Closing summary
That’s all from the US politics blog for today, thanks for joining us.
Joe Biden spoke at the White House to announce restrictions on “ghost guns,” and to kick-off a new push for meaningful gun reforms, despite opposition in Congress. Among his first objectives will be to get his pick Steve Dettelbach confirmed as the new director of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives.
Developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict can be found on our live 24-hour blog here.
In the US today:
- Biden had a “constructive and productive” video conference with India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, but failed to secure an assurance that India would stop buying Russian oil.
- A state judge knocked Abby Finkenauer, a Democrat seeking to unseat Republican Chuck Grassley as Iowa senator, off the 7 June primary ballot on a technicality.
- Liz Cheney, the Republican Wyoming congresswoman booted from her party leadership role for joining the House panel investigating the 6 January Capitol attack, has raised $2.94m for her reelection campaign in the year’s first quarter.
- Maryland became the 15th US state to allow health professionals other than doctors to carry out abortions, as part of a bill expanding access to reproductive rights for women.
- The New York mayor Eric Adams announced that the Juneteeth holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the US would be a paid day-off for city employees for the first time.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced she has now tested negative for coronavirus, days after she became one of the leading names in a flurry of Covid news last week involving Capitol Hill and White House figures.
So, look out, congressmen and women, Pelosi will be unleashed once again on Tuesday to bring her inimitable style to the Capitol.
Today, happily I tested negative for COVID. Tomorrow, I will be exiting isolation at the direction of the Capitol’s Attending Physician and consistent with CDC guidelines for asymptomatic individuals. Many thanks to everyone for their good wishes, chocolates and chicken soup.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) April 11, 2022
The picture at the top is one that got folks rattled, as those testing positive among Washington leaders got closer and closer to Biden himself. But the Speaker is back!
Updated
