Closing summary
That’s all for today, folks. We’re closing the US politics live blog for today, but please follow along our Ukraine live blog for live updates on the war.
- Barack Obama returned to the White House to celebrate the anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. As part of the event, Joe Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to do everything in their power to expand affordable and quality healthcare coverage, and make healthcare more affordable for working families.
- The US will announce tomorrow new sanctions against Russian financial institutions and officials, to be taken in coordination with the G7 and European Union. The sanctions come in part in response to the atrocities coming out of Bucha.
- Authorities have captured a fox that has been running around Capitol grounds and biting people, including congressman Ami Bera.
Updated
The new sanctions to be imposed against Russia, which will be announced tomorrow, will in part be a response to the atrocities coming out of Bucha, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
The sanctions will be imposed in coordination with the G7 and the European Union, Psaki said.
“This will include a ban on all new investment in Russia, increase sanctions on financial institutions and state-owned enterprises and sanctions on Russian government officials and their family members,” she said. “These measures will degrade key instruments of Russian state power and impose acute and immediate economic harm on Russia and hold accountable the Russian kleptocracy that funds and supports Putin’s war.”
Joe Biden called for Vladimir Putin to face a war crimes trial after Ukrainian forces retook the Kyiv region and were met with devastation. Photos coming out of the region showed unarmed civilians who were killed execution-style, with their hands tied behind their backs and hoods over their heads. Human Rights Watch has documented reports of rape, while the mayor of Bucha said authorities have uncovered a hastily buried mass grave of nearly 300 corpses. Among the hundreds of bodies found were those of Olha Sukhenko, the leader of the village Motyzhin, and her family, who were taken by Russian forces on 25 March.
Updated
US to announce new sanctions against Russia
The US and its allies will announce tomorrow new sanctions against Russia, its financial institutions and officials, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at today’s press briefing.
“They will target Russian government officials, their family members, Russian owned financial institutions, also state owned enterprises,” Psaki said.
Psaki said the goal of the sanctions is “to force them to make a choice”.
“Russia does not have unlimited resources, especially now, given the crippling sanctions we have put in place,” she said. “They are going to be forced to choose between draining remaining valuable dollar reserves or new revenue coming in or default. The biggest part of our objective here is to deplete the resources that Putin has to continue his war against Ukraine and obviously causing more uncertainty and challenges to their financial system is part of that, but it is forcing them to choose those options and deplete those options, making it more difficult for him longer term to fight his war.”
Authorities have captured the allegedly bite-happy fox that has been running around Capitol grounds and biting people, purportedly congressman Ami Bera.
#BREAKING: Captured. pic.twitter.com/LJAn2ZjH9J
— U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) April 5, 2022
Earlier today we reported that the US Capitol police had issued a warning of possible fox dens on Capitol grounds and has received reports of people getting bitten by a fox. Punchbowl News has identified at least one of the bitten individuals as congressman Ami Bera, a Democrat from California.
“I expect to get attacked if I go on Fox News, I don’t expect to get attacked by a fox,” Bera told Punchbowl News.
Rep. Ami Bera confirms he was BIT by the Senate fox last night
— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) April 5, 2022
He described attack, which occurred near Russell building, as “unprovoked”
“I didn’t see it and all of a sudden I felt something lunge at the back of my leg,” Bera said.
“I jumped and got my umbrella,” he continues
Bera goes on to act out for us how he spun around quickly, using his umbrella to scare the fox away.
— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) April 5, 2022
“Someone was like ‘hey a fox is attacking that guy,’” he continues.
“Capitol police came out and then fox ran away. It was the most bizarre day in Congress.”
Bera, who is a doctor, initially didn’t want to get rabies shot because fox bite didn’t seem to puncture skin
— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) April 5, 2022
But he did so out of an abundance of caution (it’s actually a series of shots).
“I expect to get attacked if I go on Fox News, I don’t expect to get attacked by a fox.”
