Key summary
It is slightly past 4pm in Washington DC. Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
Senator Dianne Feinstein has issued a statement following her return to Washington DC after a months-long absence, saying that she is ready to resume her Senate duties as she recovers from shingles. “Even though I’ve made significant progress and was able to return to Washington, I’m still experiencing some side effects from the shingles virus. My doctors have advised me to work a lighter schedule as I return to the Senate. I’m hopeful those issues will subside as I continue to recover,” she said.
Joe Biden addressed New York’s Hudson Valley in his public appeal the country’s debt limit fight. “They’re literally holding the economy hostage,” Biden told a crowd of supporters about MAGA Republican lawmakers. “It makes huge cuts to important programs for millions of working middle-class Americans, programs they count on. According to estimates, the Republican bill would put 21 million people at risk of losing Medicaid,” Biden said about the Republican debt limit bill.
George Santos has been arrested on federal criminal charges. Santos, who turned himself into a federal courthouse in New York, has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. He has maintained his innocence and said he will fight the charges.
A group of independent advisors to the Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended that the birth control pill can be sold without requiring a prescription. The advisors said that the benefits of selling the birth control pill over the counter outweighed the risks. The pill in question is HRA Pharma’s Opill, also known generically as norgestrel, which was approved by the FDA as a prescription drug in 1973.
CNN, the leading 24-hour news network, will host Donald Trump for a “town hall” forum as if he were a regular candidate leading the race for the nomination of a regular party. The forum comes just one day after Trump was found liable for $5m in damages for sexually assaulting and defaming the journalist E Jean Carroll.
The former House January 6 committee member Liz Cheney released an attack ad against Donald Trump in New Hampshire on the eve of his appearance there in a controversial CNN town hall. “There has never been a greater dereliction of duty by any president,” Cheney warns in the ad, which focuses on Trump’s incitement of the deadly Capitol attack on 6 January 2021. “Donald Trump has proven he is unfit for office. Donald Trump is a risk America can never take again,” the ad said.
That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as we wrap up the blog for today. Thank you for following along.
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Following Santos’s appearance at court earlier today where he faced 13 counts of federal criminal charges, Santos told reporters that he is headed back to Washington DC and that he believes he is innocent.
“I have to go back and vote. Tomorrow we have one of the most consequential votes in this congress which is the border bill and I’m very looking forward to vote on it.”
He went on to add:
“I think this is about innocence until proven guilty… I have my rights to fight to prove my innocence as the government has the right to try and find me guilty… I do my best to be a positive person, life is already as bad as it gets… I believe I’m innocent.”
Video has emerged of Dianne Feinstein being escorted onto the Senate floor by Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer.
Feinstein was sitting in a wheelchair as she was being escorted by Schumer.
Feinstein’s office saying that she is currently experiencing vision/balance impairments and at times will need a wheelchair to get around the Capitol, ABC7 reporter Liz Kreutz reports.
It's official: @SenFeinstein is back on Capitol Hill. Here is the moment she voted on the Senate floor. She was escorted in by @SenSchumer
— Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) May 10, 2023
Feinstein's office says she is experiencing vision/balance impairments & at times will need to use a wheelchair to travel around the Capitol pic.twitter.com/Tf0KaTZThN
Senator Dianne Feinstein returns to Washington DC
Senator Dianne Feinstein has issued a statement following her return to Washington DC after a months-long absence, saying that she is ready to resume her Senate duties as she recovers from shingles.
“I have returned to Washington and am prepared to resume my duties in the Senate… The Senate faces many important issues, but the most pressing is to ensure our government doesn’t default on its financial obligations. I also look forward to resuming my work on the judiciary committee considering the president’s judicial nominees.
Even though I’ve made significant progress and was able to return to Washington, I’m still experiencing some side effects from the shingles virus. My doctors have advised me to work a lighter schedule as I return to the Senate. I’m hopeful those issues will subside as I continue to recover.”
Feinstein’s ailing health has led to a handful of lawmakers to demand her resignation.
In March, New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that Feinstein should retire as her absence has affected Democrats’ efforts to fill federal courts with liberal judges.
A month earlier, Feinstein announced that she will not be seeking reelection in 2024.
