Summary
Here’s a quick summary of what’s happened so far today.
House speaker Kevin McCarthy implied that George Santos is under a House ethics committee investigation, but then he backtracked to clarify that the committee has received complaints. A group of Santos’ constituents travelled to DC to call for his resignation, and though Santos has stepped down from his committee assignments, he has so far insisted that he will not step down.
Washington is prepping for tonight’s State of the Union address, a crucial speech for Joe Biden as the 2024 election starts to loom on the horizon. The White House released a guest list of attendees, who will likely get a shout out from Biden. Tyre Nichols’ family will be there, along with Ukraine’s ambassador to the US and Bono.
The Congressional Black Caucus is putting pressure on Biden to make police brutality one of the key issues of his address. A slate of Congress members have invited the families of victims of police brutality to the address, including the families of George Floyd, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice.
Republicans are already bracing for an attack on Biden and Democrats in response to the State of the Union address. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, once Trump’s press secretary and now governor of Arkansas, is set to deliver the Republican’s main rebuttal to the address. Her speech will preview what criticism Republicans will throw at Democrats in the 2024 election.
We will be closing this blog now but will be back tonight for live coverage of the State of the Union address, which starts at 9 pm ET. Thanks for reading.
Joe Biden is planning to propose a 3% tax on stock buybacks – when a company buys shares of its own stock on the open market – in his State of the Union address Tuesday nights, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Democrats have been doubling down on calls for new taxes that target wealthy individuals and corporations. Stock buybacks benefit shareholders of a company as it reduces the number of shares on the market and increases the price of shares. Democrats included a 1% tax on stock buybacks as part of the Inflation Reduction Act over the summer. Now, Biden will propose tripling the tax. Democrats estimate the current stock buyback tax will raise $74bn over the next decade. Now that Republicans control the House, it is unclear if such a proposal can be passed.
“Republicans in Congress aren’t serious about national debt. If they were, Speaker McCarthy would support making billionaires pay their fair share and increasing taxes on corporate stock buybacks,” Elizabeth Warren said in a tweet. “This plan would raise billions in much-needed revenue.”
George Santos' constituents travel to DC to demand resignation
A bus of George Santos’ constituents arrived in Washington DC to demand his resignation. The group is also delivering a petition to McCarthy calling for Santos’ expulsion from Congress.
Constituents of Congressman George Santos traveled to Capitol Hill to demand his resignation and deliver a petition to Speaker McCarthy calling for a vote to expel Santos from Congress pic.twitter.com/XrOcHGfO2k
— Kate Santaliz (@kate_santaliz) February 7, 2023
A rally outside of the Capitol saw speakers denouncing Santos for his various lies – which range from where he went to college to his places of employment. Speakers at the rally included other US representatives from New York. Santos’ district encompasses part of Westchester County and Long Island, close to New York City.
Rep. Dan Goldman joins people who traveled from NY's 3rd district at the House Triangle calling for a vote to expel Santos from Congress.
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) February 7, 2023
The group will deliver to Santos’ office and other Republicans a petition signed by more than 1,000 constituents calling for his expulsion. pic.twitter.com/VvbBuaBL5g
Representative Ritchie Torres called Santos “the greatest fiction writer in the history of Congress”.
“It is obvious that Kevin McCarthy forced him out of his committees, and it’s time for McCarthy to force him out of the US Congress,” Torres said. “Every day he brings new embarrassment.”
Among the many falsities that Santos has campaigned on, one includes telling voters that his mother was a survivor of 9/11 – a claim which proved to be false. One constituent, a Republican, said he recalls the approximately 60 funerals that occurred in Long Island’s Manhasset neighborhood after 9/11 in a span of two weeks.
“That’s not funny. To say that your mother was a part of that, you have to be really psychologically impaired to throw that around like it’s nickels.”