Congressman Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican who is under investigation for sex trafficking, tussled with Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary, in today’s House armed services hearing when Gaetz accused the Pentagon of being too focused on “wokeism”.
"I'm embarrassed by your leadership, I am not embarrassed for my country."
— The Hill (@thehill) April 5, 2022
Rep. Matt Gaetz and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin got into a heated exchange during a House hearing looking at the 2023 defense budget request. pic.twitter.com/MaGxHSLhjL
Gaetz began by focusing in on a lecture from National Defense University on socialism and then arguing that the US military had fallen behind China on hypersonic weapons.
Gaetz then went off on Austin, saying that the Pentagon “got it wrong” with their predictions that Russia would overrun Ukraine within days and that the Taliban would not take control of Afghanistan last year. He blamed critical race theory at West Point and “mandatory pronoun training” for distracting from defense. “You totally blew those calls and maybe we would be better at them if the National Defense University actually worked a little more on strategy and a little less on wokeism,” Gaetz said.
“Has it occurred to you that Russia has not overrun Ukraine because of what we’ve done and what our allies have done? Have you ever even thought about that?” Austin responded.
Austin responded to Gaetz’s original question asking Austin to justify the $773bn 2023 budget request by saying, “This is the most capable, most combat critical force in the world, it has been and it will be so going forward, and this budget helps us to do that.”
“Not if we continue down this path. Not if we continue to embrace socialism,” Gaetz said.
“The fact that you’re embarrassed by your country, by your military. I’m sorry for that,” Austin said.
“Oh no, I’m embarrassed for your leadership,” Gaetz responded. “I am not embarrassed for my country.”
Biden: 'Affordable Care Act is stronger now than it’s ever been'
Joe Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to do everything in their power to expand affordable and quality healthcare coverage, and make healthcare more affordable for working families.
“The bottom line is this, the Affordable Care Act is stronger now than it’s ever been,” Biden said. “Today, we’re strengthening it even further.”
Updated
Joe Biden took to the podium to celebrate the return of Barack Obama to the White House. “It feels like the good old days,” Biden said.
He teased Obama that even though Obamacare has become a throwaway term for the Affordable Care Act, it’s “the most fitting”.
“It’s fitting that the first time you return to the White House is to celebrate a law, a law that has transformed millions of lives because of you,” Biden said. “A law that shows that hope leads to change. And you did that. You did it.”
Barack Obama said the Affordable Care Act was an example of”why you run for office in the first place”.
“For all of us, for Joe, for Harry (Reid), for Nancy Pelosi, for others, the ACA was an example of why you run for office in the first place, why all of you sign up for doing jobs that pay less than you could make some place else, why you’re away from home sometimes, why you miss some soccer practices or some dance recitals,” Obama said. “We’re not supposed to do this just to occupy a seat, or to hang on to power. We’re supposed to do this because it’s making a difference in the lives of the people who sent us here.”
Obama compared the ACA to a starter home: “It secured the principle of universal healthcare, provided help immediately to families, but it required us to continuously build on it and make it better.”
“The reason we are here today is because President Biden, vice-president Harris, everyone who has worked on this thing, knew from the start that the ACA wasn’t perfect. To get the bill passed, we had to make compromises, we didn’t get everything we wanted,” Obama said. “That wasn’t a reason not to do it.”
He invoked a famous Biden moment, in which an aside to Obama was caught on a hot mic during the signing of the ACA into law: “This is a big fucking deal!” Biden excitedly whispered to Obama in 2010. “If you can get millions of people health coverage and better protection, it is, to quote a famous America, a pretty - ” Obama paused “ - big deal.
To the side, Biden crossed himself as the crowd laughed.
Obama: I intended to get healthcare passed even if it cost me reelection
Barack Obama took to the podium to speak on the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, charming the crowd with the same congenial ease he has become known for.
He teased Joe Biden, his vice president, for his love of aviator sunglasses and Baskin Robbins, and talked about how happy he was to be back in the White House.
