as she outlined key parts of her platform:

“As a young mom, I’m going to fight for other people’s kids as hard as I’d fight for my own, which is why I believe health care should be a right, not a privilege; it’s why I believe we should have better public schools for our kids because it shouldn’t matter what block you grew up on; and I believe that anybody who wants to work hard enough should be able to get whatever job training they need to earn their way into the middle class” she said.

Gillibrand is a strong critic of President Trump and has worked to block many of his priorities. She was also an early advocate for abolishing ICE and has been vocal about advancing women’s rights — earning a title from 60 Minutes as the “#MeToo Senator”.

But, she hasn’t always been as committed to progressive priorities. Per the New York Times:

Ms. Gillibrand, a 52-year-old former corporate lawyer, has been criticized by opponents as a politician without a firm ideological bearing of her own, having transformed from a pro-gun, conservative upstate congresswoman with deep ties to Wall Street financiers to a crusading liberal who rails against guns and refuses corporate political action committee money.”

Updated

NBC instructs staffers not to call King's statements 'racist'

NBC News staffers were sent an email Tuesday directing them to “Be careful to avoid characterizing [King’s] remarks as racist” HuffPost reports, when covering the fallout from the Republican congressman’s interview with the New York Times where he questioned why white nationalism and white supremacy were offensive during an interview with the New York Times.

After Huffpost published the standards, NBC issued a revise allowing reporters to point out that the Iowa representative has a history of racist rhetoric:

‘We revised our guidance on Rep. Steve King’s comments’ reads an email from NBC News’ standards department that was shared with HuffPost. ‘It is fair to characterize King’s comments as ‘racist,’ and point out that he has a history of racist comments, and the context can be shared that others hold that view as well’”.

Updated

Pressed by Sen. Cory Booker on his views on LGBTQ rights, Barr responded that he thinks “in a pluralistic society there has to be a live and let live attitude” and added that while he at one time believed marriage should be regulated by the states he is against discrimination for any reason.

“I am perfectly fine with gay marriage”, he said, “but I also want accommodation for religion”.

John Delaney the first 2020 candidate to weigh in on Brexit

After Theresa May’s Brexit deal was resoundingly defeated with a 230 majority today — the largest loss in the modern democratic era — a Democratic candidate for the US 2020 presidential election was the first to weigh in.

Former Maryland congressman John Delaney said in a statement to the Guardian that “Brexit was never honestly sold to voters, which is why the UK finds itself in such a difficult position right now. Leaving the European Union will, in fact, hurt British citizens, but staying is not an option after a referendum, unless they have a second”.

Per my colleague Ben Jacobs:

Delaney, who has focused his campaign on responding to the challenges of globalization and automation, added: ‘The Brexit chaos shows that the answer to globalization isn’t to turn inward or to play into the politics of fear – which happened with Trump and the Leave campaign – but to create new policies that make capitalism more just and create meaningful public and private investment in areas and communities left behind’”.

Updated

Questioned by Democratic Sen. Chris Coons about whether Barr believes the President can pardon himself or pardon a member of his family, the AG nominee responded that Trump has the power to do both, but depending on the circumstances that action might be viewed as an abuse of that power.

Asked by Coons how the President might be held accountable for an abuse of power Barr replied “he would be accountable politically”.

Hi, this is Gabrielle on the west coast taking over for Ben Jacobs.

The Senate confirmation hearing for AG nominee William Barr has resumed and Barr has circled back to his opening statement emphasizing that he would seek to “deter and punish” foreign entities from interfering in elections.

“I would like to build on that experience to sharpen our legal tools to go after Russian nationals or nationals of any country interfering in our elections” he said.

The Senate voted to move ahead on legislation to block efforts by Steven Mnuchin to end sanctions on Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch with close links to Putin and Paul Manafort.

Whitaker to testify before Congress

Acting attorney general Matt Whitaker will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on February 8, the day after Michael Cohen’s testimony.

Congress disapproves of white supremacy

By a vote of 424-1, the House of Representatives voted to disapprove of white supremacy in a resolution intended as a rebuke of Iowa Republican Steve King.

While King voted for the resolution, the only dissenter was Democrat Bobby Rush who has pushed for a formal censure of King and believed that the resolution did not go far enough.

After Sheldon Whitehouse asks Barr what the DOJ should know about the foreign business entanglements of senior government officials, Barr remains silent for a few seconds.

