Closing summary
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush-money case said they were not opposed to a 30-day delay in the trial, currently set to begin on 25 March, due to a recent disclosure of thousands of pages of documents by federal prosecutors.
Kamala Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota, marking what her office said was the first time a president or vice-president has toured a facility that performs abortions, as the White House escalates its defense of reproductive rights in this year’s election.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer called for Israel to hold new elections, saying he believed the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had “lost his way” and risked turning the country into a pariah with its bombardment of Gaza and the worsening humanitarian crisis it caused. Schumer also called for Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to step down.
Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell hit back at Schumer’s comments calling for new Israeli leadership, describing them as “grotesque and hypocritical”. Republican House speaker Mike Johnson said Schumer’s comments were “highly inappropriate”. House Republican conference chair Elise Stefanik said Schumer “does not stand with Israel”.
Israel’s ruling Likud party responded to Schumer by defending Netanyahu’s public support and saying Israel is “not a banana republic”.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, said Schumer’s remarks were “unhelpful” and “counterproductive to our common goals”.
Dozens of American Muslim and Palestinian-American organizations and leaders in Chicago turned down a White House meeting over the lack of policy change on Israel’s ongoing killings in Gaza.
Donald Trump attended a hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida, as a federal judge heard arguments from the former president’s lawyers to dismiss the classified documents prosecution.
Jim Jordan, the chair of the House judiciary committee, threatened Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis with contempt of Congress if she does not comply with his committee’s investigation into her office.
Joe Biden came out in opposition to the planned sale of Pittsburgh’s US Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel.
Updated
New York district attorney agrees to 30-day delay in Trump hush money trial
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said they will not oppose Donald Trump’s request to delay his hush money trial by 30 days, citing newly disclosed evidence from the US attorney’s office.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin on 25 March, marking the former president’s first criminal trial. But in a court filing on Thursday, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg wrote:
Although the People are prepared to proceed to trial on March 25, we do not oppose an adjournment in an abundance of caution and to ensure that defendant has sufficient time to review the new materials.
The Biden administration imposed sanctions on three extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank who are accused of harassing and attacking Palestinians.
Two Israeli outposts were also targeted in the latest sanctions, which the US state department said had been bases for violence against Palestinians.
Washington has repeatedly asked Israel to hold violent settlers accountable and complained that its actions allowing settlement expansion diminish hopes for a two-state solution.
In response, Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the sanctions were “further proof that the US administration does not understand who is an enemy and who is its supporter”, adding:
The settlers are the best of our sons who build, settle and bring security to the country, they deserve a salute not a knife in the back.
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Chicago Muslim and Palestinian groups refuse White House meeting over Israel's killings in Gaza
Dozens of American Muslim and Palestinian-American organizations and leaders in Chicago have turned down a White House meeting over the lack of policy change on Israel’s ongoing killings in Gaza.
In a letter sent to White House officials, the organizations said:
“First, there is no point in more meetings … With a genocide that has flattened Gaza … the White House has not only refused to call for a ceasefire, but also enabled this blatant campaign of ethnic cleansing to take place by providing financial and military means, as well as diplomatic support at the United Nations. A meeting of the minds is nowhere in sight.
Second, there is no confusion as to our consistent demand for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to end the mass murder of civilians and stave off the worst humanitarian crisis in modern times. We believe another meeting would only act to whitewash months of White House inaction followed by meek handouts …
… we demand, at minimum, an immediate and permanent ceasefire, complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, ultimately ending the siege and blockade of Gaza, allowing the natural flow of humanitarian aid, reinstating funding to UNRWA, a cessation of weapons sales or transfers to Israel, and accountability measures for all war crimes, crimes against humanity, the crime of genocide, and justice and liberation for the Palestinians.
That is what history will judge us by, not more token meetings when every day is of the essence.”
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Schumer also calls for Mahmoud Abbas to step down as Palestinian Authority president
In addition to his calls for new Israeli elections, Chuck Schumer is also calling for Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to step down.
According to Schumer, Abbas must step down for a “new generation of Palestinian leaders who’ll work towards attaining peace with a Jewish state”.
“The PA under new leadership must reform to viably serve as the basis for a Palestinian state with the trust of the people,” he added.
Schumer has already sparked backlash among Republican leaders and the Israeli government over his calls from earlier today for new elections in Israel.
Palestinian Authority President Abbas must step down for a new generation of Palestinian leaders who'll work towards attaining peace with a Jewish State.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 14, 2024
The PA under new leadership must reform to viably serve as the basis for a Palestinian State with the trust of the people.
