Closing summary
Democrats have condemned a Florida supreme court ruling that will allow a six-week abortion ban to go into effect, while seizing on a separate decision green lighting an initiative protecting access to the procedure to go before voters in November. The party has seen success in recent elections by campaigning against efforts to cut off access to abortion, and will try to replicate that in Florida, a state where Democratic candidates have struggled in recent years. To hammer the point home, top House lawmakers convened a hearing in the state, which Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries called “ground zero” in the fight for abortion access.
Here’s what else happened:
The Biden campaign said Donald Trump was “directly to blame” for the Florida court ruling upholding the state’s abortion restrictions.
Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse signaled he was open to at least some of what Republican House speaker Mike Johnson is considering to approve military aid to Israel and Ukraine.
Tina Smith, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, wants to repeal a moribund 19th-century law that some fear could be used to stop abortions nationwide.
Opponents of Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza are encouraging voters to choose “uninstructed” in Wisconsin’s primary today.
Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, said he wants to fight “the isolationist movement” in his party.
Joe Biden plans to today hold a small meeting with Muslims at the White House, rather than the larger gathering it traditionally hosts during Ramadan, in the latest sign of his administration’s tensions with the community over Biden’s support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza, National Public Radio reports.
The Biden administration has repeatedly approved weapons transfers to Israel as it presses on with its invasion of Gaza, sparking protests from Muslims who have organized efforts to withhold their votes for Biden during the primaries. Here’s more on the White House meeting tonight, from NPR:
The gathering is in lieu of the traditional Ramadan iftar dinner or Eid celebrations the White House usually hosts with Muslim leaders, and it comes amid ongoing political tensions given the war in Gaza.
The goal, according to people familiar with the plans, is to allow guests to have a “substantive” conversation with the president about the situation in Gaza. Vice President Harris and national security adviser Jake Sullivan will also attend, the sources said. Biden last met with Muslim and Arab-American leaders at the White House in late October.
The sources said the White House had initially planned to host a small, solemn Ramadan dinner Tuesday evening, but plans changed after a number of Muslim invitees said they did not feel comfortable dining at the White House while scores of Palestinians are on the brink of starvation.The White House still intends to host a small iftar dinner later Tuesday evening for a dozen or so Muslim staffers — a scaled-down version of the traditional celebration.
Some Democrats fear the rift between Biden and Arab and Muslim communities could cost him support crucial to winning the November election, particularly in swing state Michigan. Here’s more on that:
Another tentative and potential sign of movement has emerged on the long-stalled military aid package for Ukraine and Israel.
Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse weighed in on Republican House speaker Mike Johnson’s comments yesterday, where he floated some potential demands he may make to move the package through his chamber. Whitehouse seems alright with two of the three changes Johnson requested, but takes issue with the third:
I’m glad it looks like Ukraine aid will move. I’m glad my REPO bill is part of the package. I don’t mind a loan if the president can waive it. But it’s just plain gross that Republicans need extraneous tribute for their fossil fuel donors. Yuck.https://t.co/UV4iSCCNP4
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 2, 2024
On the “pause,” there’s been no close look at LNG climate effects.
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 2, 2024
Fossil gas polluters just want us to look at the burner tip, not at massive methane leakage, nor emissions from transport, pressurizing, shipping, depressurizing and more transport — could be way worse than local coal. So they don’t want it measured.
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 2, 2024
Republicans and Democrats have been tussling over the aid proposal for months, and it’s unclear if Johnson’s mulled concessions will be palatable to Democrats, or enough for his fellow Republicans, many of whom are demanding new, strict border security policies to support the bill. Here’s more on where the House speaker says he now stands on the bill:
Donald Trump is making a swing through Michigan and Wisconsin today, two states he will almost certainly need to win if he is to return to the White House.
His stop in Michigan took him to Grand Rapids, an area where Democrats have lately made inroads in what was traditionally Republican territory. It’s also the site of a murder allegedly committed by an undocumented immigrant, and during his appearance in the city, Trump reiterated his vows to crack down on people in the country illegally:
“Under Crooked Joe Biden, every state is now a border state. Every town is now a border town.” — President Trump in Grand Rapids, Michigan pic.twitter.com/Y7Mu8nbfpf
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) April 2, 2024
Attacks on migrants have been a mainstay for Trump since his first run for the White House, and thus far, this campaign has been no different:
The first criminal trial Donald Trump faces begins 15 April in New York City, on charges related to making hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. The former president has taken to insulting various people involved in the case, and as the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports, now faces a gag order:
The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s forthcoming criminal trial in New York expanded an existing gag order on Monday, preventing the former president from making inflammatory comments about the judge’s family members, after they became the target of Trump’s personal attacks.