“Coming back here gives me a chance to say thank you and gives me a chance to spend some time with an extraordinary friend and partner who was by my side for eight years,” Obama said. “Joe Biden and I did a lot together. We helped save the global economy, made record investments in clean energy, we put guardrails on our financial system, we helped turn the auto industry around, repealed don’t ask/don’t tell. But nothing made me prouder than providing better healthcare and protections for millions of people across this country.”
Obama spoke about the challenges the Democrats faced in getting ACA passed. “It’s fair to say a lot of Republicans showed little interest in working with us to get things done,” he said, as the crowd laughed.
“But despite great odds, Joe and I were determined because we met too many people on the campaign trail who shraed their stories. Our own families had been touched by illness,” Obama said. “As I said to our dear friend Harry Reid - who is missed, I wish he was here today because he took great pride in what we did - I intended to get healthcare passed even if it costs me reelection. Which, for while, it looked like it might.”
Updated
Barack Obama began his remarks on the Affordable Care Act by calling Joe Biden by his old title: “Vice-President Biden.”
“That was a joke,” he said, going in to hug Biden amid laughs from the audience. “That was all set up. My president, Joe Biden.”
Updated
Vice-president Kamala Harris called on Congress to pass legislation that allows Medicare to directly negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. She also called on Congress to make permanent the Affordable Care Act subsidies included in the American Rescue Plan that are currently lowering insurance premiums – these subsidies expire in December.
More than 60 million Americans are currently enrolled in Medicare, Harris said.
Updated
Barack Obama arrives at White House to deliver remarks celebrating passage of ACA
Barack Obama has returned to the White House for the first time since leaving in January 2017 to celebrate the anniversary of the day he signed the Affordable Care Act into law.
“The ACA is the most consequential healthcare legislation passed in generations in our country,” vice-president Kamala Harris said to widespread cheers and applause.
“It is something more: the ACA is a statement of purpose,” she continued. “A statement about the nation we must be. Where all people, no matter who they are, where they live, or how much they earn, can access the healthcare they need, no matter the cost.”
Updated
Applause as Obama returns to White House
Barack Obama has returned to the White House, alongside Joe Biden and vice-president Kamala Harris, and was greeted with raucous applause.
Updated
The ex-wife of Eric Greitens - the former Missouri governor and current candidate for senate - said he has become erratic and unhinged since she accused him of abuse earlier, the Associated Press is reporting.
Sheena Greitens said in a March affidavit that her ex-husband was physically abusive and demonstrated “unstable and coercive behavior” so concerning that steps were taken to limit his access to firearms.
Last week, she said in the latest filing that his reaction to the March affidavit was consistent with his past behavior. “When his political future is at risk, he becomes erratic, unhinged, coercive, and threatening,” she said.
Tim Parlatore, Greitens’ attorney, told the Associated Press today that Sheena Greitens’ allegations “are complete and total lies.” The Greitens team has offered her a chance to apologize and resolve their differences in mediation, Parlatore said, “but it seems like she intends to double down instead, which is unfortunate because the only victims of that are the children.”
The Greitens team has repeatedly pushed forth allegations that leading Republicans are working with Sheena Greitens to undermine his senate bid. Sheena Greitens addressed those allegations in last week’s filing.
“Neither Karl Rove, nor Mitch McConnell, nor any other so-called political operatives drafted it for me,” she said.
Sheena Greitens sought divorce from Eric Greitens after the scandal that led to her husband’s resignation as Missouri governor in June 2018. Once considered a rising star in the Republican party, Greitens was indicted on an invasion-of-privacy charge, accused of taking a compromising photo of his St. Louis hairstylist without her consent during a 2015 extramarital affair.
Despite the scandal and now the custody battle, Greitens is still believed to be a top contender in the race for senate, which has attracted a large field of Republican contenders. Many top Republican leaders have voice concerns that Greitens could win the August primary but lose the overall election in November, conceding a senate seat in a decidedly red state.
