Closing summary
Mother Nature weighed in ahead of Iowa’s presidential caucuses on Monday, and her decision is: no campaigning today, at least not in person. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have both called off events in the Hawkeye state as a blizzard renders travel perilous, though Haley has shifted to holding town halls via telephone. Donald Trump’s campaign is reportedly worried the significant snowfall may dent caucus turnout, as he hopes for a big win in the state to cement his status as the Republican frontrunner. Back in a comparatively warmer Washington DC, House Republicans announced they will vote to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress next week, while his attorney said the president’s son will show up for a deposition, if lawmakers issue new subpoenas.
Here’s what else happened today:
Asa Hutchinson, the former Arkansas governor whose presidential campaign is the among the longest of long shots, says he is still on the road in Iowa.
The House speaker, Mike Johnson, announced his spending deal with Democrats is still on despite rightwing opposition, lowering the chances of a government shutdown.
Oregon’s supreme court declined to toss Trump from the state’s primary ballot, at least not yet. The former president cheered the decision.
Joe Biden acknowledged that defense secretary Lloyd Austin made a lapse in judgment when he waited days to inform the White House he had been hospitalized.
Kyrsten Sinema, an independent senator from Arizona, said negotiations over changes to the immigration system were making progress.
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House GOP says will push forward with holding Hunter Biden in contempt until he schedules deposition
The Republican leaders of two House committees investigating Hunter Biden say the president’s son must schedule a behind-closed-doors deposition with them before they will call off their plan to hold him in contempt for defying a subpoena.
The statement from the oversight committee chair, James Comer, and the judiciary committee chair, Jim Jordan, comes after Biden’s attorney earlier today notified them that his client would sit for a deposition with them, if they issued new subpoenas. The two committees ordered the president’s son in November to appear for an interview in private, but Biden defied the summons and gave only a brief statement to reporters at the Capitol on the day he was to appear. That has led Republicans to move to hold him in contempt.
“House Republicans have been resolute in demanding Hunter Biden sit for a deposition in the ongoing impeachment inquiry. While we are heartened that Hunter Biden now says he will comply with a subpoena, make no mistake: Hunter Biden has already defied two valid, lawful subpoenas,” Comer and Jordan said.
“For now, the House of Representatives will move forward with holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress until such time that Hunter Biden confirms a date to appear for a private deposition in accordance with his legal obligation. While we will work to schedule a deposition date, we will not tolerate any additional stunts or delay from Hunter Biden.”
The stunt they referred to was likely Biden’s brief and unexpected appearance in the audience of the oversight committee on Wednesday, just as lawmakers were considering whether to hold him in contempt.
It’s unclear if Comer and Jordan’s statement will meet the requirements set out by Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell, who said in his letter to them that new subpoenas were required because the House has now voted to authorize impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden. The GOP claims the younger Biden can prove allegations of corruption against the president.
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Here’s video of Joe Biden in Pennsylvania taking questions from a reporter about the news of the day, including the defense secretary’s Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization and the airstrikes ordered against the Houthis in Yemen:
Reporter: “The bombing of the Houthis — if the attacks don't stop, will you continue with the strikes?”
— The Recount (@therecount) January 12, 2024
President Biden: “We will make sure that we respond to the Houthis as they continue this outrageous behavior, along with our allies.” pic.twitter.com/xJoXA6fcdL
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During a visit to Pennsylvania to highlight his administration’s efforts to help small businesses, Joe Biden replied “yes” when asked by a reporter if the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, made a lapse in judgment when he waited to tell him he had been hospitalized, Reuters reports.
News broke a week ago that the defense secretary was in the hospital, and in the days since, it has been revealed that Austin waited days to inform the White House of his hospitalization resulting from complications related to prostate cancer treatment.
While some Republican lawmakers and one Democrat have called on Austin to step down, noting that the secretary is supposed to be constantly available to respond to crises, the White House says Biden continues to have confidence in him:
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The Iowa caucuses are one of America’s more unique political rituals, since most other states hold the comparatively straightforward primaries to choose their candidates.
