Closing summary
That’s all for today… here are the key events that happened across the country.
•Joe Biden described himself as Republicans’ “nightmare” over their proposed cuts to social programs. “I know that a lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare,” Biden said. “If that’s your dream, I’m your nightmare.” Speaking at the University of Tampa, Biden attacked Rick Scott, the Republican senator from Florida who has said programs including social security and medicare should expire every five years, and need to be reauthorized to continue. “I guarantee you it will not happen. I will veto it I’ll defend social security and medicare,” Biden said.
•Biden also took a dig at Ron De Santis, the Republican governor of Florida who may yet be his opponent in the 2024 presidential election. De Santis has effectively denied Floridians healthcare, Biden noted, by failing to sign on to the Affordable health care act’s Medicaid expansion provision. “Over 1.1m people in Florida would be eligible for Medicaid if Governor De Santis would just agree to expand it,” Biden said. “This isn’t calculus.”
•China’s balloon that crossed the United States was equipped to collect intelligence signals, the Biden administration said. The White House said the balloon, which was gunned down by the US last weekend, was part of a huge, military-linked aerial spy program that targeted more than 40 countries. A fleet of balloons is used specifically for spying, outfitted with high-tech equipment designed to collect sensitive information from targets across the globe, the US said.
•Angie Craig, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, was assaulted in her DC apartment building on Thursday morning, her chief of staff said. “Rep Craig defended herself from the attacker and suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically okay,” Nick Coe said in a statement. Coe said Craig called 911 and the attacker fled the scene. He said there was “no evidence” that the incident was politically motivated.
Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, moved closer to taking over Walt Disney World’s self-governing district on Thursday, after House Republicans approved legislation meant to punish the company over its opposition to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.
The legislation would leave Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, in which Disney has the power to decide what it builds including, in theory, its own nuclear plant, intact, but would change its name and require DeSantis to appoint a five-member governing board, Associated Press reported:
Board members are currently named through entities controlled by Disney and are tasked with overseeing the government services the district provides in the company’s properties in Florida.
For DeSantis, the legislation is a victory on the nation’s cultural battlegrounds, where he has harnessed political tensions on gender, race and education to bolster his position as a conservative firebrand while on a path toward an expected 2024 White House run.
Last week, the Republican leaders of the Florida House and Senate, in coordination with the governor, ordered lawmakers to return for a special session to complete the state takeover of the Reedy Creek district, taking up a bill that would preserve its operating functions and financial responsibilities.
The legislation is all but certain to pass in the statehouse, where a Republican supermajority is eager to carry out the governor’s agenda. Democrats have widely criticized the legislation as a retaliatory power grab by the governor but are powerless to do much else other than delay its passage.
“This bill sends a message from the governor to businesses in our state that if they dissent, they will be punished,” said Rep. Rita Harris, a Democrat. “And this is chilling. It’s not just chilling to me, it’s chilling to freedom of speech.”
Our columnist Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, takes a look at troubling figures for Democrats – Joe Biden’s stubbornly low approval numbers:
In his first State of the Union address since Democrats lost control of the House, Joe Biden celebrated recent economic gains – especially declining inflation and soaring job growth – while taking a bow for legislative victories that will curb prescription drug prices, expand health benefits for veterans, slow climate change and rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.
Biden’s speech reminded me of how good a president he has been, especially given what he inherited from the former guy, who made a fetish out of dividing and angering Americans while accomplishing nothing except giving a giant tax cut to big corporations and the rich.
Biden has steadied the nation. He has brought competent people into government. He has enacted important legislation. He has fortified America’s alliances against despots like Putin. He has strengthened American democracy.
All of which raises a troubling paradox. Only 42% of Americans approve of Biden’s presidency – barely above the 41% at his last State of the Union address, and a lower percent at this point than any president in 75 years of polling except for Trump and Reagan (who at this point was hobbled by a deep recession).
And despite Biden’s significant achievements, fully 62% think he has accomplished “not very much” or “little or nothing”.
Read on…
Meta has restored Donald Trump’s access to Facebook and Instagram, a spokesperson confirmed on Thursday, following a two-year suspension after the deadly Capitol Hill riot on January 6 2021.