Sheena Greitens, now a public affairs professor at the University of Texas, is asking the court to move the custody case to the Austin area, in part to spare her children from renewed public attention as her ex-husband tries to mount a political comeback. She has previously accused Greitens of behavior that included physical abuse “such as cuffing our then-3-year-old son across the face at the dinner table in front of me and yanking him around by his hair.”
In 2019, one of her sons came home from a visit with his dad “with a swollen face, bleeding gums and loose tooth,” she said in the March filing. In the latest document, Sheena Greitens said she has “photographic evidence” of the injuries.
Parlatore said the photos instead “demonstrate that clearly there was no abuse.”
“The child was rough-housing with his brother,” Parlatore said. “Her own emails from the time admit this fact, her own statements to the doctors admit this fact.”
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right group the Proud Boys, has pleaded not guilty to federal felonies including conspiracy to obstruct certification of electoral college results, stemming from his alleged participation in planning for the deadly Capitol attack on 6 January 2021.
Tarrio appeared virtually in a Washington DC court, from confinement in Florida. Five other Proud Boys have pleaded not guilty to similar charges.
Prosecutors say Tarrio was found in possession of comprehensive plans to “surveil and storm” government buildings, a nine-page document entitled “1776 Returns”, named for the year of American independence, the New York Times reported.
According to the Times the document, mentioned only in general terms in Tarrio’s indictment, contained details of a complex plan for supporters of Donald Trump to invade and occupy at least seven House and Senate office buildings on the afternoon Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s election victory.
One recent Friday afternoon, the far-right militia figure Ammon Bundy started a live video feed on his YouTube channel in the wake of being arrested on trespassing charges at a hospital in Idaho, where he is running for governor.
Bundy appeared disappointed to tell his followers what he believed the government was forcing him to do next. He looked down at the camera, wearing an open-collared shirt and his usual cowboy hat, and let out a sigh. Then he threatened a sitting Idaho judge, summoning his supporters to go to his home.
Addressing his followers, he told them: “I’m calling on you to put off whatever you’re doing tomorrow, and come to [the judge’s] house … Patriot groups all across Idaho and around the country, I cannot try to hold you back any longer.”
What had excised Bundy so much was a child custody case. But what his actions really revealed was a troubling development in America’s ever-more divided political landscape where far-right figures feel emboldened enough to threaten a judge, wield their followers against the institutions of the state and where an implicit threat of violence is increasingly present as they seek elected office.
Full story:
Upton calls for civility and bipartisanship
Here’s more on Fred Upton, the Michigan Republican who announced his retirement today.
Upton is the fourth of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump over the Capitol attack to announce his retirement at the midterms in November.
The others are Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a member of the January 6 committee, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio and John Katko of New York.
In his remarks on the House floor, Upton did not refer to his impeachment vote.
He said: “I work daily on all things Michigan, particularly with Debbie Dingell [a Democrat], and we’ve been hitting the road to push for civility.
“Hopefully civility and bipartisanship versus discord can rule not rue the day.”
Upton also said he had “worked with seven administrations, seven house speakers, none of them would call me a rubber stamp. If it’s good policy for Michigan. It’s good enough for all of us. As the vice-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, we have pushed the envelope to get things done”.
Upton did mention Trump in discussing his vote last year for Joe Biden’s “real, honest-to-goodness infrastructure bill which passed 69 to 30 in the Senate but then hit the rocks here in the House, barely surviving Trump’s opposition despite his call for a proposal twice as expensive with no pay-fors”.
Upton’s support for Biden’s infrastructure bill earned him death threats. In one such message, which he shared, a man called him a “fucking piece of shit traitor” and said: “I hope you die. I hope everybody in your fucking family dies.”
Had Upton run for re-election, redistricting would have forced him to face off with another Republican congressman, Bill Huizenga, who has Trump’s endorsement.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the Republican whip, said: “This was a decision [Upton] had to make looking at the dynamics of a member-on-member race.”