Here’s the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly with an explainer demystifying the process that is a key part of the road to the presidency:
Here’s the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly and Sam Levine with a rundown of all the ways in which Iowa’s blizzard has disrupted presidential campaigning ahead of the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses on Monday:
Candidates and caucus-goers faced extra challenges in Iowa on Friday as a second major snow event in a week hit the state, three days before Republicans are due to kick off their presidential nomination process for the critical election year.
According to the National Weather Service in Des Moines, most of Iowa could expect significant, possibly record snowfall, high winds stoking blizzard conditions.
“Life-threatening winter weather is expected beginning tonight with heavy snow,” the NWS said on Thursday. “White-out conditions likely Friday into Friday night. To follow, extreme wind chills as low as -45F [-43C] possible through early next week. Plan ahead for this dangerous stretch of winter weather!”
In Washington DC and New York, reporters packed thermal underwear and tried to find flights still scheduled. In Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, heavy snow covered streets overnight and continued to fall. Save for the occasional car, the streets were largely deserted as the temperature hovered at about 15F (-9C). At the local Target, students and other residents stocked up on supplies as snowplows worked outside.
Schools and businesses closed. In the state capital, Des Moines Performing Arts announced the postponement of Civic Center shows by the percussion group Stomp.
Joe Biden announced a new student loan forgiveness plan on Friday that will provide debt relief to some borrowers enrolled in the new Save plan.
Starting next month, borrowers enrolled in Save who took out less than $12,000 in loans and have been in repayment for 10 years will get their remaining student debt canceled immediately.
It’s part of our ongoing efforts to act quickly to give more borrowers breathing room,” Biden tweeted on Friday.
Starting next month, borrowers enrolled in SAVE who took out less than $12,000 in loans and have been in repayment for 10 years will get their remaining student debt canceled immediately.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 12, 2024
It’s part of our ongoing efforts to act quickly to give more borrowers breathing room.
In a separate statement released on Friday, the education department said that there are now 6.9 million borrowers enrolled in the Save plan as of early January, more than double the enrollment on the Revised Pay As You Earn (Repaye) plan that it replaced in August.
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Donald Trump hails Oregon's decision to turn down petition to disqualify him from primary ballot
Donald Trump’s campaign team has hailed the decision by the Oregon supreme court to turn down a petition to disqualify him from the state’s primary ballot over his involvement in the January 2021 Capitol insurrection.
Today’s decision in Oregon was the correct one. President Trump urges the swift dismissal of all remaining, bad-faith, election interference 14th amendment ballot challenges as they are un-constitutional attempts by allies of Crooked Joe Biden to disenfranchise millions of American voters and deny them their right to vote for the candidate of their choice,” said a Trump spokesperson.
He went on to add:
President Trump will continue to fight these desperate shams, win in November and Make America Great Again.
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Equal Justice USA, a national criminal justice organization, has criticized federal prosecutors’ decision to seek the death penalty for the white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York in May 2022.
In a statement released on Friday, Jamila Hodge, the executive director of EJUSA, said:
The government’s decision to pursue a death sentence will do nothing to address the racism and hatred that fueled the mass murder.
Ultimately, this pursuit will inflict more pain and renewed trauma on the victims’ families and the larger Black community already shattered by loss and desperately in need of healing and solutions that truly build community safety. Imagine if we invested in that instead of more state violence.
Friday’s decision by federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty is a first for the justice department under Joe Biden’s administration.
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The Independent Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema has refused to share “differences of opinion” surrounding negotiations of a potential bipartisan border security package.
In an interview with ABC 15, Sinema, who is a key negotiator in the talks, said:
We’re down to the last one or two differences of opinion and I’m confident we’ll be able to resolve those and move forward with this legislation.
Upon being asked if she could share what the differences in opinions are, Sinema replied: “No.”
