Closing summary
Republican senator Lindsey Graham caused quite the stir by proposing a nationwide ban on abortions past the 15-week mark, which even many fellow GOP lawmakers don’t support, at least not right now. The legislation could mark the start of a campaign to seek federal restrictions on the procedure after the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in June. Meanwhile, new inflation data showed prices continuing to rise – albeit at a slower rate – across the economy, dampening hopes that the wave of cost increases had faded for good.
Here’s what else happened today so far:
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell was among those downplaying Graham’s proposal, but the Kentucky lawmakers has previously said the chamber could consider a federal ban on abortion if the GOP wins a majority.
Criminal referrals from the January 6 committee to the justice department are “likely”, a lawmaker on the panel said. More public hearings by the committee are also expected to be announced soon.
Democrat and Republican lawmakers love trading stocks, according to an analysis from The New York Times that will likely add pressure on party leaders to ban congress members from owning or trading securities.
A jury in Connecticut is considering how much to order conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay relatives of the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre for spreading lies that the killings were a hoax.
Lindsey Graham’s proposal to outlaw abortion after 15 weeks isn’t just unpopular with many of his fellow Senate Republicans - it would also appear to be unpopular with the Lindsey Graham of just a month ago, who said the question of abortion access should be left up to the states.
Here’s a reminder from The Recount of what Graham had to say about the issue just this past August:
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in August: States should regulate abortion.
— The Recount (@therecount) September 13, 2022
Sen. Lindsey Graham in September: The federal government should regulate abortion. pic.twitter.com/VvMDZd9fsp
The discomfort over the Republican abortion ban proposal extends beyond the Senate to the campaign trail, where several of the party’s nominees to the chamber are trying to distance themselves from it.
Tiffany Smiley, the GOP Senate nominee in Washington state, says she wouldn’t get behind such a bill, Politico reports:
A spokesperson for WA GOP nominee Tiffany Smiley also said she doesn't support the Graham bill and that it should be left up to the states to decide their abortion laws
— Marianne LeVine (@marianne_levine) September 13, 2022
Joe O’Dea, a Republican vying for Colorado’s Senate seat, also opposed it, according to Politico. However Herschel Walker, who’s in a tight race for the senate seat occupied by Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock, appeared to support it:
Herschel Walker: "I believe the issue should be decided at the state level, but I WOULD support this policy.”
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) September 13, 2022
Joe O'Dea of Colorado: “I don’t support Senator Graham’s bill. A Republican ban is as reckless and tone deaf as is Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s hostility to" compromise
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell may have downplayed the idea of a national abortion ban today, but don’t be surprised if he one day changes his mind.
Consider his comments to USA Today in May, after a draft opinion leaked showing the supreme court was poised to overturn Roe v Wade, but before they officially did so later the following month.
“If the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies – not only at the state level, but at the federal level – certainly could legislate in that area,” the Kentucky lawmaker said. “And if this were the final decision, that was the point that it should be resolved one way or another in the legislative process. So yeah, it’s possible. It would depend on where the votes were.”
That means Graham’s proposal, or one like it, could be put up for a vote if Republicans reclaim control of the Senate – which they’ll have a chance of doing in the November midterms.
However, Democrats could use the filibuster to block any such legislation, and even the GOP’s most optimistic forecasts don’t have the party winning the 60 seats needed to overcome that. In the USA Today interview, McConnell also made clear he was not in favor of changing the chamber’s rules to make legislation easier to pass. “No carve out of the filibuster – period. For any subject,” he said.
Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to make the most of Graham’s abortion ban proposal as they make their case to maintain control of Congress.
Here’s top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer at a press conference today:
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) slams Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) proposed 15-week abortion ban:
— The Recount (@therecount) September 13, 2022
"What Senator Graham is introducing is a MAGA Republican nationwide abortion ban. If it walks like a nationwide abortion ban and talks like a nationwide abortion ban..." pic.twitter.com/CofXO5SUB4
So much for that. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell has poured cold water on the party making any concerted effort to get a vote on Lindsey Graham’s proposed 15-week abortion ban.
Here’s what CNN reports that McConnell, who would become Senate majority leader if the GOP wins a majority in the upper chamber in the midterm elections, had to say about the idea:
McConnell on Graham’s bill: “you’ll have to ask him about it.” Says most Republicans want to leave it to the states
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) September 13, 2022
A more immediate obstacle for Graham is the Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, which are sure to oppose his bill.