Barr is now criticizing federal district courts for issuing injunctions to block Trump’s travel ban nationally.

Barr says “voter turnout shouldn’t be artificially driven up without dealing with the underlying issue of an informed citizenry” when asked about voter ID.

Barr says “I don’t think we should ever do torture” and says the McCain legislation to codify the Army field manual was important.

In response to a question from Feinstein, Barr is “torture is never lawful.” When asked if waterboarding is torture, he says “right now, it is prohibited.”

The second round of questioning now begins as Thom Tillis finishes his questions for Barr.

Barr said after his initial meeting with Trump in 2017, that he didn’t meet with the president until November, 2018. That meeting was about the attorney general nomination and Barr says there was no discussion of Mueller.

Kamala Harris is now pushing Barr on whether he supports a border wall.

Barr backs away a little bit from his support for mass incarceration in the 1990s in response to questioning from Cory Booker but agrees to meeting with the New Jersey senator about the issue.

Barr says “we either should have a federal law which would prohibit marijuana everywhere . . .however if we want states to have their own laws, we should get there the right way.”

Barr won't go after marijuana businesses in states where it is legal

On marijuana, Barr says his concerns would be not upset settled expectations and reliance interests, however he describes “backdoor nullification” of federal law on marijuana policy right now.

Updated

The hearing has now resumed and Barr is now being questioned by John Kennedy of Louisiana.

As the Senate Judiciary Committee has been meeting, President Donald Trump has had members of Congress at the White House for lunch. All the Democrats invited have declined to attend, leading press secretary Sarah Sanders to put out the following statement:

As Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi refuse to negotiate, President Donald J. Trump and his team are working hard to find solutions to solve the humanitarian and national security crisis at the border and reopen the government. The President has a proposal on the table that includes additional technology at ports of entry, allows minors from Central America to seek asylum in their home country, and physical barriers between ports of entry made of steel instead of concrete. Today, the President offered both Democrats and Republicans the chance to meet for lunch at the White House. Unfortunately, no Democrats will attend. The President looks forward to having a working lunch with House Republicans to solve the border crisis and reopen the government. It’s time for the Democrats to come to the table and make a deal.

The hearing is now taking a break. In other news related to Mueller, prosecutors are seeking yet another delay in the sentencing of Rick Gates, who was Paul Manafort’s longtime deputy and has been cooperating with the special counsel.

Updated

When asked about what information he would allow to be released from Mueller, Barr says that he intends to “get as much information out as I can, consistent with the regulations.”

Barr says he still believes Roe v Wade was wrongly decided but indicates that he views it as established precedent at this point.

Barr says that he would resign rather than do something unlawful but notes that he thinks every government official should step down if ordered to do something against the law.

Barr describes his view of the Mueller investigation:

I think there were allegations made of Russian attempts to interfere in the election and allegations made that some Americans were in cahoots with the Russians and the word being used now is collusion and as I understand it Mueller is now looking into those allegations.

Barr says he would not fire Mueller without good cause

When Chris Coons asks Barr if he would fire Mueller if ordered to by Trump without good cause, Barr says “I would not carry out that instruction.”

Barr leaves open the possibility of overruling Mueller, though under limited circumstances

Special counsel has broad discretion but acting attorney general, in this case, Rod Rosenstein, can ask about major decisions and if they disagree and after giving great weight to special counsel’s position, the acting attorney general felt it was so unwarranted under established policies to notify this committee

Updated

Barr says “I think a lot of our current tensions in society are because we are turning our back on the federalist model.”

Updated

When asked how he describes the rule of law by Ted Cruz, Barr says “the rule of law is exactly that that we don’t allow a special rule for a particular individual.”

Barr is asked if the Justice Department will jail reporters for doing their jobs, he pauses “I can conceive of situations where as a last resort and where a news organization has run through a red flag, knows they are putting out stuff that is hurting the country, there is a situation where they can be held in contempt.”

Barr has been avoiding committing himself in discussing acting attorney general Matt Whitaker’s decision not to recuse himself in the ongoing special counsel investigation.

Barr is now getting questioning on immigration policy from Amy Klobuchar and for his views on the ongoing government shutdown.

“We need a barrier system across the border” says Barr.

Barr striking a hawkish note on immigration: “One of the problems as the president says is that the immigration laws need to be changed.”