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), a key negotiator in a potential bipartisan border security package, signals progress in negotiations:
— The Recount (@therecount) January 12, 2024
“We're down to the last one or two differences of opinion, and I'm confident we'll be able to resolve those and move forward with this legislation.” pic.twitter.com/H0B7tUKYie
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The day so far
Mother Nature has weighed in ahead of Iowa’s presidential caucuses on Monday, and her decision is: no campaigning today, at least not in person. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have both called off events in the Buckeye state as a blizzard renders travel perilous, though Haley has shifted to holding town halls via telephone. Donald Trump’s campaign is reportedly worried the significant snowfall may dent caucus turnout, as he hopes for a big win in the state to cement his status as the Republican frontrunner. Back in a comparatively warmer Washington DC, House Republicans announced they will vote to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress next week, while his attorney said the president’s son will show up for a deposition, if lawmakers issue new subpoenas.
Here’s what else is happening today:
Asa Hutchinson, the former Arkansas governor whose presidential campaign is the among the longest of long shots, says he is still on the road in Iowa.
The House speaker, Mike Johnson, announced his spending deal with Democrats is still on despite rightwing opposition, lowering the chances of a government shutdown.
Oregon’s supreme court declined to toss Trump from the state’s primary ballot, at least not yet.
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Super Pac backing DeSantis postpones two more events over weather
Never Back Down, the Super Pac supporting Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign, says it has had to postpone two more events with him in Iowa today over “unsafe weather conditions”.
The Florida governor will not be making it to Pella or Coralville, the group said in a statement.
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The long-shot Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson says he is still campaigning, despite Iowa’s gnarly road conditions:
My report from Iowa as we head to Cedar Rapids. pic.twitter.com/saddaKTepw
— Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) January 12, 2024
The former Arkansas governor and avowed foe of Donald Trump is nowhere in the polls, yet has stayed in the race.
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Why Republican presidential candidates have called off campaigning today, from the Iowa State Patrol:
I80 near Anita in Cass County…..WHITEOUT conditions! pic.twitter.com/uxfHiOZBlH
— ISP-Trooper DeVault (@TrooperDeVault) January 12, 2024
With her schedule of campaign events in Iowa cancelled today due to the blizzard, Nikki Haley held a telephone town hall with voters in Fort Dodge.
It was a fairly typical stump speech for the former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador, who took pains to point out the exceptionally bad snow storm, and the relief Iowans will feel in a few days, when politicians stop bugging them.
“I definitely know I’m not in South Carolina anymore. It is beyond cold,” Haley began.
Nodding to the fact that aspiring Republican presidential candidates have been criss-crossing the state for months, hoping to win its first-in-the-nation caucuses, Haley said:
I know you are excited, because it is three days until the commercials stop, and the mail stops coming to you, and the text messages, everything else. And, so, I can tell you as a governor of the first in the south primary [state], we always loved to see presidential candidates come, and we always love to see them go, so I can appreciate where you’re coming from, and I appreciate you putting up with all of the activity that happens during this time.
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Hunter Biden says he'll testify to Republican-led committee if new subpoenas are issued
Hunter Biden’s attorney says the president’s son will testify to House Republicans investigating his overseas business dealings, if new subpoenas are issued.
The letter from the attorney Abbe Lowell to the Republican House judiciary committee chair, Jim Jordan, and the oversight committee chair, James Comer, argues that previous subpoenas from the committees to the president’s sone were invalid, because the House had not formally voted to authorize an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden. That inquiry, which the House voted to approve last month, centers on unproven allegations that the president profited illicitly from his son’s businesses abroad.
“If you issue a new proper subpoena, now that there is a duly authorized impeachment inquiry, Mr Biden will comply for a hearing or deposition. We will accept such a subpoena on Mr Biden’s behalf,” Lowell wrote.
House Republicans have moved to hold Biden in contempt of Congress for not honoring a subpoena to appear for a behind-closed-doors deposition. The majority leader, Steve Scalise, said the chamber would vote next week on the contempt charge.
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Oregon’s supreme court has, for now, turned down a petition to disqualify Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot.
The former president’s appearance on ballots nationwide has been challenged by individuals and groups who argue that he is ineligible to run because of his involvement in the January 6 insurrection. The supreme court has agreed to hear a case stemming from Colorado that could decide the fate of these challenges nationwide, and the Oregon supreme court cited that to say it will not intervene.