Meta said in January it would lift Trump’s suspension “in the coming weeks”, but “with new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses”. Those guardrails include potential suspensions ranging from one month to two years should Trump violate its content policies again.
Trump’s Facebook page was visible on Thursday. His most recent posts were all from January 6 2021, including one which read:
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”
Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol that day chanted for Pence to be hanged.
Trump now regains access to key platforms for voter outreach and political fundraising ahead of another run for the White House in 2024. He had 23 million followers on Instagram and 34 million on Facebook when the pages were shut down.
Updated
Summary – Biden bashes Republicans over Social Security
Joe Biden told Republicans he is “their nightmare” during a speech in Florida on Thursday, as he offered a stark contrast between his administration and the GOP.
Speaking at the University of Tampa, Biden told the crowd that the GOP is seeking to hobble social programs that he has pledged to protect.
“I know that a lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare,” Biden said.
“Well let me say this: if that’s your dream, I’m your nightmare.”
Biden was in Tampa touting his administration’s accomplishments in its first two years.
The president sought to remind those watching that he had signed into law legislation on infrastructure, prescription drug costs, and social reform.
He attacked Rick Scott, the Republican senator from Florida who released a plan which would mean programs including social security and medicare would expire every five years, and need to be reauthorized to continue.
“I guarantee you it will not happen. I will veto it I’ll defend social security and medicare,” Biden said.
Biden also took a dig at Ron De Santis, the Republican governor of Florida who may yet be his opponent in the 2024 presidential election.
De Santis has effectively denied Floridians healthcare, Biden noted, by failing to sign on to the Affordable health care act’s Medicaid expansion provision.
“Over 1.1m people in Florida would be eligible for Medicaid if Governor De Santis would just agree to expand it,” Biden said.
“This isn’t calculus.”
Updated
Wrapping up his speech, Biden touts his achievements in office.
“12m jobs created,” he says.
“800,000 manufacturing jobs.”
Biden says the US has lowest unemployment rate in 50 years.
Less bombastically, he adds: “Inflation is coming down.”
A record 10m Americans have applied to start a small business, Biden continues.
“Let’s build on the promise we made. Keep prescription drug costs down, defend Social Security and Medicare,” Biden says.
“I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future.
“Just remember who we are for god’s sake. We’re the United States of America.”
On that triumphant note some marching band music starts blasting, and Biden heads off into the crowd to shake some hands.
Updated
Biden: I'm Republicans' 'nightmare' on Medicare and social security
“I know that a lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare,” Biden says.
“If that’s your dream, I’m your nightmare,” he adds, to laughter and applause.
Biden talks about Rick Scott, the Republican senator from Florida, who released a plan last year to ‘sunset’ all federal programs. It would mean programs including social security and medicare are federal programs – would expire every five years, and need to be reauthorized to continue.
“I guarantee you it will not happen. I will veto it I’ll defend social security and medicare,” Biden says.
Biden then turns his focus to Sen Ron Johnson from Wisconsin, a Republican who has also threatened measures which would likely cut the programs.
“From the time you’re a teenager you had money taken out for these programs,” Biden says.
Social Security is more than a government program, it’s “a promise we made”, he adds.
“And now these guys want to cut it. I don’t get it, I really don’t. I don’t know who they think they are.”
Updated
Referencing legislation passed on infrastructure, protecting gay marriage, and social programs, Biden says:
“We did that in a bipartisan way: Democrats and Republicans did it. I don’t know why they won’t acknowledge that any part of what’s making the country great again.”
Biden moves on to the Inflation Reduction act, which introduced a 15% tax on some of the wealthiest companies in the US.
“I thought it was time people began to pay their fair share a little bit,” Biden says.
Biden says he'll protect social security and Medicare
Joe Biden is championing his administration’s achievements and insisting that he will further protect Social Security and Medicare at a speech in Tampa, Florida.
Biden touts bipartisan accomplishments of his first two years, including legislation on infrastructure, climate and healthcare, before repeating a theme from his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, saying the American people are “strong”. He adds: “It’s never been a good bet to count us out.”
Biden is aiming to pass legislation to give “families and seniors just a little more breathing room”, he says. Florida has the highest percentage of seniors of any state in the nation, Biden notes, to scattered applause.