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Chuck Schumer: 'Israel can't survive if it becomes a pariah'
In a series of tweets on Thursday, Chuck Schumer is maintaining his calls for new Israeli elections, saying Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence”.
Schumer went on to accuse Netanyahu of pushing support for Israel “to new lows” and said that Israel “can’t survive if it becomes a pariah”.
Netanyahu lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 14, 2024
He's in coalition with far-right extremists Smotrich & Ben-Gvir
He's too willing to tolerate the Gaza civilian toll—pushing support for Israel to new lows
Israel can't survive if it becomes a pariah
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Israel's Likud party responds to Schumer's election calls: Israel is 'not a banana republic'
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has responded to Chuck Schumer’s calls for new elections, saying that Israel is “not a banana republic”.
It went on to say, “Contrary to Schumer’s words, the Israeli public supports a total victory over Hamas, rejects any international dictates to establish a Palestinian terrorist state, and opposes the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.”
“Senator Schumer is expected to respect Israel’s elected government and not undermine it. This is always true, and even more so in wartime,” it added.
Updated
Chuck Schumer is continuing to defend his calls for new Israeli elections, writing in another post on X:
“People on all sides are turning away from a two-state solution—including Israel’s PM Netanyahu who has been rejecting Palestinian statehood and sovereignty.
As the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America and a staunch defender of Israel, I say:
This is a grave mistake.”
People on all sides are turning away from a two-state solution—including Israel’s PM Netanyahu who has been rejecting Palestinian statehood and sovereignty
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 14, 2024
As the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America and a staunch defender of Israel, I say:
This is a grave mistake
Key event
House Republican conference chair Elise Stefanik has joined a handful of Republican leaders who have criticized Chuck Schumer over his calls for new Israeli elections.
In a statement on Thursday, Stefanik said: “Instead of meddling in elections of a sovereign nation, Chuck Schumer should follow House Republicans’ lead in supporting our ally in their darkest hour. The obstacle to peace is … Chuck Schumer … Chuck Schumer does not stand with Israel. House Republicans do.”
“Chuck Schumer does not stand with Israel. House Republicans do.” - Chair @RepStefanik on Schumer calling for new Israeli elections. pic.twitter.com/PlBCw10Db3
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) March 14, 2024
Since 7 October, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet have faced increasing opposition and condemnation over their handling of the hostage crisis and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza where its forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians while forcibly displacing about 2 million survivors.
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Despite fierce criticisms from Republican leaders, Chuck Schumer is sticking to his word over his calls for new Israeli elections.
In a post on X, Schumer wrote:
“At this critical juncture, I believe a new election in Israel is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel, at a time when so many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government.”
At this critical juncture, I believe a new election in Israel is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel, at a time when so many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 14, 2024
John Cornyn, the Republican senator of Texas, said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer was “out of line” in his comments calling for Israel to hold new elections.
Schumer was “undermining” America’s “closest ally and the only democracy in the Middle East,” Cornyn posted to X. He added:
This is a blatant attempt to appease extremists in his party to the detriment of our relationship with Israel.
Senator Schumer is out of line.
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) March 14, 2024
He should NOT be undermining our closest ally & the only democracy in the Middle East in the wake of a brutal terror attack.
⁰This is a blatant attempt to appease extremists in his party to the detriment of our relationship with Israel. https://t.co/aVXYkIEEB6
Jim Jordan threatens Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis with contempt
Jim Jordan, the chair of the House judiciary committee, has threatened the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, with contempt of Congress if she does not comply with his committee’s investigation into her office.
The House judiciary committee last month issued a subpoena to Willis “for documents related to the Committee’s oversight of the Fulton county district attorney office’s alleged misuse of federal grant funds”.
In a letter to Willis, Jordan wrote:
While you have indicated that additional documents may be forthcoming in response to the Committee’s subpoena, the Committee has yet to receive any additional responsive materials in the three weeks since your initial response. Accordingly, the Committee expects that you will produce all responsive documents to the subpoena in the categories prioritized by the Committee no later than 12:00 p.m. on March 28, 2024. If you fail to do so, the Committee will consider taking further action, such as the invocation of contempt of Congress proceedings.
Georgians deserve to know where their federal tax dollars are going.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) March 14, 2024
But Fani Willis hasn’t produced the documents we subpoenaed.
Contempt is on the table. https://t.co/7CDxJhffOF
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John Fetterman, the Democratic Pennsylvania senator, told HuffPost’s Igor Bobic that he agreed with some of what Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor this morning.