“Today, the Oregon supreme court declined to hear, for now, a challenge by five Oregon voters (relators) seeking to preclude Donald J Trump from appearing on the Oregon 2024 Republican primary and general election ballots,” it said in a statement.
“Because a decision by the United States supreme court regarding the fourteenth amendment issue may resolve one or more contentions that relators make in the Oregon proceeding, the Oregon supreme court denied their petition for mandamus, by order, but without prejudice to their ability to file a new petition seeking resolution of any issue that may remain following a decision by the United States supreme court.”
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Republican House speaker Johnson says he will stick to budget deal with Democrats - report
A crisis in Congress appears to have been averted, after the House speaker, Mike Johnson, said he will follow an agreement reached with Democrats over the weekend regarding how much to authorize the government to spend this year.
Punchbowl News reports that Johnson, after a heated encounter with rightwing lawmakers in the House Freedom Caucus, said the deal will hold:
JOHNSON, after getting chewed out on House floor by HFC, says: “Our top line agreement remains.”
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 12, 2024
The speaker’s statement comes after reports emerged yesterday that he is considering backing away from the deal with Democrats after hearing objections from the party’s most conservative lawmakers. Doing so would likely cause a partial government shutdown beginning 19 January, and could also undermine separate negotiations over approving military aid to Israel and Ukraine, and changing immigration policies to stop migrants from crossing the southern border.
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The top Democrat on the House oversight committee has demanded Donald Trump return money his businesses received from foreign governments during his time as president.
The letter from ranking member Jamie Raskin comes after the committee’s Democratic staff last week released a report finding that Trump’s businesses accepted $7.8m from foreign governments and their entities during his years in office, with China being the biggest spender.
“I write today to demand that you immediately return to the American people the $7,886,072 that we know you have accepted from foreign governments in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause – a fact you admitted, once again, at a Fox News town hall this week,” Raskin wrote.
He continued:
Given that this is a fraction of your unconstitutional collections from foreign governments and that we do not yet know the complete sum of foreign money you accepted while in office, I also demand that you give Congress a full accounting of the money, benefits and other emoluments “of any kind whatever” you pocketed from foreign governments or their agents during your term as President and that you return the total sum of these foreign emoluments to the American people by writing a check to the U.S. Treasury like the one attached, which you received from the Kuwaiti government.
From last week, here’s more about the House oversight Democrats’ findings:
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It’s unclear what the House Republican effort to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress will amount to, as it will be up to the justice department to decide whether to prosecute the president’s son. But he is nonetheless facing serious legal trouble in the form of federal charges related to avoiding paying taxes. Yesterday, he pleaded not guilty to those charges in Los Angeles, the Guardian’s Dani Anguiano reports:
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty on Thursday to federal tax charges in a Los Angeles courthouse.
Biden, who has a home in Malibu, is accused of nine felony and misdemeanor tax offenses. His not guilty plea was expected. Three of the charges faced by Joe Biden’s son are felony counts, and he could face up to 17 years in prison if found guilty.
“The defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4m in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019,” the 56-page indictment said, adding that Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills”.
Outside the Los Angeles federal courthouse on Thursday afternoon, a line of dozens of reporters and TV cameras stretched along the sidewalk waiting for a glimpse of Biden. A handful of passersby stopped to watch the scene unfold, some filming with their phones. Nearby, a man with a bullhorn stood chanting “USA” and “Hunter Biden’s laptop” for several hours.
House to vote next week on holding Hunter Biden in contempt, top Republican says
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives will next week vote on holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for not honoring a subpoena to testify, the majority leader, Steve Scalise, announced:
🚨🚨 Floor Vote Announcement: Next week the House will vote to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for repeatedly defying subpoenas.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 12, 2024
Enough of his stunts. He doesn't get to play by a different set of rules. He's not above the law.
Republicans have alleged that Joe Biden benefited illicitly from his son’s overseas business dealings, but have presented no proof. They subpoenaed Hunter Biden to testify behind closed doors in December, but he said he would only do so publicly, leading the GOP to open contempt proceedings.