Politico has more on the cool reception Lindsey Graham’s abortion ban has received in the Senate, particularly among his fellow Republicans.
“That wasn’t a conference decision. It was an individual senator’s decision,” Texas’s Republican senator John Cornyn said in the piece, echoing the sentiment of several lawmakers from Republican-dominated states that are moving to restrict abortion, but wary of pursuing such bans nationwide.
“My state, today, is working on this. I’m not sure what he’s thinking here. But I don’t think there will be a rallying around that concept,” Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican senator from West Virginia, said.
Elsewhere, Democrats have seized on the proposal to attack Republicans. The Democratic Party of Virginia put out a statement accusing Jen Kiggans, a state senator vying for a US House seat against Democratic incumbent Elaine Luria, of changing her stance on abortion rights.
“The reason why Jen Kiggans is trying to walk back her stance on abortion is that she knows her extreme anti-abortion agenda is out of touch with Coastal Virginians and will cost her the election,” the Democrats wrote.
The full text of the 15-week abortion ban proposed by Republican senator Lindsey Graham can be read here, and contains an important detail about exactly what would be outlawed.
“The term ‘perform’, with respect to an abortion, includes inducing an abortion through a medical or chemical intervention, including writing a prescription for a drug or device intended to result in an abortion,” according to the text of the bill.
That likely means it would outlaw abortion pills that are seen as one of the best options for women to receive care in states where the procedure has been outlawed or restricted.
The Republican proposal to ban abortion after 15 weeks is only hours old, but it’s already become an issue on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania.
According to Insider, John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee to represent the state in the Senate, has used the proposal to attack his Republican opponent, Mehmet Oz.
Fetterman already using the Graham bill against Oz pic.twitter.com/gBkSslVOI4
— bryan metzger (@metzgov) September 13, 2022
The day so far
Republican senator Lindsey Graham has proposed legislation to ban abortions nationally after 15 weeks, in what is likely the start of a campaign to seek federal restrictions on the procedure after the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in June. Meanwhile, new inflation data showed prices continuing to rise – albeit at a slower rate – across the economy, dampening hopes that the wave of cost increases had faded for good.
Here’s what else happened today so far:
Criminal referrals from the January 6 committee to the justice department are “likely”, a lawmaker on the panel said. More public hearings by the committee are also expected to be announced soon.
Democrat and Republican lawmakers love trading stocks, according to an analysis from The New York Times that will likely add pressure on party leaders to ban congress members from owning or trading securities.
A jury in Connecticut is considering how much to order conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay relatives of the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre for spreading lies that the killings were a hoax.
Further cracks have appeared in Graham’s insistence that his proposed 15-week abortion ban has wide political support.
CNN reports that not all Senate Republicans are onboard with the measure:
Senate GOP not on same page on Graham’s 15-week abortion. Thune supports it. Rick Scott said he’d “look at it.” Cornyn and Ron Johnson said it should be left to the states. Asked if he backs Graham bill, Johnson said it should be decided by “we the people” in the 50 states.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 13, 2022
“I think there will be a couple of Democrats who will be with us, maybe, hope, pray,” Republican senator Lindsey Graham replied when asked about whether his proposed nationwide abortion ban after 15 weeks will win enough votes to pass the closely divided Congress.
“I think the public’s with us,” he added.
It’s unclear whether any Democratic votes would materialize for the proposal, but that party controls the House and Senate, and it’s unlikely they’ll even let the measure come up for a vote as long as that’s the case.
As for public support for Graham’s proposal, a recent poll doesn’t bear that out. Earlier this month, a poll by The Wall Street Journal found 57% of respondents opposed an abortion ban at 15 weeks with exceptions for the health of a mother – exactly the kind of measure Graham proposed.
In fact, the survey found voter support for abortion increasing overall since the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in June. While in March, 55% of voters said the procedure should be legal in all or most cases, that had risen to 60% in the phone survey conducted in mid-August.
Democratic leaders condemn proposed nationwide abortion ban
Top Democrats have decried a nationwide ban on abortion after 15 weeks proposed today by Republican senator Lindsey Graham.