A Republican constituent of Santos recalls all of the funerals that occurred in Manhasset in the wake of 9/11, citing that lie as particularly egregious given the sensitivity to the tragedy in the district. #NY03 pic.twitter.com/wZ702na3xn
— Eva McKend (@evamckend) February 7, 2023
McCarthy clarifies comments on Santos ethics investigation
Seems like House speaker Kevin McCarthy is stepping back on him saying that Republican representative George Santos is under an ethics committee investigation. McCarthy apparently meant that there have been complaints to the ethics committee against him, not that an investigation is underway – yet.
“There are questions. I expect them to get answered,” he told CNN when asked if he expects an investigation from the ethics committee.
Earlier, McCarthy told reporters that “ethics is moving through, and if ethics finds something, we’ll take action.”
MCCARTHY CLARIFIES — ethics is not investigating santos. There have been complaints.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 7, 2023
Updated
Signs that Florida governor Ron DeSantis is eyeing the White House in 2024 keeps adding up.
Politico reported today that the Republican-controlled Florida legislature is holding a 12-day special session, seemingly to help sweep up some legal challenges DeSantis faced for issues that have gotten the governor a lot of attention, like formally giving DeSantis the authority to transport migrants (he sent 50 migrants from Texas to Massachusetts last year) and placing Disney’s special district under the control of governor appointees.
“Presidential campaigns aside, I have every interest in helping the governor,” Tom Leek, a Republican state representative told Politico. “What the governor is doing is helping the people of Florida.”
DeSantis’ autobiography is coming out at the end of this month, and he is expected to make appearances before Republican groups in Texas, California and Alabama – a schedule ripe for a campaign. Reports also say that respected Republicans are gathering up staff, supposedly for a super PAC that would support a DeSantis campaign.
Of course if DeSantis decides to run for president, he will face Trump, who helped the governor raise his national profile. Trump has already said that if DeSantis decides to run “I consider that very disloyal”.
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The Congressional Black Caucus is pushing Joe Biden to address police brutality at his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Over a dozen members of the caucus are inviting as their guests families of Black Americans who have been killed by the police.
Guests will include the mother of Eric Garner, brother of George Floyd, mother of Tamir Rice and father of Michael Brown – all high-profile cases of police killings over the last 10 years. Joe Biden invited the parents of Tyre Nichols to the address. They will be sitting with the White House’s special guests.
More than a dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus will be bringing families of Black people killed by police to the State of the Union tonight in an effort to show the visual impact of police brutality and Congress' inaction. pic.twitter.com/I8zixpucrl
— Farnoush Amiri (@FarnoushAmiri) February 7, 2023
Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democratic representative from New Jersey, made a pin for her and other Democrats to wear that say “1870”, referring to the year of the first known police killing of an unarmed Black man in the US.
On the day of the #StateOfTheUnionAddress, my @TheBlackCaucus colleagues and I are calling for an end to the police brutality that disproportionately devastates Black and brown communities.
— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) February 7, 2023
We demand reform and accountability from those sworn to serve and protect. pic.twitter.com/nJEGb5sPiN
Updated
George Santos faces House ethics committee probe
House speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed that the chamber’s ethics committee is investigating Republican representative George Santos.
“Ethics is moving through, and if ethics finds something, we’ll take action,” McCarthy told reporters. “Right now we’re not allowing him to be on committees from the standpoint of the questions that have arisen.”
Santos told reporters that he is not concerned about the investigation and said that he will not let the “freedom of speech” of his constituents distract him from his work. A recent Siena College poll found that 78% of Santos’ constituents in New York’s 3rd Congressional district said he should resign.
“You’re saying that the freedom of speech of my constituents is a distraction to my work?” Santos said. “Do you think people are a distraction to the work I’m doing here?”
Santos faces local, state, federal and international investigations over professional and personal behavior, including a largely made up resume he touted during his campaign. Last week, a former Santos aid accused Santos of sexual harassment.
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White House releases slate of SOTU guests
As State of the Union tradition goes, the president and vice president, along with their spouses, invite guests to attend the address, usually so they can receive some sort of shout out during the president’s speech.