Fetterman said he does not support Schumer’s call for new elections in Israel, however, adding:
I don’t believe we should be intervening in any of that … I wouldn’t want any nation, even our closest allies, to have influence on our elections.
Fetterman says he agreed with some of what Schumer said but he doesn’t support his call for new elections in Israel.
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) March 14, 2024
“I don’t believe we should be intervening in any of that…I wouldn’t want any nation, even our closest allies, to have influence on our elections,” he said
The protest vote against Joe Biden’s stance on Gaza continued in Washington and Georgia this week, where thousands of voters chose no one, sending a message to the president that their votes depend on a ceasefire.
Washington, a reliably blue state, saw support from local elected officials and major unions in its multi-faith push for “uncommitted” delegates. They spent about $20,000 and began organizing on 24 February. More than 56,000 voters selected uncommitted delegates on the ballots counted so far, though more than 200,000 ballots remain uncounted there as of Thursday morning.
Georgia’s ballot didn’t have an uncommitted option, so organizers there put together a “leave it blank” campaign, calling on voters to cast a ballot, but not fill it out, to send a message to Biden on Gaza. Nearly 6,500 voters there left it blank. And nearly 9,000 voters chose Marianne Williamson, which some protest voters have selected because she supports a ceasefire. Combined, the votes exceed Biden’s margin of victory in the state in 2020, which was about 12,000 votes.
The uncommitted movement started in Michigan’s presidential primary, where more than 100,000 Democratic voters chose the protest vote in a state with a large proportion of Muslim and Arab Americans. Next, Super Tuesday saw several states push for uncommitted, with Minnesota seeing the highest percentage of such voters, at 19%. Then came Hawaii, where 29% of voters in a low-turnout primary voted for uncommitted. All three states got enough votes to earn delegates to the Democratic national convention in August.
Johnson says Schumer's Israel comments 'highly inappropriate'
Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, described Chuck Schumer’s call for new leadership in Israel as “highly inappropriate” and “plain wrong”.
Johnson, at a last-minute press conference alongside House GOP leaders, said:
This is not only highly inappropriate, it’s just plain wrong for an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics while our closest ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival.
Speaking to reporters during House Republicans’ annual retreat at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, Johnson added:
We need to be standing with Israel, and we need to give our friends and allies our full support we have to stand with and support them right now. But what you’re seeing from the White House and clearly from the Senate Democrats is really exactly the opposite.
The White House did not comment on Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer’s comments on Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, or his calls for new elections in Israel.
The White House’s national security spokesperson, John Kirby, in a call with reporters said:
We know that leader Schumer feels strongly about this. So, we’ll certainly let him speak to it and to his comments.
He said the Biden administration would “stay focused on making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself while doing everything that they can to avoid civilian casualties”, CNN reported.
The Biden administration is also “still focused laser-focused on trying to get a temporary ceasefire in place so that we can get the hostages out and get more aid”, Kirby added.
Updated
McConnell says Schumer's Israel comments 'grotesque and hypocritical'
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has hit back at Chuck Schumer’s speech on the Senate floor calling for new elections in Israel, describing the Senate majority leader’s comments as “grotesque and hypocritical”.
In a statement following Schumer’s speech, McConnell accused the Democratic party of having “an anti-Israel problem”, adding:
It is grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of the democratically elected leader of Israel.
He added:
Israel is not a colony of America whose leaders serve at the pleasure of the party in power in Washington. Only Israel’s citizens should have a say in who runs their government. This is the very definition of democracy and sovereignty. Either we respect their decisions, or we disrespect their democracy.
Sen. McConnell: "It is grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of a democratically elected leader of Israel. This is unprecedented. We should not treat fellow democracies this way at all." pic.twitter.com/K6xOd1a9Ey
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 14, 2024
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Israel's ambassador to US says Schumer's call for new elections 'unhelpful'
Michael Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, has criticized statements by the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, calling for new elections in Israel.
Schumer, the first Jewish majority leader in the Senate and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, strongly criticized Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a lengthy speech this morning on the Senate floor.
Netanyahu had put himself in a coalition of far-right extremists and “as a result, he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows”.
Posting to X, Herzog wrote:
Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals.
Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals.
— Ambassador Michael Herzog (@AmbHerzog) March 14, 2024
Republican New York congressman sponsoring bill to protect IVF access
Congressman Marc Molinaro of New York said he was co-sponsoring a bill to protect access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), becoming the first Republican to do so.
In a statement on Wednesday, Molinaro said he would be cosponsoring the Access to Family Building Act with Democratic congresswoman Susan Wild of Pennsylvania as “a parent who has personal experience with IVF”.