“Today, Senator Graham introduced a national ban on abortion which would strip away women’s rights in all 50 states. This bill is wildly out of step with what Americans believe,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
“While President Biden and Vice President Harris are focused on the historic passage of the Inflation Reduction Act to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, health care, and energy – and to take unprecedented action to address climate change – Republicans in Congress are focused on taking rights away from millions of women,” Jean-Pierre continued, adding that the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress “are committed to restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade.”
Democratic house speaker Nancy Pelosi joined in, saying, “The nationwide abortion ban proposal put forth today is the latest, clearest signal of extreme MAGA Republicans’ intent to criminalize women’s health freedom in all 50 states and arrest doctors for providing basic care. Make no mistake: if Republicans get the chance, they will work to pass laws even more draconian than this bill – just like the bans they have enacted in states like Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma.”
Senator Lindsey Graham has unveiled his proposed nationwide abortion ban, which would outlaw the procedure after 15 weeks, with certain exceptions.
“I think we should have a law on the books that says after 15 weeks, no abortion on demand except in cases of rape, incest, to save the life of the mother, and that should be where America’s at,” Graham said as he unveiled the legislation in the Capitol.
Graham said the proposal, dubbed the “Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act”, would match similar laws in European countries. He said the 15-week threshold is when fetuses will feel pain, however that doesn’t quite match the science. Many scientists say fetuses can’t feel pain before 24 weeks, although the subject is complicated and continuing to be researched.
Graham acknowledged the political realities of his proposal. “If the Democrats are in charge, I don’t know if we’ll ever have a vote on our bill.”
As The Guardian has reported previously, late-term abortions are very rare in the United States.
Updated
Republican senator Lindsey Graham will soon introduce his legislation to ban abortions nationally. While it has no chance in the Senate as long as Democrats are in control, it will likely attract considerable support from Republican lawmakers, and could mark the start of the party’s effort to restrict the procedure nationwide thanks to the supreme court ruling overturning Roe v Wade.
The Washington Post reports that Graham has said the ban will apply after 15 weeks of pregnancy – five weeks less than in previous versions of the legislation the South Carolina lawmaker has introduced:
Breaking: Graham just told Fox News that his "late-term abortion act" is indeed a 15-week ban.
— Caroline Kitchener (@CAKitchener) September 13, 2022
This is pretty extraordinary language to be using for 15 weeks. When antiabortion groups use "late term abortions" (not a medical phrase), it's usually understood to mean 21-24 weeks +
You can watch the senator’s press conference here.
A Connecticut jury began hearing arguments Tuesday in a trial to decide how much money conspiracy theorist and right-winger Alex Jones should pay relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy, for spreading a lie that the massacre was a hoax, The Associated Press reports.
Photograph: Briana Sanchez/AP
A settlement was ordered at trial against Jones last month in a civil case in Texas brought by parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting with the current case in Connecticut pending.
Critics have said many things of Jones and his platform Infowars, among them the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate and extremist groups in the US, whose spokesman said in August: “He has probably done more to further the cause of hate in this country than almost anyone outside of Donald Trump himself.”
The AP writes today of this trial in Waterbury, Connecticut, not far from Sandy Hook:
More than a dozen family members, including parents of some victims, filed into the courtroom to listen to the opening statements and first day of evidence.
A jury of three men and three women along with several alternates will decide how much the conspiracy theorist should pay relatives of eight victims and an FBI agent who responded to the school.
Judge Barbara Bellis found Jones liable without a trial last year after he failed to turn over documents to the families’ lawyers.
On Tuesday, she sanctioned Jones for failing to turn over analytic data related to his website and the popularity of his show.
She told his lawyers that because of that failure, they will not be allowed to argue he didn’t profit from his Sandy Hook remarks.
Jones did not attend the opening of the trial Tuesday.
He said on his show Monday that he would be traveling to Connecticut next week.
The trial is expected to last about a month and feature testimony from both Jones and the families.
More of the Guardian piece that contains that SPLC quote, above, here.
Updated
Indiana to ban abortion on Thursday
As the news cycle today has focused on senator Lindsey Graham’s proposals for a national abortion ban from 15 weeks, its worth remembering that Republican-controlled Indiana will bring in its almost total ban on Thursday.
As ABC reports, there is a challenge to the extreme law in the state’s courts, but that won’t be heard until next week – after it comes into effect.
ABC says: An Indiana judge won’t hear arguments until next week on a lawsuit seeking to block the state’s abortion ban, leaving that new law set to take effect on Thursday.