The president is speaking in front of a banner that says: “Protect and strengthen Medicare” and “Lowering costs for American families”, as he seeks to draw contrast his vision for Social Security and Medicare with the plans of some Republicans to gut both plans.
Updated
The former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen said today he is booked in for no less than his 16th meeting with Manhattan prosecutors looking into the hush money payment he made to Stormy Daniels, aka Stephanie Clifford, the adult film actor and director who claims an affair that Donald Trump denies.
Cohen told Meidas Touch he will meet with prosecutors working for the Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, next week, having been in to see them for a 15th time this week.
Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in 2016, as Trump campaigned for president. The payment (which Trump reimbursed) and its violation of campaign finance law played a part in Cohen being sent to jail. Trump has not been charged.
The payment has come back to the fore in Bragg’s investigation of Trump, with a grand jury reportedly hearing evidence. It has also been part of a rumbling confrontation between Bragg and Mark Pomerantz, a prosecutor who resigned from the Manhattan Trump investigation last year, in protest at what he saw as Bragg’s reluctance to indict Trump, and who has now published a book.
In People vs Donald Trump, Pomerantz says the Daniels payment became a “zombie case”, forever coming back from the dead as a way to indict the former president. He also says that he thinks Trump should be indicted in relation to more serious tax and fraud allegations.
Cohen turned on Trump and has co-operated extensively with authorities investigating the former president.
Yesterday, Cohen told MSNBC he found Bragg’s team to be “really well-versed in all aspects of this case. I’m actually impressed with how quickly they all came up to speed … they’re very knowledgeable about all the facts, all the testimony so far that’s been provided”.
Further reading:
Democratic congresswoman assaulted in DC apartment building
Angie Craig, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, was assaulted in her DC apartment building this morning, her chief of staff said.
“Rep Craig defended herself from the attacker and suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically okay,” Nick Coe said in a statement.
Coe said Craig called 911 and the attacker fled the scene. He said there was “no evidence” that the incident was politically motivated.
Craig was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018. She became the first openly gay person elected to Congress from Minnesota.
Congresswoman Craig assaulted today in her DC apartment, per statement from her office pic.twitter.com/A1LXvR21pL
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 9, 2023
Francine Prose, the novelist and Guardian US columnist, takes a look today at Republican attacks on reading in schools, particularly in Florida under Ron DeSantis, a leading (notional) contender for the presidential nomination in 2024.
For some time now, conservative groups pressured libraries and classrooms to remove certain “controversial” books from their shelves and their syllabi. These are texts that tell uncomfortable or unpopular truths about our nation’s origins, including inequality, race, history, gender, sexuality, power and class – a range of subjects that a small but vocal group of Americans would prefer to ignore or deny.
These efforts achieved one of their most notable successes last April when Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed the Stop Woke Act, which prohibits in-school discussions about racism, oppression, LBGTQ+ issues and economic inequity. Books that have not been officially vetted and approved must be hidden or covered, lest teachers unknowingly break an ill-defined law against distributing pornography – a felony.
On 1 February, these pernicious restrictions on academic freedom spread beyond Florida, when the College Board announced its decision to severely restrict what can and cannot be taught in the newly created advanced placement class in African American studies. Cut from the curriculum (or in some cases made optional) was any discussion of Black Lives Matter, mass incarceration, police brutality, queer Black life, of the Black Power movements of the 1960s and 70s. Writers who have been removed from the reading list include bell hooks, Angela Davis and Ta-Nehisi Coates.
These decisions are alarming and disturbing on so many levels that it’s hard to decide which aspect is the most damaging and insidious. At risk are our foundational principles of free speech, our conviction that educators – and not politicians – should be writing up our lesson plans and deciding what transpires in our classrooms, our belief that students can (and need to) consider complicated issues.
Read on:
Ted Cruz was among senators from both parties voicing criticism of Pete Buttigieg, the US transportation secretary, at a hearing today on Southwest Airlines’ recent meltdown, which led to travel misery for thousands.
“Notably absent from today’s meeting is Secretary Buttigieg,” the Texas senator said.
“The Department of Transportation [DOT] didn’t give any mea culpa to impacted travelers. The Biden DOT didn’t issue refunds, didn’t issue reimbursements, it just screwed up their flights and then proceeded to say, ‘We want to be in charge of how the airlines behave.’”