The other Republicans who voted to impeach Trump will either face Trump-backed challengers or announced their retirements to avoid having to do so.
Gonzalez, a former NFL player from Ohio, has cited “toxic dynamics inside our own party” as being behind his decision.
Today so far
- In a little bit, Barack Obama will return to the White House for the first time since leaving it in January 2017, to celebrate the anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. He will deliver remarks alongside vice-president Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, who will be announcing “additional action to further strengthen the ACA and save families hundreds of dollars a month on their healthcare”.
- Ivanka Trump is meeting today with the House select committee tasked with investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.
- Congressman Fred Upton, one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in the 6 January attack, announced today his retirement. Trump issued a celebratory press release: “4 down, 6 to go.”
- The confirmation process continues for Ketanji Brown Jackson, who, as of today, has the votes needed to confirm her nomination to the supreme court.
Donald Trump has issued a celebratory press release regarding the retirement of congressman Fred Upton, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach him for the 6 January attack on the US Capitol. “4 down, 6 to go,” the press release reads.
Former Pres. Trump celebrates the retirement of Rep. Fred Upton, one of the ten Republicans to vote for his impeachment pic.twitter.com/0sRlD0RSx3
— Gary Grumbach (@GaryGrumbach) April 5, 2022
Breaking fox news:
1) USCP rpt that they received multiple rpts of people on the Capitol grounds being bitten by a fox.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 5, 2022
"One encounter was at the Botanic Garden, and a second was on the House side of the Capitol near the building foundation."
2) USCP: "This morning, USCP received a call about a fox approaching staff near First and C Street. This fox may have a den in the mulch bed area on First and C near the Dirksen Building, and there is another possible den near the perimeter of the Russell Building."
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 5, 2022
3) USCP: "Animal Control is currently on the grounds in response to this situation, and is looking to trap and relocate any foxes they find.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) April 5, 2022
Foxes are wild animals that are very protective of their dens and territory. Please do not approach any fox you see."
Ivanka Trump will testify before the January 6 committee this afternoon.
The Guardian confirmed that former president Donald Trump’s oldest daughter, and former senior White House adviser, will speak to the panel virtually.
Her testimony will come after that of her husband and fellow former presidential adviser, Jared Kushner, who spoke to the panel for more than six hours last week.
After Kushner’s testimony, Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and a member of the committee, told the Guardian: “There’s a momentum to this process when there’s cooperation. When people see that others are doing the right thing, it gives them the courage to do the right thing.”
Full story:
Republican congressman Fred Upton makes his retirement announcement on the House floor:
.@RepFredUpton announces retirement: "Even the best stories has a last chapter. This is it for me." pic.twitter.com/32Sj1tqKJj
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 5, 2022
More Democratic senators are sounding off on their support for Ketanji Brown Jackson, as expected:
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will soon become JUSTICE Ketanji Brown Jackson. I am proud to support her nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States.
— Reverend Raphael Warnock (@ReverendWarnock) April 5, 2022
This week, I’ll vote YES on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson is immensely qualified and has an unimpeachable character—she’ll serve the Supreme Court and our country well.
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) April 5, 2022
I just voted to advance Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s #SCOTUS nomination to the floor of the Senate. ⁰
— Senator Alex Padilla (@SenAlexPadilla) April 4, 2022
I’m honored to support Judge Jackson as she makes history.
Donald Trump has admitted he did not win the 2020 election.
“I didn’t win the election,” he said.
The admission came in a video interview with a panel of historians convened by Julian Zelizer, a Princeton professor and editor of The Presidency of Donald Trump: A First Historical Assessment. The interview was published on Monday by the Atlantic.
Describing his attempts to make South Korea pay more for US military assistance, Trump said Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president, was among the “happiest” world leaders after the 2020 US election put Joe Biden in the White House.
“By not winning the election,” Trump said, “he was the happiest man – I would say, in order, China was – no, Iran was the happiest.