The new protective order continues to allow Trump to rail against the judge and the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, who charged Trump last year with falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal before the 2016 election.
But Trump is now expressly prohibited from assailing the family members of any lawyers or court staff involved in the case, as well as family members of the judge and the district attorney, the New York supreme court justice Juan Merchan wrote in the revised order.
The order cited the recent attacks Trump had leveled at the judge’s daughter and rejected Trump’s contention that he should be free to criticize what he perceived to be conflicts of interest and other complaints because they amounted to “core political speech”.
“This pattern of attacking family members of presiding jurists and attorneys assigned to his cases serves no legitimate purpose,” Merchan wrote. “It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings, that not only they, but their family members as well, are ‘fair game’.”
Elsewhere in Florida, the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports that the federal judge handling Donald Trump’s trial on charges related to hiding classified documents has yet to schedule a start date, despite the best efforts of prosecutors:
The prospects of Donald Trump going to trial in July on charges of retaining national security documents, as suggested by special counsel prosecutors, are rapidly diminishing, with the judge overseeing the case yet to issue a schedule weeks after she was presented with the potential options.
The US district judge Aileen Cannon received proposed trial start dates from Trump and the special counsel Jack Smith more than a month ago in advance of a hearing ostensibly to settle the matter in Fort Pierce, Florida, but she has still not decided when the proceeding will begin.
As a result, Trump has been able to avoid filing certain pre-trial motions that have to be completed before the case can proceed to trial, playing into his strategy of trying to delay the case as much as possible before the 2024 election in November.
Trump’s legal strategy for all of his criminal cases has been to delay, under the calculus that winning re-election would enable him to appoint a loyalist as attorney general who could direct prosecutors to drop the case, or pardon himself if he was convicted.
There are more than 13.4 million people registered to vote in Florida, according to its division of elections, and one of them very well may be Donald Trump.
Long associated with New York’s real estate scene, he changed his residence from the Empire State to the Sunshine State during his time in the White House. That means he can vote on Florida’s ballot initiative that will decide whether abortion rights are enshrined in the state constitution – and you can expect that reporters will try their darnedest over the coming months to get him to reveal which way he leans on the issue.
Updated
Floridians will have an opportunity to weigh in on the question of abortion access this November, when they vote on an initiative that would enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution.
Speaking on the Biden campaign press call, Fentrice Driskell, the Democratic leader of the Florida house, argued that the state supreme court’s decision to uphold an abortion ban underscored the urgency of the November elections.
“We are seeing what Trump’s agenda looks like here in Florida: extremist politicians inserting themselves into women’s healthcare, threatening doctors with prison time and endangering women’s health and lives,” Driskell said.
“The only thing that can stop governmental interference into our lives and exam rooms is to stay in the fight and by exercising our right to vote. This November, Florida will draw a line in the sand and say enough.”
Democrats hope that the presence of the abortion initiative on the ballot might tip the scales in their party’s favor in Florida, but they acknowledge that the task will be difficult, given Republicans’ recent dominance in the purple state. Trump carried the state by 3 points in 2020, increasing his advantage from 2016 even as he lost the national election to Biden.
“We’re clear-eyed about how hard it will be to win Florida, but we also know that Trump does not have it in the bag,” said Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Biden’s campaign manager. “We definitely see Florida in play.”
Updated
Biden campaign says Trump 'directly to blame' for Florida abortion ruling
Joe Biden’s campaign team said Donald Trump is “directly to blame” for the ruling upholding an abortion ban in Florida, given that the former president nominated three of the supreme court justices who helped overturn Roe v Wade in 2022.
“Because of Donald Trump, Maga [’Make America Great Again’] Republicans across this country are ripping away access to reproductive health care and inserting themselves into the most personal decisions women can make, from contraception to IVF,” Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Biden’s campaign manager, told reporters on a press call.
“And make no mistake: Donald Trump will do everything in his power to try and enact a national abortion ban if he’s reelected.”
Earlier today, the Biden campaign released a new ad, titled “Trust”, that highlights Trump’s past comments bragging about the reversal of Roe and also warns of the possibility of a federal ban. The ad will air across battleground states as part of the Biden campaign’s broader media blitz this spring.