There was Democratic criticism too, Maria Cantwell of Washington state saying air transportation “needs a more effective policeman on the beat. They need someone over at the Department of Transportation who is going to get the job done”.
Eagle eyed Guardian readers, however, may remember that Cruz has recent experience of embarrassing stories about flights, and south-west-ward ones at that:
In a new biography, the Utah senator and former US presidential nominee Mitt Romney will reportedly consider the Republican party’s “slide toward authoritarianism” and how he may have helped empower extremists.
The book will be called Romney: A Reckoning and will be published in October. News of its release comes after the senator made headlines by confronting George Santos, the New York fabulist who has rocked the House Republican party, before Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
Romney said Santos was a “sick puppy” who did not belong in Congress. Santos, who faces investigations and calls to resign but remains a key vote in support of the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, responded by taunting Romney over his failed presidential ambitions.
Romney’s biographer, McKay Coppins, told Axios of the senator’s “candor”.
“I’ve been covering Senator Romney for more than a decade,” Coppins said. “When I approached him two years ago about writing this biography, I told him it would only work if he was ready to be completely forthcoming.
“He reacted like it was a dare. I was astonished by his level of candor.”
Axios said Romney’s cooperation extended to giving Coppins “private emails, text messages and diary entries … including real-time communications among many of the most powerful figures in American politics”.
Full story:
Chinese balloon part of huge spy program, US officials say
China’s balloon that crossed the United States was equipped to collect intelligence signals and was part of a huge, military-linked aerial spy program that targeted more than 40 countries, the Biden administration said Thursday, outlining the scope and capabilities of the huge balloon that captivated the country’s attention before the US shot it down.
A fleet of balloons operates under the direction of the People’s Liberation Army and is used specifically for spying, outfitted with high-tech equipment designed to collect sensitive information from targets across the globe, the US said, AP reported. Similar balloons have floated over five continents, according to the administration.
From AP:
The statement from a senior State Department official offered the most detail to date linking China’s military to the balloon that was shot down by the US last weekend over the Atlantic Ocean. The public details are meant to refute China’s persistent denials that the balloon was used for spying, including a claim Thursday that US accusations about the balloon amount to “information warfare” against Beijing.
In Beijing, before the U.S. offered new information, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning repeated her nation’s insistence that the large unmanned balloon was a civilian meteorological airship that had blown off course and that the U.S. had “overreacted” by shooting it down.
“It is irresponsible,” Mao said. The latest accusations, she said, “may be part of the U.S. side’s information warfare against China.”
The US offered a flatly contradictory characterization of the balloon and its purpose. It said imagery of the balloon collected by American U-2 spy planes as it crossed the country showed that it was “capable of conducting signals intelligence collection” with multiple antennas and other equipment designed to upload sensitive information and solar panels to power them.
An unnamed official said the US has confidence that the manufacturer of the balloon shot down on Saturday has “a direct relationship with China’s military and is an approved vendor of the” army. The official cited information from an official PLA procurement portal as evidence for the connection between the company and the military.
Updated
Mike Pence, the former vice-president, is planning to rally conservatives in Iowa by running anti-trans ads, Associated Press reports.
Pence is stepping up his outreach in Iowa ahead of a possible 2024 presidential campaign, according to AP, by rallying conservatives against transgender-affirming policies in schools.
The effort by Advancing American Freedom, a group formed by Pence in 2021 and financed by his supporters, will include digital ads, rallies, canvassing and perhaps radio and television spots.
Trans-rights have become an issue that any Republican political hopeful must discuss – and specifically must criticize – during a campaign.
A new poll found that just one additional candidate in the 2024 Republican primary will be enough to split the vote and keep Donald Trump ahead of Ron DeSantis, as the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley prepares to announce a run for president.
The Yahoo News/YouGov poll gave DeSantis, the Florida governor, a 45%-41% lead over Trump head-to-head. Similar scenarios in other polls have prompted increasing attacks on DeSantis by Trump – and deflections by DeSantis.
But the Wednesday poll also produced an alternative scenario involving Haley that may worry DeSantis.
Haley was ambassador to the United Nations under Trump before resigning in 2018. She is due to announce her campaign in her home state next week.