On Wednesday, Hunter Biden made a surprise and brief appearance in the audience of the House oversight committee as it convened to consider bringing the charge against him. He later said he would have testified then, if Republicans had asked him to.
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Trump concerned frigid Iowa weather could dent turnout - report
Donald Trump fears that the winter storm tearing through Iowa could discourage voters in the caucuses he is expected to win, potentially giving a boost to his rivals for the Republicans presidential nomination, CNN reports.
Trump has led polls of the Republican electorate for all of 2023, and is hoping for a big victory in Iowa to help seal the case that the nomination is his for the taking. But CNN now says his campaign worries that his voters will stay home.
“The weather issue may take away the intensity. But first of all, a win’s a win. And I know the expectations, but no one’s ever won Iowa by more than 12 points now. So that’s our goal,” a senior Trump campaign adviser told CNN.
“As the president made clear this weekend, he totally gets it as it relates to, you know, making sure that you show up making sure that you turn out. That’s been our focus. That’s been our message and that’s what it’ll continue to be.”
Today is, of course, Friday, and Iowa’s Republican caucuses are not until Monday.
Snowy winter storms are also not unusual for the midwestern state. So, it remains to be seen whether today’s disruptive blizzard will at all affect the outcome of the vote three days from now.
But Axios reports that some think it will, and the candidate who could suffer most is Donald Trump.
“Local Democratic political consultant Jeff Link told Axios the frigid temperatures could dampen turnout among Trump supporters who assume he’s already ahead,” the outlet reports.
Haley and DeSantis campaigning in Iowa snarled by winter storm
The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, and the former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley have both had to rearrange their campaign plans today because of the blizzard hitting Iowa.
Never Back Down, the Super Pac backing DeSantis, postponed two planned events in Clear Lake and Marshalltown, while Haley replaced her in-person visits to Fort Dodge, Le Mars and Council Bluffs with tele-town halls.
The National Weather Service in Des Moines reports that inches of snow have already fallen in the state capital, and people should be prepared for “life-threatening winter weather”.
Snow is expected to continue today, with additional accumulations of 3-6 inches expected over central Iowa. This will be accompanied by blowing snow as winds continue to increase, especially this afternoon to evening. These conditions will cause for very dangerous travel. #iawx pic.twitter.com/m8oJS2KXtf
— NWS Des Moines (@NWSDesMoines) January 12, 2024
Here are the latest official snowfall measurements as of 6am...
— NWS Des Moines (@NWSDesMoines) January 12, 2024
📏Des Moines Airport -3.8 "
📏NWS Des Moines (Johnston) - 4.4"
📏 Waterloo Airport - 2.0"
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Blizzard throws wrench into GOP candidates' Iowa plans as caucus campaigning enters final stretch
Good morning US politics blog reader. This year’s Iowa Republican caucuses were already unusual in that polls have shown Donald Trump as the far-and-away leader for months. Today, a blizzard hitting the midwestern state could upend campaigning and lower turnout for the Monday vote, with implications for both Trump and his main challengers, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, and the ex-UN ambassador Nikki Haley. While candidates typically spend the days before the first-in-the-nation caucuses driving from town to town to meet voters, Haley has already canceled three events scheduled for today, citing the weather, and it would be no surprise if the others follow suit. There are also questions over whether the heavy snowfall expected to accompany the storm could affect turnout on Monday, when voters cast their ballots. We will try to decipher these questions, to the extent of our abilities, as the day wears on.
Here’s what else we are watching:
Are we going to have another government shutdown? Reports emerged yesterday that the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, at the urging of far-right lawmakers, wants to renegotiate a deal with Democrats on federal spending. Should he follow through, it will not only throw Congress into chaos, it will almost guarantee a partial shutdown beginning on 19 January.
Joe Biden is heading to Allentown, Pennsylvania, today, his second visit to the swing state in the space of a week. The president’s focus will be on small businesses, but unlike his visit to Valley Forge last Friday, he does not plan to speak.
The United States and Britain have bombed Yemen’s Houthis in retaliation for weeks of missile and drone attacks that have kept merchant ships out of the Red Sea. Follow our live blog for more on the unfolding hostilities.
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