“These are the stakes in November, and we’re going to continue to make sure that every single voter knows them,” Rodríguez said. “Here’s the bottom line: Trump and Maga Republicans are working to ban abortion nationwide, while President Biden and Vice-President Harris will never stop fighting to protect reproductive freedom.”
Updated
The day so far
Democrats have condemned a Florida supreme court ruling that will allow a six-week abortion ban to go into effect, while seizing on a separate decision to allow an initiative protecting access to the procedure to go before voters in November. The party has seen success in recent elections by campaigning against efforts to cut off access to abortion, and will try to replicate that in Florida, a state where Democratic candidates have struggled in recent years. To hammer the point home, top House lawmakers convened a hearing in the state, which Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries called “ground zero” in the fight for abortion access.
Here’s what else has happened:
Tina Smith, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, wants to repeal a moribund 19th-century law that some fear could be used to stop abortions nationwide.
Opponents of Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza are encouraging voters to choose “uninstructed” in Wisconsin’s primary today.
Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, said he wants to fight “the isolationist movement” in his party.
Congress has some unfinished business to deal with when it returns to Washington DC next week, in the form of a military aid package for Israel, Ukraine and other US allies. It’s been held up by Republicans in the House, some of whom are opposed to further aid to Kyiv, and the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports that the Senate’s top Republican has signaled he will make overcoming these holdouts a priority:
Mitch McConnell will spend the rest of his time in the US Senate “fighting” isolationists in his own Republican party, the longtime GOP leader said on Monday.
“I’m particularly involved in actually fighting back against the isolationist movement in my own party,” McConnell told WHAS, a radio station in his state, Kentucky.
“And some in the other as well. And the symbol of that lately is: are we going to help Ukraine or not? I’ve got this sort of on my mind for the next couple years as something I’m going to focus on.”
McConnell, 82, has led Republicans in the Senate for 17 years. In March, he said he would step down at the end of this year, after an election in which Republicans have a good chance of retaking the chamber.
McConnell assured his decision to step down was not related to recent health scares and said he would stay to the end of his term in 2027.
Isolationism has surged in the Republican party under Donald Trump, president between 2017 and 2021 and the presumptive nominee again for November’s election.
Israel’s allies, including the United States and Britain, are demanding it investigate the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza that were with the World Central Kitchen charity.
Follow our live blog for more on this developing story:
The youth climate group Sunrise Movement is continuing its efforts to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza by calling on Wisconsin progressives to vote “uninstructed delegation” in today’s primary, which will serve as a test of Joe Biden’s standing in the crucial swing state.
Progressive organizers in Wisconsin have launched a campaign, based on similar initiatives in states like Michigan and Minnesota, in support of the “uninstructed” option to protest Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.
“Biden’s best chance to succeed in November is by supporting an immediate and permanent ceasefire and ending unconditional military aid to the Israeli government,” Michele Wiendling, political director of Sunrise Movement, said in a statement.
“The president is hemorrhaging the support of young voters by aiding in the destruction of people’s lives and homes in Gaza. If President Biden wants to defeat Trump, he must listen to young people, people of color, and the working class who put him in office in 2020 and immediately change course.”
Polls close in Wisconsin at 9pm ET, so Biden will soon learn how much support he is at risk of losing in the battleground state.
A slew of states are holding presidential primaries today – including Wisconsin, where the Guardian’s Alice Herman reports opponents of Joe Biden’s support for Israel hope to send a shot across his campaign’s bow in a swing state crucial to his re-election hopes:
Voters in Wisconsin cast their ballots today in an election that will test voter enthusiasm for Joe Biden and Donald Trump – and potentially enshrine two amendments in the state constitution impacting election administration across the state.
The president and former president are already the presumptive nominees and will almost certainly face off in the general election in November, and it seems that the threat of prosecution, general unpopularity and advanced age can’t stop them.
But while the primary will not offer alternative candidates, a group of activists in Wisconsin see it as an opportunity to push Biden on his policy toward Israel’s war on Gaza. The organizers, inspired by Michigan’s “uncommitted” campaign, which garnered more than 100,000 votes there, are calling on voters to choose “uninstructed” instead of Biden.
“The margins of our elections are so incredibly close – less than 1% in the last two presidential election cycles – so I think it would behoove the administration to pay attention,” said Reema Ahmad, the lead organizer of the Listen to Wisconsin campaign.