Yahoo News reported: “In a hypothetical three-way match-up, Haley effectively plays the spoiler, attracting 11% of Republicans and Republican-leaners while DeSantis’s support falls by roughly the same amount (to 35%), leaving Trump with more votes than either of them” at 38%.
In his Florida speech later Joe Biden will draw attention to “congressional Republicans’ long record of working to cut Medicare [and] Social Security”, according to a White House memo.
CNN reported that advisors to Biden “don’t view the Sunshine State as a key piece of the electoral map in a 2024 run” – a reminder of how a once swing-state has moved dramatically towards Republicans.
So rather than kick off a long path towards winning the state in the next presidential election, Biden is instead making the journey, according to CNN:
Because there are no issues that dramatically pop in their polling like Medicare and Social Security.
There’s no state with a larger population that utilizes those programs and most critically.
And there are no two politicians they want to spar with more on the programs than [Florida politicians] Sen Rick Scott and Gov Ron DeSantis.
“For years, Republican Members of Congress have repeatedly tried to cut Medicare and Social Security, move toward privatizing one or both programs, and raise the Social Security retirement age and Medicare eligibility age,” the White House said in its memo.
It drew attention to comments by senior Republicans regarding cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits, including by Scott.
Updated
The Missouri House of Representatives has voted against a bill which would ban children from openly carrying firearms in public without adult supervision.
The proposal failed by a 104-39 vote in the Republican-held House, Associated Press reported. Only one Republican voted in support of it.
Donna Baringer, a Democrat, said police in her district had asked for the change to stop “14-year-olds walking down the middle of the street in the city of St Louis carrying AR-15s”.
“Now they have been emboldened, and they are walking around with them,” Baringer said.
“Until they actually brandish them, and brandish them with intent, our police officers’ hands are handcuffed.”
Republicans decried the effort as an infringement on gun rights.
“While it may be intuitive that a 14-year-old has no legitimate purpose, it doesn’t actually mean that they’re going to harm someone. We don’t know that yet,” said Rep Tony Lovasco, a Republican from the St Louis suburb of O’Fallon who voted against the bill.
Biden is set to arrive in Tampa at 12.15pm ET, according to his schedule, and plans to get his social security burns in during an address at 1.30pm.
While that’s going on, here’s some other things we’ll be keeping an eye on today:
• Republicans in the House will kick off their “weaponization” investigation this afternoon. The committee, which at the moment sounds more like an opportunity to air grievances rather than actually investigate anything, plans to probe alleged discrimination by the federal government against conservatives.
Politico notes that the committee has “a lineup straight out of Fox News”, and says GOP members have acknowledged “they don’t totally know what will come from Thursday’s hearing”.
• The CEO of Southwest Airlines will appear, tail between legs, before a Senate committee today to apologize for cancelling more than 15,000 flights over the Christmas holiday period. Southwest blamed winter weather for some cancellations, but staff have also blamed outdated technology.
• John Fetterman, the newly-elected Democratic senator for Pennsylvania, was hospitalized overnight. His campaign said Fetterman “began feeling lightheaded” following a Senate Democratic retreat. Fetterman had a stroke last year, which left him with some speech difficulties, but his campaign said the tests “did not show evidence of a new stroke”.
Updated
Biden to hammer Republicans over spending proposals
Good morning, live blog readers, and welcome to the Guardian’s daily coverage of American politics.
Joe Biden is heading to Florida today, where he is set to continue to hammer Republicans over potential cuts to social security and Medicare.
Biden will highlight his work to protect both programs, the White House said, at a time when, according to Biden, Republicans are continuing “to push plans that would undermine these programs and the economic security of millions of their constituents”.
The visit, and focus on social programs, comes after Biden’s accusations during his State of the Union speech that some Republicans want to ‘sunset’ social security and medicare.
The sunset idea, proposed by Rick Scott, a Florida senator, would mean all federal programs – and social security and medicare are federal programs – would expire every five years, and need to be reauthorized to continue.
In his State of the Union address Biden said: “Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans — some Republicans — want Medicare and Social Security to sunset.”
Today the president plans to continue to hammer home the message about Republicans potential plans – although senior GOP leaders have distanced themselves from Scott’s ideas – in a state that has swung more Republican in recent years. Florida is also a state that is governed by Ron De Santis, a potential Biden presidential opponent in 2024.