The special judge overseeing the case issued an order Monday setting a court hearing for Sept. 19, which is four days after the ban’s effective date.
Indiana’s Republican-dominated Legislature approved the tighter abortion restrictions during a two-week special legislative session that ended Aug. 5, making it the first state to do so since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade in June.
Indiana abortion clinic operators filed the lawsuit Aug. 31, saying the ban, which includes limited exceptions, “strips away the fundamental rights of people seeking abortion care” in violation of the Indiana Constitution.
The stock trading activities of lawmakers have become increasingly controversial this year.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi has come under scrutiny for the trading activities of her husband, Paul Pelosi, a venture capitalist whose stock transactions Republicans have raised their eyebrows at. However, as The New York Times investigation released today makes clear, Pelosi is far from the only lawmaker whose family members engage in trading.
There seems to be an awareness in some corners of Congress that these trades are too problematic to continue. In February, a bipartisan group of senators and House representatives introduced legislation to ban owning and trading stocks. Punchbowl News reported in July that House Democrats would propose their own ban on trading in August.
That month has come and gone with no proposal made public, but lawmakers are now back in Washington, meaning that could change in the coming weeks.
Be they Democrat or Republican, House or Senate, a New York Times investigation published today has found dozens of Congress members trading stocks in companies that their committees are involved with.
Here are a few examples, from the Times’ report:
Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama and a member of the agriculture committee, regularly reported buying and selling contracts tied to cattle prices starting last year, even as the panel, by Mr. Tuberville’s own account, had “been talking about the cattle markets.”
Representative Bob Gibbs, an Ohio Republican on the House Oversight Committee, reported buying shares of the pharmaceutical company AbbVie in 2020 and 2021, while the committee was investigating AbbVie and five rivals over high drug prices.
The timing of one trade by the wife of Representative Alan Lowenthal, Democrat of California, was especially striking: His disclosure statement said she had sold Boeing shares on March 5, 2020 — one day before a House committee on which he sits released damaging findings on the company’s handling of its 737 Max jet, which was involved in two fatal crashes.
All told, 97 lawmakers or their family members traded securities in companies that were affected by their congressional work, the Times’ investigation found, in what will surely add to calls to ban lawmakers from trading stocks, bonds and other investments.
Updated
An advocacy group linked to the Biden administration has joined in on attacking Republicans for their upcoming proposal to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
“Republicans in Congress have shown yet again that they will impose a nationwide abortion ban if given the opportunity,” Danielle Melfi, executive director of Building Back Together, said in a statement.
“This bill underscores just how out of touch they are with the vast majority of the American people, who overwhelmingly oppose proposals to take away our rights and freedoms. While today President Biden will highlight the Inflation Reduction Act and his work to lower costs for working families, Republicans in Congress are continuing their fight to take personal freedoms away from millions of Americans.”
“The decision to get an abortion is a deeply personal one that should only ever be between a woman and her doctor — not politicians. It’s essential that we have more allies in Congress who will stand up for the right of all people to make decisions about their own health for themselves.”
Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator backing the legislation, will unveil it at a 12 noon eastern time event with anti-abortion activists.
Speaking of the justice department’s January 6 investigation, Reuters yesterday reported new details of the inquiry into the attack on the Capitol, which appears to be widening:
The US Justice Department has issued about 40 subpoenas over the past week seeking information about efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election, the New York Times reported on Monday.
Boris Epshteyn, a longtime Trump adviser, and Mike Roman, a campaign strategist for Trump, had their phones seized last week as evidence, the Times said, citing people familiar with the situation.
Dan Scavino, Trump’s former social media director, was also among those who were subpoenaed, according to the paper, which said the group included low-level aides as well as senior advisers.
An attorney for Scavino did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters, while Reuters was unable to contact Roman and Epshteyn.
The subpoenas seek information on a failed bid by the former president and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election by submitting alternative slates of fake electors.
The inquiry is also looking at the assault on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 by Trump supporters.
Some of the subpoenas also seek information on Trump’s Save America political fundraising group, which the Times said was a new line of inquiry by the justice department.
January 6 committee member says criminal referral 'likely' over attack
A criminal referral from the January 6 committee to the justice department is “likely", Adam Kinzinger, one of the committee’s two Republican members, said on Tuesday.