Organizers with the campaign aim to turn out as many voters for “uninstructed” as Biden’s margin of victory in 2020 to demonstrate their critical role in November, Ahmad said. The campaign has relied on the support of a broad network of progressive organizations, including the state’s largest network of Latino voters, Voces de la Frontera Action and Black Leaders Organizing Communities (Bloc), groups that helped propel Biden to his narrow 2020 victory.
Democratic senator announces plan to repeal 19th century law that could stop abortion nationwide
Democratic senator Tina Smith announced she is leading an effort to repeal the Comstock Act, a federal anti-obscenity law passed in 1873 that abortion rights supporters fear could be used to ban the procedure nationwide.
While the Biden administration considers the act irrelevant, it remains in force and includes language that could criminalize the mailing of abortion medication such as mifepristone, or drugs used in surgical abortion. The concern is that a future president who opposes abortion, like Donald Trump, could decide to enforce the statute to criminalize abortion even in states that allowed the procedure to continue after Roe v Wade was overturned.
“Legislation to repeal Comstock could take many forms, and we need to do it the right way. That’s why I’ve begun reaching out to my colleagues in the House of Representatives and the Senate to build support and see what legislation to repeal the Comstock Act might look like,” wrote Smith, who represents Minnesota, in the New York Times.
“Anti-abortion extremists will continue to exploit any avenue they can find to get the national ban they champion, and I want to make sure my bill shuts down every one of those avenues. Once the Supreme Court has had its say (and many legal analysts speculate that the mifepristone case heard last week should be thrown out on procedural grounds, and may well be), I’ll be ready to have mine.”
The Comstock Act came up last week before the supreme court as a conservative group argued to remove mifepristone from pharmacy shelves. Here’s more on that:
Top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries calls Florida 'ground zero' in fight for abortion access
Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said Florida is “ground zero” in the fight for reproductive rights, after the state supreme court allowed a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy to go into effect, while also green-lighting a ballot initiative to protect access to the procedure:
House Minority Leader Jeffries (D-NY) on Florida Supreme Court abortion ruling:
— The Recount (@therecount) April 2, 2024
“Florida is now ground zero in the fight to protect a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions. As House Democrats ... we stand with you to protect reproductive freedom.” pic.twitter.com/uI8oU1EDK0
Congress is on recess right now, with lawmakers spread across the country, but Jeffries and other lawmakers are holding a special hearing in Florida’s Broward county to focus public attention on how the court ruling will affect abortion rights. Democrats are hoping that the ballot initiative will help them win congressional seats in the state in November – and perhaps even help Joe Biden carry Florida, which would greatly increase his chances of winning another term in the White House.
Top House Democrats have convened in Florida’s Broward county for a committee hearing intended to focus attention on how the state’s impending six-week abortion ban will affect women and families.
Here’s congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents the area:
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) opens a field hearing in Florida after the state Supreme Court allowed a 6-week ban to take effect in May:
— The Recount (@therecount) April 2, 2024
“This will impact not only millions of women in the Sunshine State, but millions more across the South who ... look to Florida.” pic.twitter.com/atT66fA9nJ
In other legal news yesterday, a federal judge rejected an attempt by the president’s son Hunter Biden to have tax charges against him dismissed. Here’s more on what that means, from the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly:
Hunter Biden’s lawyer promised to continue “vigorously” contesting federal tax charges against the president’s son after a California judge rejected an attempt to dismiss them.
“We strongly disagree with the court’s decision and will continue to vigorously pursue Mr Biden’s challenges to the abnormal way the special counsel handled this investigation and charged this case,” Abbe Lowell said, after the judge’s decision.
After a plea agreement to avoid charges fell apart last year, the special counsel, David Weiss, charged Biden nine times, accusing him of evading $1.4m in taxes. Biden pleaded not guilty. He also pleaded not guilty to criminal charges for allegedly lying about addiction issues when purchasing a gun.
Weiss was appointed US attorney for Delaware by Donald Trump, then made a special counsel by Merrick Garland, the US attorney general appointed by Joe Biden.
Hunter Biden has long been the subject of Republican attempts to establish corruption involving his father, culminating in an impeachment effort which after a series of chaotic hearings appears unlikely to succeed.
The president’s son argues that the charges against him are politically motivated, arising from Republican pressure on Weiss. The special counsel rejects such claims.