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Santos pleads not guilty and is being released on bond
George Santos has pleaded not guilty to his charges, the eastern district court of New York announced.
George Santos has pleaded not guilty to the charges in the indictment.
— US Attorney EDNY (@EDNYnews) May 10, 2023
Santos, who faces a total of 13 charges including wire fraud, was released on $500,000 bond around five hours after he surrendered himself to federal authorities.
Santos spoke only a few words in court, answering “yes, ma’am” to the judge presiding over the 15-minute hearing, the Associated Press reports.
His lawyer, Joseph Murray, said Santos plans on continuing his reelection campaign and asked the judge for permission to travel freely, though he did surrender his passport.
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“We’re bringing jobs back all across America. There is no reason to put all this at risk, to threaten a recession, to…undermine America’s standing in the world,” said Biden following a lengthy address about America’s economic progress and the need to maintain it.
“Republican threats are dangerous and they make no sense… We have to keep going and finish the job… It’s never a good bet to bet against America,” said Biden as he concluded his speech.
“Would your rather cut…$30 billion from big oil or cut $30 billion from veterans? Would you rather cut big pharma or cut healthcare for Americans? These are real world choices,” urged Biden.
He went on to talk about the need to fund the country’s infrastructure, saying, “Under my predecessor’s infrastructure…you became a punchline. Under my watch, we’re making infrastructure…a headline.”
“How can we be the most prosperous economy in the world without having the greatest infrastructure in the world?” Biden continued.
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“I don’t have anything against Wall Street or hedge fund executives but just pay your taxes, man,” said Biden as he proceeded to talk about tax cuts.
“I’m not talking about 70% tax rates. At least pay something… We got past the corporate minimum tax of 15%…and it paid for everything we did…
No billionaires should be paying a lower tax rate than a school teacher or a firefighter,” added Biden.
He went on to explain that his budget has some of the “strongest anti-fraud proposals ever.
“I think we should have inspector generals again looking at what we’re spending, where it’s gone and where it’s going to go,” said Biden.
“The last guy who served in this offie for four years increased the total national debt by 40% in just four years,” Biden said about his predecessor Donald Trump.
“The Trump tax cuts skewed to the wealthy and large corporations,” he added.
“I made it clear. America is not a deadbeat nation. We pay our bills… If we default on our debt, the whole world is in trouble,” said Biden, adding that he was pleased but not surprised by Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell’s comment in which he said that the US is not going to default on its debt and that it never has.
“This is not your father’s Republican party. Here’s what happens if MAGA Republicans get their way. America default on our debt, higher interest rates for credit cards, car loans, mortgages, payments for social security… Our economy would fall into recession and our international reputation will be damaged in the extreme,” warned Biden.
'They're literally holding the economy hostage,' says Biden about Republican debt limit bill
President Joe Biden has begun his address in New York’s Hudson Valley to make his public appeal the country’s debt limit fight.
“They’re literally holding the economy hostage,” Biden told a crowd of supporters about MAGA Republican lawmakers.
“It makes huge cuts to important programs for millions of working middle-class Americans, programs they count on. According to estimates, the Republican bill would put 21 million people at risk of losing Medicaid,” Biden said about the Republican debt limit bill.
“It’s not right,” added Biden, as he vowed to protect Medicaid and Social Security programs.
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FDA advisors recommend birth control sale without prescription
A group of independent advisors to the Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended that the birth control pill can be sold without requiring a prescription.
The advisors said that the benefits of selling the birth control pill over the counter outweighed the risks.
The pill in question is HRA Pharma’s Opill, also known generically as norgestrel, which was approved by the FDA as a prescription drug in 1973.
The FDA is expected to issue its final decision this summer on HRA Pharma’s application for over-the-counter sales of its pill.
Should it be approved, women across the country will be able to purchase the pill without needing to visit a doctor for a prescription.
“The FDA has been put in a very difficult position of trying to determine whether it is likely that women will use this product safely and effectively at the nonprescription setting,” Karen Murry, deputy director of the FDA office of nonprescription drugs, said on Wednesday, the New York Times reported.