Molinaro said he was “troubled” by the ruling by Alabama’s supreme court that found frozen embryos are children, adding that he supports “all women and families who choose IVF to bring life in to the world”.
“Protecting it is just common sense,” he added.
Molinaro, a vulnerable Republican seeking re-election, becomes the first GOP member to back legislation to protect the right to IVF.
Another Republican, congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, was previously reported to have supported the bill but later said she was “added to the bill without confirmation” and that there “are amendments that would need to take place” for her to support it.
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Katie Britt, the Alabama senator who delivered a much-mocked State of the Union response last week, rued the “irony” of being told by the Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, that “it’ll be fine” before giving her disastrous speech.
Speaking to the hard-right Texas senator Ted Cruz, on his Verdict with Ted Cruz podcast, Britt said Johnson told her:
‘People are going to tell you horror stories about all of these things that happen and people’s career being blown up over it.’ And he’s like, ‘It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.’
It was not fine. Her speech focused on Republican talking points prominently including immigration and crime. But Britt’s bizarrely dramatic delivery, in particular in a lurid section on sex trafficking and immigration subsequently picked apart by factcheckers and the subject of the story herself, prompted widespread mockery.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer used a speech on the Senate floor to call for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza and say that Israel has lost its way in its war on Gaza, adding that Benjamin Netanyahu should call an election.
Schumer said it was a “grave mistake” for Israel to reject a two-state solution to the Middle East crisis, Reuters reported.
"I believe that holding a new election once the war starts to wind down would give Israelis an opportunity to express their vision for the post-war future."
— The Recount (@therecount) March 14, 2024
— Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) calls for new elections in Israel pic.twitter.com/yFXM6504oh
His intervention comes five months after Israel launched its military assault on Gaza after the 7 October surprise attack inside southern Israel that killed about 1,140 people and during which about 240 people were abducted and seized as hostages by Hamas.
The Hamas-led ministry of health in the territory says the Israeli military operation has claimed over 31,340 Palestinian lives, many of them women and children. Much of the population of Gaza is displaced, and UN agencies have warned there is a severe risk of famine as the distribution of humanitarian aid has been restricted.
Schumer calls for new elections in Israel, calls Netanyahu an obstacle to peace
Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, has called for Israel to hold new elections, arguing that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “no longer fits the needs of Israel”.
Schumer, long a strong supporter of Israel and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, strongly criticized the Israeli leader in a 40-minute speech on the Senate floor.
Israel must make “significant course corrections” to achieve lasting peace with the Palestinians, he said, adding that it would be a “grave mistake” for Israel to reject a two-state solution.
Netanyahu had put himself in a coalition of far-right extremists and “as a result, he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows”, Schumer said. He added:
If prime minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down, and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing US standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course.
He added:
As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may. But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice.
“The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7. … The Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”
— The Recount (@therecount) March 14, 2024
— Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pic.twitter.com/vWhO7XukFF
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Lawyers for Donald Trump are arguing for why US district judge Aileen Cannon should order the case charging him with mishandling classified documents should be dismissed, claiming they were his to keep because he designated them personal records while he was president.
The decision to designate the documents as personal records under the Presidential Records Act meant it was an official act of his presidency for which he could not face prosecution, his lawyers wrote in a 22-page filing last month.
Classified information is material owned by the United States and cannot, by definition, be personal.
Trump’s request to toss the charges amounted to an extraordinary interpretation of presidential power that would allow presidents to use national security secrets as they liked when they left office, legal experts suggested.
Previously, during the criminal investigation, Trump suggested documents were automatically declassified when he took them to the White House residence or that he could declassify using his mind.
Biden voices concern over proposed Japanese takeover of US Steel
Joe Biden has come out in opposition to the planned sale of Pittsburgh’s US Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel, arguing that the US needs to “maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers”.
Nippon Steel announced in December that it planned to buy US Steel for $14.1bn in cash, raising concerns about what the transaction could mean for unionized workers, supply chains and US national security.
In a statement, Biden said:
I told our steel workers I have their backs, and I meant it. US Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated.
The announcement comes as Biden is campaigning in the midwest, and ahead of next month’s White House visit by Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida. Biden has made restoring American manufacturing a cornerstone of his agenda as he seeks reelection.
Updated
Lawyers for Donald Trump are expected to argue that the federal criminal case charging him with retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club should be thrown out on grounds of presidential immunity.
US district judge Aileen Cannon will consider the motion to dismiss the case based on their claim that the documents were Trump’s to keep because he designated them personal records while he was president under the Presidential Records Act. The filing said:
President Trump’s decision to designate records as personal and cause them to be removed from the White House plainly constitutes an official act within the ‘outer perimeter’ of the president’s official duties.