Bill Barr doesn’t seem to have the most thrilling hobbies.

Barr says he has done nothing to encourage Rod Rosenstein to leave the Justice Department and says that, if confirmed, he’d encourage Rosenstein to stay on through a transition period.

Updated

The confirmation hearing for Bill Barr has now resumed

Liz Cheney, the number three Republican in the House of Representatives, has called for Steve King to resign. King was removed from all committee assignments last night after yet another inflammatory, racially charged comment.

In his new book, Chris Christie reveals why Donald Trump is so enamored with a long tie as a fashion choice.

The hearing is taking a break for lunch after Barr offered a strong defense of Mueller so far this morning, insisting that the investigation would not be a witch hunt and that the special counsel is “a straight shooter.”

Barr says that his views on sentencing has changed. “I understand things have changed since 1992.” He credits his reluctance to support sentencing reform to being in private practice and away from law enforcement.

Barr’s full answer on being bullied can be watched in this clip.

Barr says “I will not be bullied into doing anything that I think is wrong.”

When asked why he wants what seems to be a thankless job by Dick Durbin, Barr says “because I love the department” and adds that he feels that he is “at a position in life where he can protect the independence of this department and serve in this administration.”

Updated

Barr says he can’t answer if Trump has the authority to use the Department of Defense to build a border wall.

Barr on Russian interference in the 2016 election:

“I believe the Russians interfered, or attempted to interfere, with the election, and we have to get to the bottom of it.”

Barr says that in June, 2017 that Ambassador David Friedman approached him about possibly representing Trump as a client.

Barr says he declined but Friedman, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, still asked him to meet with Trump. Barr says his meeting with Trump was “brief” and that Trump asked him questions about Mueller. Barr says that he told Trump “Bob is a straight shooter and should be dealt with as such.”

Barr doesn’t commit to releasing all of Mueller’s report to the public.

Barr says “I don’t believe Mr. Mueller to be involved in a witch hunt” and adds that he believes Sessions “probably did the right thing” in recusing himself.

Lindsey Graham is starting his questions by asking Barr about Peter Strzok and Lisa Page and reading text messages between the two.

Barr: 'On my watch Bob will be allowed to finish his work'

Barr is pledging that he will not interfere with Mueller’s probe.

“I believe it is in best interest of everyone, the president, Congress and the American people that this matter be resolved by allowing the special counsel to complete his work. The country needs a credible resolution to these issues.”

He adds: “On my watch Bob will be allowed to finish his work.”

Updated

Barr says he has not promised Trump anything other than that “he will run the department with professionalism and integrity.”

Barr is now giving his opening statement and referencing his previous confirmation process when he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate.

He references past comments saying that political interference in the Department of Justice should never be tolerated and that “the American people need to know that there are places in government where rule of law and not politics must hold sway.”

Orrin Hatch of Utah, who served seven terms in the U.S. Senate before not seeking re-election in 2018, is now introducing Barr. Hatch served as the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1993-2005 and continued to sit on the committee until his retirement.

After Lindsey Graham opens the hearing by running through Barr’s qualifications, Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee, now raises the Mueller investigation. She says “the attorney general must resist political pressure and be committed to defending this investigation.”

She does note ongoing concerns about the memo Barr wrote to the Justice Department last year that was critical of Mueller’s view of obstruction of justice and his robust view of executive power.

Barr hearing begins

The hearing on Bill Barr’s nomination to be Donald Trump’s attorney general has now begun. Barr previously served as attorney general under George H.W. Bush from 1991-1993.

It will be the first meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee under its new chairman, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

President Donald Trump has drawn attention on Twitter this morning for yet another one of his unique typos. This time, for spelling “hamburger” as “hamberder” when boasting about his fast food feast with the national champion Clemson Tigers last night.

Republican governor Kim Reynolds has proposed a constitutional amendment in Iowa to end the state’s ban on felon voting.

Iowa is currently one of two remaining states that permanently bans anyone convicted of a felony from voting. The other is Kentucky. Currently, the only way anyone can have their rights restored is through directly petitioning the governor for clemency.

Good morning.

The partial government shutdown has reached day 25, Republican Steve King has been stripped of committee assignments after yet another inflammatory and racially charged comment and the confirmation hearings for Bill Barr to be attorney general are set to begin.

It’s Tuesday in American politics.

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