“When it comes to criminality, that’s not our role,” Kinzinger said in an interview on MSNBC, describing the justice department as in the midst of a “pretty fulsome investigation.”
“And that’s going to be where this baton, so to speak, is handed to. Not by us, we may have a criminal referral, I think that’s likely, but with their investigation from here on out.”
Rep. @AdamKinzinger (R-IL) says a criminal referral from the 1/6 committee to the Department of Justice is “likely”:
— The Recount (@therecount) September 13, 2022
“If the rule of law says, ‘You can attempt a coup as long as you fail,’ ... that is way more dangerous for this country than fear of short-term violence.” pic.twitter.com/YGK6JLTZad
The January 6 committee has publicly aired a trove of evidence about Donald Trump’s efforts to disrupt the 2020 election and his actions before and during the attack on the US Capitol. It’s been unclear what the end result of the bipartisan House panel’s investigation will be, but Kinzinger’s comments make it clear he thinks the justice department may act on their findings.
The January 6 committee is expected to resume its hearings later this month, which Kinzinger described as “must-watch TV” for those who care about the fate of the US government:
“It’s gonna be … must-watch TV, not from an entertainment perspective, but from a if you care about the United States of American government perspective.”
— The Recount (@therecount) September 13, 2022
— Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who says there will be "a lot more evidence" against Trump at the next 1/6 committee hearing pic.twitter.com/HRrMA9Xsvn
Inflation wave not over for US yet as prices rise against expectations in August
New data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today showed prices continuing to rise across the country in August, defying expectations for a decrease in the most potent inflation wave since the 1980s. Here’s a look at the numbers from The Guardian’s Dominic Rushe:
Prices in the US surged again in August but the pace of inflation slowed for the second consecutive month as energy costs fell.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly cost of living survey, found prices were 8.3% higher last month compared with August last year. The figure was down from an annual rate of 8.5% recorded in July and 9.1% in June, the highest rate in four decades.
Falling gas prices were the major contributor to the drop. Gas prices have fallen for 13 weeks in a row. Nationally, a gallon of gas currently costs an average of $3.71, according to AAA, down from a high of over $5 in June.
Used and new car prices – once a major driver of inflation – fell, as did airfares.
The chair of the Democratic National Committee Jaime Harrison has put out a statement condemning the GOP’s proposed ban on abortion, which is expected to be introduced today.
“If Republicans gain control, they will try to pass a national abortion ban, following extreme bans Republicans have implemented across the country with no exceptions for rape or incest. That’s the Republican agenda,” Harrison said.
This will be the sixth time Republican senator Lindsey Graham has introduced his national abortion ban in Congress, only now, the South Carolina lawmaker has made it even more strict.
Previous versions of the bill have outlawed abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, but Graham is now expected to propose a ban that takes effect after 15 weeks. That would align federal law with Florida, which outlaws the procedure after the same period of time, with some medical exceptions.
The GOP is in an uncertain spot when it comes to such legislation. Data has shown an increase in women registering to vote after the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in June and allowed states to outlaw abortion, while in Republican-dominated Kansas, voters there resoundingly rejected an attempt to lay the groundwork for a statewide ban. It’s also worth remembering that Graham proposed his national abortion ban during a period when Republicans controlled both Congress and the White House, and it didn’t pass then.
Yet outlawing the procedure retains a strong constituency within the Republican party. After Roe was overturned, former vice-president Mike Pence called for a national ban, while Graham’s measure we co-sponsored by most Republican senators when it was last introduced.
Republican senator set to propose national abortion ban
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Republicans will give the country a preview of what they’d like to see happen to abortion rights today, when senator Lindsey Graham proposes a national ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy, according to The Washington Post. Democrats control the Senate and there is no chance of the bill going anywhere as long as that is the case, so instead, the proposal will serve as a reminder to both abortion supporters and opponents alike of what they can expect should the GOP return to the majority in Congress.
Besides that, there’s a lot going on:
By the time you read this, the labor department will have released its August inflation data, which is expected to show consumer price growth moderating, though by how much remains to be seen.
Speaking of inflation, president Joe Biden will hold a White House event to celebrate his Inflation Reduction Act spending bill at 3 pm eastern time. Vice-president Kamala Harris will speak as well.
Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island are holding the final primary elections in the nation today, setting the stage for the November 8 midterm elections.
The United Nations General Assembly begins today in New York City.