Prosecutors in the case brought by the special counsel, Jack Smith, have said the documents Trump is charged with possessing related to issues including nuclear weapons capabilities and US vulnerability to military attack, and that the statute does not apply to classified and top-secret documents like those kept at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump arrives at Florida courthouse for hearing seeking dismissal of classified documents case
Donald Trump has arrived at a federal courthouse in Florida, where a judge will hear arguments on whether to dismiss the criminal case accusing the former president of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House.
The motorcade carrying Trump arrived shortly before the hearing was set to begin before the US district judge Aileen Cannon.
Updated
Senior White House officials are planning to meet today with Arab, Muslim and Palestinian-American community leaders in Chicago, according to several reports.
The meeting, first reported by CNN, comes as Joe Biden faces increasing backlash from Arab Americans and progressives over his stance in the Israel-Gaza war. It also comes ahead of the Illinois Democratic primary on Tuesday.
Among the White House officials expected to attend Thursday’s meeting are its director of intergovernmental affairs, Tom Perez, director of public engagement Steve Benjamin, liaison to Muslim-American communities Mazen Basrawi and national security council chief of staff Curtis Ried, CNN reported.
But leaders in the Palestinian communities angry at how Biden has handled the war in Gaza have declined to join the meeting, according to a report by Politico, which quoted Hatem Abudayyeh, a group organizer, as saying:
All the Palestinian leadership we work with in Chicago have rejected this overture, and USPCN [U.S. Palestinian Community Network] considers anyone – Palestinian, Muslim, Arab – who takes a meeting with the White House to be an absolute sell-out. There’s no more time for meetings.
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Former Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin 'planning to buy TikTok'
Steven Mnuchin, the former Treasury secretary, said he is assembly a group of investors to make a bid to buy TikTok, a day after the House passed a measure to force ByteDance to either sell the social media platform or face a total ban in the US.
Mnuchin, speaking on CNBC this morning, said:
I think the legislation should pass and I think it should be sold. It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok.
The bill is now headed to the Senate, where its future is uncertain, though Joe Biden has said he will sign the legislation if it passes.
Mnuchin said:
This should be owned by US businesses. There’s no way that the Chinese would ever let a US company own something like this in China.
TikTok, which has 170 million users in the US, has stated that it is not clear if China would approve any sale.
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This will be Kamala Harris’s third trip to Minnesota as vice-president, and the sixth stop on her nationwide “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour.
There are no restrictions on abortion at any stage of pregnancy in Minnesota, and the state has become a refuge for patients from neighboring restrictive states to seek abortions since the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade. Abortion is currently illegal in more than a dozen states, including Minnesota neighbors North Dakota and South Dakota, and is restricted in Iowa and Wisconsin.
Joe Biden won the state of Minnesota by 7 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump.
Updated
Kamala Harris is expected to visit a clinic in the Minneapolis-St Paul area during operating hours today.
Her office declined to identify the facility before she arrives there, citing security reasons. The center provides a range of services, including abortion, birth control and preventive wellness care.
The vice president was scheduled to tour the facility, speak with staff and be briefed on how Minnesota has been affected by abortion bans in surrounding states. She will also talk about what the Biden administration has done to protect reproductive rights, her office said.
She also was scheduled to speak at a Biden-Harris campaign event tailored to women.
Harris to visit abortion clinic in Minnesota
Good morning US politics readers. Kamala Harris today will visit a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota that provides abortion services, marking the first time a president or vice president has been to a reproductive health clinic, according to her office.
Harris’s trip to the Twin Cities is part of a nationwide tour she began in January to draw attention to the fallout after the reversal of Roe v Wade, and comes as Democrats play up their opposition to the rollback of reproductive rights ahead of the November election. Harris, the first woman elected vice-president, has emerged as the administration’s most vocal and prominent defender of abortion access. She has pointedly attacked Donald Trump for saying he was “proud” of helping to limit abortions, and blasted Republicans as extremists while pledging to push for federal legislation to restore the federal right to abortions.
Here’s what else we’re watching:
A federal judge in Florida will hear arguments on whether to dismiss the federal criminal case against Donald Trump involving his handling of classified documents. In addition to Trump, his co-defendants in the case, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, are expected to attend the hearing.
10am. The Senate will meet to take up Dennis Hankins’ nomination as US ambassador to Haiti, with a vote at noon.
2pm. Joe Biden will participate in a campaign event in Saginaw, Michigan.
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