This year’s guests give insight into the topics Biden will likely delve into during his address. RowVaugh and Rodney wells, the mother and stepfather of Tyre Nichols, who was killed by Memphis police in January, will be present at the speech. Other guests include Brandon Tsay, the 26-year-old who disarmed the gunman who killed 11 people and injured 10 other in Monterey Park, California and Paul Pelos, husband of former House speaker Nancy Pelosi who was attacked by a home intruder in the fall.
Amanda and Josh Zurawski, a couple from Austin, Texas, will be present at the speech and will likely be mentioned as Biden criticizes the overturning of Roe v Wade. Amanda Zurawski experienced severe pregnancy complications because doctors waited to perform an abortion on her, fearing that her life was technically not at risk.
Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, will be present at the speech for the second year in a row. Singer Bono will also be with the group for his philanthropic work around HIV/Aids and poverty.
Updated
Joe Biden will outline an optimistic vision for the future of America in his second State of the Union address on Tuesday, White House officials said, hoping to combat the widespread sense of pessimism that surveys and polls have captured across the country.
As he marks the halfway point of his first term, Biden is expected to tout his legislative accomplishments from his first two years in office – including the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Chips Act.
“This president is focused on delivering results for the American people, and we’ve seen him do that over and over and over again,” Kate Bedingfield, White House communications director, said. “We look forward to continuing to talk to the American people about the work that we are doing and the results that we’re delivering.”
But polls show most Americans have not yet felt the impact of Biden’s policies in their everyday lives, particularly when it comes to their personal finances. Although inflation has started to cool after peaking at an alarming rate of 9.1% last summer, only 21% of Americans rate current economic conditions as positive, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.
Even the jobs market, which has been a bright spot for the US economy in recent months, does not inspire much confidence among the American public. The country’s unemployment rate hit a 53-year low of 3.4% last month, but just 34% of Americans say Biden has made progress on creating more good jobs for their communities, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll found.
Brian Deese, the outgoing director of the National Economic Council, said Biden would acknowledge these ongoing challenges in his State of the Union speech.
“The core message is: we have to make more progress, but people should feel optimism that because of what we have seen and because of the progress that we’ve made, that we know how to keep making progress going forward,” Deese said Monday.
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Sarah Huckabee Sanders is set to deliver the Republican’s rebuttal to the State of the Union address, a heavy handed endorsement from the Republican party of a Trump ally and one of the most successful people who came out of his administration.
Sanders won the governorship in Arkansas, a post held by her father Mike Huckabee from 1996 to 2007, last year. She is the first woman elected to the state’s gubernatorial office.
She was Trump’s press secretary from 2017 to 2019 and was one of his key vocal defenders during his presidency. During her campaign, Sanders took on much of Trump’s talking points, taking hits on critical race theory and national news outlets.
While she has declined to outright endorse Trump’s 2024 campaign bid – many Republicans have been mum on endorsements as they consider their own bid – she told Fox News in January that “our country would infinitely be better off if he was in office right now instead of Joe Biden”.
The rebuttal speech is seen as a key stepping stone for those who have national political ambitions, particularly this year’s speech as the 2024 election looms on the horizon. House speaker Kevin McCarthy praised Sanders, saying that she is “fighting on behalf of parents, small business and ordinary taxpayers.”
“I’m thrilled Sarah will share her extraordinary story and bold vision for a better America on Tuesday. Everyone, including President Biden, should listen carefully,” McCarthy added.
Sanders said in a statement that she is looking forward to her opportunity “to address the nation and contrast the GOP’s optimistic vision for the future against the failures of President Biden and the Democrats”.
Sanders’ speech will take place at the conclusion of Biden’s 9 pm State of the Union address tonight.
Updated
How Republicans are responding to the State of the Union address will offer a preview into what message the party will sell to voters in the 2024 presidential election. Republicans are already making media appearances on their chosen conservative news networks.
House Republicans have a media row set up ahead of the State of the Union today, with outlets including Breitbart, Newsmax, Epoch Times, NTD, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Daily Signal, OAN. In a bit of irony, it’s set up in the newly-named Pelosi Caucus Room
— Emily Brooks (@emilybrooksnews) February 7, 2023
Elise Stefanik, House Republican Conference chair and rising GOP star from New York state whose staunch defense of Donald Trump helped her get a House seat, set up over 300 House Republican interviews with local media outlets, according to this morning’s Politico Playbook.