“We can’t just approve it based on the experience in the prescription setting without the applicant doing adequate studies to look at what’s likely to happen in the nonprescription setting… But I wanted to again emphasize that FDA does realize how very important women’s health is and how important it is to try to increase access to effective contraception for US women,” she added.
Our columnist Siva Vaidhyanathan is not a fan of CNN’s decision to host Donald Trump in New Hampshire this evening…
CNN, the leading 24-hour news network, will host Donald Trump for a “town hall” forum as if he were a regular candidate leading the race for the nomination of a regular party.
The forum comes just one day after Trump was found liable for $5m in damages for sexually assaulting and defaming the journalist E Jean Carroll.
Of course, CNN will probably do the same for the three or four others who are likely to challenge him for the Republican nomination (so far, the former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson are the only non-crank candidates).
A few more might jump in, but the more challenges Trump faces, the more likely he will lock up the nomination on the first primary day, rather than a month later.
Putting a microphone and three cameras on Trump as if he were just another candidate and not an instigator of the violent disruption of American democracy and leader of a conspiracy to overthrow the results of a national election is the height of journalistic irresponsibility.
Read on…
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There will be a ghost at the feast – sort of – in New Hampshire later, after the former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney took out an ad attacking Trump over his incitement of the January 6 attack on Congress which will only play on CNN before and during tonight’s town hall event. Here’s more…
The former House January 6 committee member Liz Cheney released an attack ad against Donald Trump in New Hampshire on the eve of his appearance there in a controversial CNN town hall.
“There has never been a greater dereliction of duty by any president,” Cheney warns in the ad, which focuses on Trump’s incitement of the deadly Capitol attack on 6 January 2021.
“Donald Trump has proven he is unfit for office. Donald Trump is a risk America can never take again.”
Trump incited the attack by his supporters in an attempt to block certification of Joe Biden’s election win. Nine deaths have been linked to it. Thousands of arrests have been made and hundreds of convictions secured – some for seditious conspiracy.
Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection but acquitted by Senate Republicans.
Cheney, the daughter of the former congressman, defense secretary and vice-president Dick Cheney, was vice-chair of the House committee which investigated the Capitol attack and, regarding Trump, made criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.
Cheney lost her Wyoming seat to a Trump-backed challenger last year.
Now working on a book – entitled Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning – she has not counted out running for the Republican nomination against Trump, or running for president as an independent conservative.
Read on…
Biden set to address debt ceiling fight in New York
We’re heading towards Joe Biden’s main public engagement of the day, a speech in New York about “why Congress must avoid default immediately”.
The president is due to speak at 1.30pm ET, at SUNY Westchester Community College. The speech comes after a difficult Tuesday debt ceiling extension meeting at the White House.
Reports say Biden, the Democratic Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, and the Republican minority leader, Mitch McConnell, maintained measured tones and outward calm despite the gathering crisis, while the Republican House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, got a little more cross.
Here’s how Punchbowl News had it:
McCarthy read aloud old quotes from Democrats including Biden and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the need to negotiate around the debt limit.
Biden, in turn, asked McCarthy why House Republicans’ Limit, Save and Grow Act – which extended the debt limit by $1.5tn while slashing agency outlays – cut veterans funding by 22%. McCarthy then told the president that was a lie. That exchange stunned some in the room.
When McCarthy asked questions of Biden and Schumer interjected with an answer instead, the speaker said he wanted to hear answers from the president.
McCarthy asked Schumer why he was refusing to pass a clean debt limit if that’s what Democrats wanted. Schumer told him that debt limits were always bipartisan.
Biden later said that “three of the four participants” were “measured”.
“Occasionally there would be a little bit of … an assertion that maybe was a little over the top from the speaker,” Biden said.
The treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has said the US needs to pass a clean extension of the debt ceiling by 1 June.
She has also said, to CNBC on Monday, that failure to do so could prompt “economic catastrophe” and “financial chaos”.
Yellen added: “It would drastically reduce the amount of spending and would mean that Social Security recipients and veterans and people counting on money from the government that they’re owed, contractors, we just would not have enough money to pay the bills.”