“[Moon] was going to pay $5bn, $5bn a year. But when I didn’t win the election, he had to be the happiest – I would rate, probably, South Korea third- or fourth-happiest.”
Trump also said “the election was rigged and lost”.
Full story here:
Review of The Presidency of Donald Trump here:
Fred Upton, moderate Republican who voted for Trump impeachment, retiring
Politico is reporting that Fred Upton, a Republican congressman representing Michigan, is retiring.
NEWS: Fred upton is retiring, per 4 people familiar
— Alex Isenstadt (@politicoalex) April 5, 2022
Upton was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in the 6 January attack on the US Capitol. In addition to Upton, three others in this select group are retiring: Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, John Katko of New York and Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio.
The senate is expected to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the supreme court this week. She has three Republicans committed to voting to confirm her nomination, which feels like a tremendous victory to some given how bipartisan politics have been these past few years. But it’s still a tight vote:
Even with her six-vote margin, Jackson is poised to have one of the narrowest confirmation votes since Reconstruction. Murkowski, one of three YES votes, last night decried the “awful process.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 5, 2022
“We are to the point where it's almost automatic,” she told reporters in the Capitol pic.twitter.com/PpauGO8yIr
Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, called the atrocities in Bucha were a “deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape, to commit atrocities”.
Before flying to Brussels, Blinken tells reporters the events in Bucha were a "deliberate campaign to kill to torture or rape. The reports are more than credible. The evidence is there for the world to see."
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) April 5, 2022
Ivanka Trump to meet with January 6 committee today
The Morning Joe is reporting that Ivanka Trump is meeting today with the House select committee tasked with investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.
NBC News: Ivanka Trump to meet with January 6 committee today pic.twitter.com/LLYDeq5HdF
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) April 5, 2022
In February, the Guardian reported that the committee was considering issuing a subpoena to Ivanka Trump to force her cooperation with the inquiry into the efforts of her father, Donald Trump, to return himself to power on 6 January 2021. The month before, the committee released a public letter to Ivanka Trump calling upon her to provide “voluntary cooperation with our investigation”.
“We write to request your voluntary cooperation with our investigation on a range of critical topics,” the letter read. “We respect your privacy, and our questions will be limited to issues relating to January 6th, the activities that contributed to or influenced events on January 6th, and your role in the White House during that period.”
Confirmation week continues for judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, as Democrats drill down on their efforts of making Jackson the first Black woman confirmed to the supreme court by the end of the week.
Jackson is already expected to clear the process, with Susan Collins, the Republican senator from Maine, committing last week to straying from the party line and backing her. But last night she received added support from Republicans Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski.
While Jackson did not need Romney or Murkowski’s votes - or even Collins’ vote - in order to be confirmed, they come off as a symbolic win after harsh, politically fraught questioning from Republicans during the confirmation hearings and debate over Jackson’s judicial record and qualifications. They also say a lot about Joe Biden and his continued efforts to reach across the aisle.
Read more here:
Barack Obama returns to White House to celebrate ACA
Howdy, live blog readers. Happy Tuesday.
Former president Barack Obama will today return to the White House for the first time since leaving it in January 2017, to celebrate the anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, his signature legislative achievement.
Obama will deliver remarks alongside Joe Biden, who was his vice-president at the time and whom Obama has long credited as being instrumental in getting the legislation passed.
“Joe Biden,” Obama said in a White House video released last year, “we did this together. We always talked about how if we could get the principle of universal coverage established, we could then build on it.”
Vice-President Kamala Harris will also deliver remarks at the event this afternoon, where Biden is expected to announce “additional action to further strengthen the ACA and save families hundreds of dollars a month on their healthcare”.
With Biden struggling in the polls in a midterm elections year – when parties which hold the White House often take a shellacking (ask Obama) – Democrats will hope for a boost from the sight of the 44th president promoting a popular policy.
More to come.