Here’s more from the Guardian’s Carter Sherman on just what exactly the Florida supreme court decided yesterday, and how it will upend abortion access in the state:
Florida residents will get the chance to vote on a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, the Florida state supreme court ruled on Monday, teeing up a dramatic electoral showdown over abortion access in a state that has become a haven for women fleeing southern abortion bans.
The decision is a victory for abortion rights activists – but one that was significantly tempered by a second decision also issued on Monday, in which the state supreme court ruled to uphold Florida’s 15-week abortion ban. That decision paves the way for a separate six-week abortion ban – passed in 2023 but on hold pending the outcome of the case over the 15-week ban – to take effect.
The six-week ban will take effect in 30 days.
Biden campaign manager sees opportunity in Florida after abortion ruling
Florida voters haven’t given the state’s electoral votes to a Democrat since Barack Obama’s re-election victory in 2012. But after the state supreme court ruling yesterday allowing a six-week abortion ban passed by its Republican lawmakers to go into effect, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the Biden-Harris campaign manager, said the president has a shot at winning the Sunshine state in November.
“We are entering the general election with multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes – something Team Trump is not afforded. That includes investing in Florida as a pathway to victory: a state where President Biden has a compelling story of results, Trump and [Republican US senator] Rick Scott’s extreme agenda is making Floridians’ lives worse, and the Democratic coalition is growing and energized,” she wrote in a memo.
Beyond outrage over the abortion ban, Chavez Rodriguez noted Florida’s top court also allowed a ballot initiative to protect access to the procedure to appear on the November ballot, potentially giving Democrats an opportunity to fire up their voters:
With an abortion amendment officially on the ballot this November in Florida, President Biden and Vice President Harris and their commitment to fighting back against Donald Trump and Rick Scott’s attacks on reproductive freedom will help mobilize and expand the electorate in the state, given the overwhelming majority of Floridians support abortion rights. And Florida Republicans will be forced to defend their cruel, indefensible support of this abortion ban.
Biden condemns Florida court's 'extreme decision' that will allow six-week abortion ban to take effect
Joe Biden decried yesterday’s Florida court ruling that sets the stage for the state’s six-week abortion ban to take effect, calling it “outrageous” and warning women’s health will suffer.
“Yesterday’s extreme decision puts desperately needed medical care even further out of reach for millions of women in Florida and across the South,” Biden said. “The Court not only upheld Florida’s current ban on women being able to make their own reproductive choices, it will likely trigger Governor DeSantis’ even more extreme law that would prevent women from accessing care before many even know they are pregnant. It is outrageous.”
He continued:
Florida’s bans – like those put forward by Republican elected officials across the country – are putting the health and lives of millions of women at risk. These extreme laws take away women’s freedom to make their own health care decisions and threaten physicians with jail time simply for providing the medical care that they were trained to provide.
Democrats look to turn up heat on GOP after Florida court authorizes six-week abortion ban
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Democrats have not had much luck in Florida lately, where its status as a swing state has been eroded by years of Republican victories. And the GOP once again got their way yesterday when a court allowed a six-week abortion ban signed by governor Ron DeSantis to take effect in 30 days. But voters in many states, even those otherwise hostile to Democrats, have signaled that they are not on board with efforts to tighten access to the procedure, and today, Joe Biden’s campaign and its allies are seizing on the Florida ruling to argue it is a sign of what Donald Trump would do if returned to the White House and perhaps regain some momentum in Florida. At 10am ET, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, Xavier Becerra, the health and human services secretary, and other lawmakers will hold a hearing in Broward county on threats to productive freedom, while the Biden-Harris campaign is convening a call between reporters and North Carolina governor Roy Cooper to elaborate on the message.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump will hold two rallies today in swing states Michigan and Wisconsin, where he’s expected to hammer Biden over immigration policy – reliably fertile ground for Republicans. The former president has voiced support for banning abortion, but at 15 weeks of pregnancy, and we’ll see if he weighs in on the decision in Florida.
Here’s what else is going on today:
Israel has expressed “sincere sorrow” over the deaths of seven aid workers in Gaza, which killed nationals of the UK, US, Australia, Poland and Palestine. Follow our live blog for the latest on this story.
A slew of states are holding primaries today, including Wisconsin, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York, while Arkansas and Mississippi will hold primary run offs. Trump and Biden both already have the delegates they need to win their parties’ nominations.
The White House press briefing takes place at 1.30pm.