Biden has said that if he is not able to secure congressional agreement – for which Republicans led by McCarthy, backed by McConnell, are determined to make him pay dearly, politically – he has considered invoking the 14th amendment.
That says “the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned”.
It’s definitely in question today.
For some lunchtime reading, away from the saga of George Santos, here’s Joan E Greve’s preview of tonight’s controversial CNN town hall with Donald Trump in New Hampshire, and the role Trump’s defeat in the E Jean Carroll civil rape trial might now play in proceedings.
Donald Trump could face questions about being found to have sexually abused E Jean Carroll when he participates in a CNN town hall on Wednesday night.
The town hall comes just one day after a jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, underscoring the former president’s mounting legal threats amid his effort to recapture the White House next year.
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins will moderate the town hall at 8pm ET at St Anselm College in New Hampshire, where Trump will take questions from Republican voters in the early voting state.
Town hall attendees will likely press Trump on how he intends to run for president as he faces legal threats in multiple states. On Tuesday, a New York jury concluded that Trump had sexually abused Carroll 27 years earlier, ordering the former president to pay her $5m in damages for her battery and defamation claims.
Read on…
Democrats have condemned George Santos in light of his recent arrest over federal criminal charges by the justice department.
Vice chair of the Democratic House caucus Ted Lieu told reporters:
“The Republican member purportedly known as George Santos is entitled to the presumption of innocence … in a criminal court of law. The House in not a criminal court of law. The House has its own rules, the House can choose to expel a member,” said Lieu.
He went on to add that he would vote for Santos’s expulsion from Congress.
“The Republican member purportedly known as George Santos is entitled to the presumption of innocence … in a criminal court of law. The House in not a criminal court of law.”
— The Recount (@therecount) May 10, 2023
— House Dems Vice Chair Ted Lieu says he'd vote for Rep. George Santos' (R-NY) expulsion from Congress pic.twitter.com/X39XhSHZqw
Meanwhile, following Santos’s arrest and the release of the indictment against him, minority leader Hakeem Jeffries tweeted:
“The party of George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Greene cannot be trusted to govern. Not now. Not ever.”
The party of George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Greene cannot be trusted to govern.
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) May 10, 2023
Not now. Not ever.
Joe Biden to visit New York suburbs to talk debt ceiling to voters
In a provocative move for Republicans, Joe Biden is set to travel to the Hudson Valley region in New York on Wednesday to talk about the federal debt ceiling limit to voters.
Biden’s visit follows his agreement with the Republican House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, on Tuesday to continue talks aimed at breaking a deadlock over raising the $31.4tn federal debt limit.
Biden’s trip to the Hudson Valley in an apparent appeal to voters is widely seen as a move to pressure Republicans into siding with Democrats in passing a clean debt ceiling raise.
In a statement, the White House said:
“The president will discuss why Congress must avoid default immediately and without conditions, and how the House Republican Default on America Act will cut veterans health care visits, teachers and school support staffs, and Meals on Wheels for seniors.”
As an unprecedented default looms as early as 1 June, McCarthy has said that Republicans will not vote to raise the borrowing limit without an agreement to cut spending.
Biden has repeatedly said that in order for a deal to be reached, Republicans must remove the threat of default from the table.
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George Santos also allegedly lied about his income in documents he submitted to the House of Representatives.
“On or about May 11, 2020 … Santos … did knowingly and willfully make one or more materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statements and representations,” the indictment said.
It said that Santos submitted to the clerk of the House, for delivery to the House Committee on Ethics, an amended House Disclosure “falsely stating that, during the applicable reporting period (a) his only earned income consisted of a salary, commission and bonus totaling $55,000 from [an unnamed company] and (b) the only compensation exceeding $5,000 he received from a single source in which he had an ownership interest was a commission bonus from [the unnamed company].”
However, in reality, the indictment alleges that Santos “then and there well knew and believed, he had earned $27,555 from [the unnamed company] in 2019 and had received approximately $25,403 in income from [an investment firm] during the same reporting period, which he failed to report as required.”
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George Santos allegedly lied about being unemployed to collect unemployment benefits.
According to the indictment, in June 2020, Santos applied to receive unemployment insurance benefits through the New York state department of labor. In the application, Santos “falsely claimed to have been unemployed since the week of March 22, 2020”.