On Sunday, Stefanik praised the upcoming appearances of Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and House Republican Juan Ciscomani as rebuttal Republican speakers, saying that “the Republican Party embodies the American dream”.
On Tuesday, the first female Governor in Arkansas history and youngest Governor in America will deliver the Republican response, and a first-generation Hispanic American Republican will deliver the Spanish language response.
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) February 5, 2023
The Republican Party embodies the American dream.
It’s been less than a year since Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address on March 2 of last year, but a lot has changed over the last year. Top of mind for many Americans has been the economy, with inflation rising to decades-high level over the summer. Republicans gained a slim majority in the House during the midterm election. One thing has not changed: The war in Ukraine is still rattling on.
In last year’s 62-minute speech, Congress was largely unified in support of Ukraine, with the invasion having taken place just a week prior. Both Democrats and Republicans were wearing yellow and blue in solidarity with Ukraine, and some held small Ukrainian flags.
This year, First Lady Jill Biden has invited Ukraine’s ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova to be her guest to the address for the second year. Markarova received a standing ovation when she was introduced during Biden’s speech last year.
Biden is expected to ask for bipartisan support in sending more aid to Ukraine as the anniversary of the invasion approaches. Yesterday, NBC News reported that Biden is expected to travel to Poland later this month for the anniversary, though the trip has not been confirmed.
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Amid a divided Washington, Biden expected to call for unity
State of the Union addresses are usually a pretty big deal – it’s a major opportunity for the president to set the tone for the year in front of the most important people in Washington. This year, the stakes for Joe Biden are even higher. The 2024 presidential election is already looming on the horizon, and while Biden has yet to officially launch a reelection campaign, he is expected to do so in the next few weeks.
Biden has been prepping for his speech for weeks and is expected to lay out an underlying theme of unity, angling for stable leadership over one drenched in partisan disarray. He is expected to speak at length about the achievements of the last two years, including the passage of the $1.2tn Bipartisan Infrastructure bill that was passed in 2021 and invests in repairing America’s roads and bridges, among other investments. He will also touch on recent good news around the economy, including a low unemployment rate and the decreasing inflation rate.
Republicans are already readying up their punches in response to tonight’s address as the party tries to make their own case to Americans that Democrats have failed while in power.
“The state of the union is weaker and American families are suffering because of Joe Biden,” Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement this morning. “There is a reason Republicans took back the House, and that’s because of speeches like tonight where Biden will ignore and deflect blame for inflation, rising crime, and a border crisis he created. Americans deserve solutions, but all they’ll hear from Biden are excuses.”
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Biden prepares for State of the Union
Good morning, and welcome to the politics live blog.
Washington is gearing up for Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, what many are seeing as a “soft launch” to a likely 2024 re-election campaign. The president will touch on the economy, touting the economic measures that have been passed under his tenure so far, especially the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill and Inflation Reduction Act. He will also likely point to recent job figures and declining inflation as signs that the economy is heading in a good direction.
The speech comes at a pivotal moment for Biden as the 2024 presidential election, while nearly two years away, is starting to roll in. This is the first year in Biden’s tenure that he will be addressing a divided Congress, with a Republican-controlled House. Republicans are starting to zero in on attacks against Biden, whose approval ratings have been fluctuating just above 40% in the last few months. The address gives Biden an opportunity not only to set the tone for the year ahead, but to try to reframe how voters see his presidency so far.
Here’s what else we’re watching today:
Republicans are gearing up for a widespread rebuttal of tonight’s address – as the party not in power always does. Arkansas governor and former Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is poised to give a key speech tonight in response to Biden’s address.
Revelations on the failure of US air defenses to spot the Chinese air balloon were revealed yesterday. Republicans have been doubling down on criticism toward Biden over the mishandling, though reports show the balloon was in the air during Donald Trump’s presidency too.
Stay tuned for more live updates.