Beginning on or about 19 June 2020 and continue through on or about 15 April 2021, Santos “certified his continuing eligibility for unemployment benefits on a weekly basis, in each case falsely attesting … that he was unemployed … and eligible for benefits”.
However, beginning on or about 3 February 2020 and continuing through on or about 15 April 2021, Santos was in fact a regional director at an investment firm, the indictment said.
“During that period, with the exception of on or about and between July 5, 2020 and August 30, 2020 … Santos received regular deposits into his personal bank accounts as part of his regional director salary of approximately $120,000 per year,” according to the indictment.
From 22 March 2020 to 15 April 2021, Santos received approximately $24,744 in unemployment insurance benefits, it added.
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The indictment against George Santos has laid out a slew of allegations against the New York congressman, including ways that he allegedly schemed to defraud his candidacy supporters.
From September to October 2022, Santos “devised and executed a scheme to defraud supporters of his candidacy for the House and to obtain money from them by fraudulently inducing supporters to contribute funds to an [unnamed company] under the false pretense that the money would be used to support [his] candidacy and then actually spending thousands of dollars on the solicited funds on personal expenses, including luxury designer clothing and credit card payments,” the indictment said.
It went on to allege that Santos told a political consultant to feed his supporters “false information” about the unnamed company, including that it was either a social welfare organization or an independent expenditure committee.
Santos allegedly told the political consultant to tell his supporters that contributions made to the company would be used on independent expenditures in support of his candidacy.
However, in reality, the company was neither a social welfare organization nor an independent expenditure committee and upon receiving the contributions, Santos “converted most of those funds to his own personal benefit,” according to the indictment.
George Santos arrested on federal criminal charges
George Santos has been arrested on federal criminal charges, the Associated Press reports.
Santos, who turned himself into a federal courthouse in New York, has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
US attorney Breon Peace said the indictment “seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations.”
“Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself,” Peace added.
Updated
New York Representative George Santos arrested on federal criminal charges
Republican congressman George Santos has been arrested on federal criminal charges.
The charges against the New York 3rd district representative include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
Santos’s arrest come a day after federal prosecutors announced that he has been charged by the justice department over questions regarding his 2022 campaign and finance activities, according to sources familiar with the matter.
US attorney Breon Peace released a statement, saying:
“This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations. Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself.
He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives. My Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively root out corruption and self-dealing from our community’s public institutions and hold public officials accountable to the constituents who elected them.”
In recent months, Santos has faced backlash from Democrats and a handful Republicans over his fabrications about his heritage, education and career.
Among Santos’s lies include his claim that his maternal grandparents escaped from the Holocaust when they were in fact born in Brazil, and his claim that he is Jewish which he later backtracked on, saying that he was raised Catholic.
In February, House Democrats filed a resolution to expel Santos while Republican senator Mitt Romney told Santos, “You ought to be embarrassed” and that he did not “belong here [in congress]” during the State of the Union.
On Tuesday, Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy said that Santos would not face immediate action.
“If a person is indicted…they’re not on committees. They have the right to vote but they have to go to trial.”
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New York Representative George Santos to appear in federal court
Good morning, US politics readers. Republican congressman George Santos is expected to turn himself into federal court today in Central Islip, New York.
Santos’s expected court appearance comes after federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced that he is being charged by the justice department over questions surrounding his 2022 campaign and finance activities, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The charges which were filed in the eastern district of New York are currently under seal and may become unsealed once Santos makes his court appearance today.
In January, Santos admitted that over $600,000 of “personal” loans to his campaign did not actually come from personal funds as he had originally claimed.
Santos, who represents New York’s 3rd congressional district, has faced outrage in recent months over his slew of fabrications about his biography including his heritage, education and career.
Here are other developments in US politics:
President Joe Biden and House of Representatives speaker Kevin McCarthy has agreed to hold further talks aimed at breaking a deadlock over raising the US’s debt limit.
Donald Trump is set to appear at a CNN presidential town hall in New Hampshire later today.
California senator Dianne Feinstein has returned to Capitol Hill after a months-long absence due to illness.
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