Summary
That’s it for the US politics live blog! Here is a summary of what happened today:
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris traveled to Philadelphia today and announced $500m that will be used to upgrade water pipes in the region. “Water ought to be something that’s just guaranteed,” said Biden, noting that the US is the richest country in the world.
The Indiana Republican Victoria Spartz said today she will not run for an open Senate seat in 2024 and will also retire from her seat in the US House.
Biden boasted about the better-than-expected latest jobs figures. “Today, I am happy to report that the state of our union and the state of our economy is strong,” said Biden, referring to the over 500,000 jobs that were created in January.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will postpone a scheduled trip to China after yesterday’s discovery of what is believed to be a Chinese spy balloon over the US, sailing above the US and within peering distance of a nuclear weapons installation.
A senior member of Donald Trump’s Wisconsin 2020 election campaign said their team should “fan the flame” of denial about Trump’s key loss in Wisconsin to Biden and and spread the false claim that Democrats were “trying to steal this election”, according to a leaked November 5, 2020 audio clip.
Thank you for reading; have a great weekend!
Updated
The Democratic National Convention will vote on a committee recommendation to alter the presidential primary calendar in 2024 during their upcoming Saturday meeting, reported the Hill.
Biden previously ordered Democrats to change the primary calendar to better support non-white voters.
Here’s more information on Biden’s request from the Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt:
Democrats are poised to shake up the way in which they nominate presidential candidates, after Joe Biden said the primary process should better represent the party’s non-white voters.
Biden has reportedly told Democrats that Iowa, the state that has led off the Democratic voting calendar since 1976, should be moved down the calendar, with South Carolina instead going first.
The move would see New Hampshire, which has technically held the nation’s first primary since 1920 (Iowa uses a slightly different system of caucuses, or in-person voting), shunted down the calendar.
Both Iowa and New Hampshire are predominantly white states. Clamor has been growing inside and outside the Democratic party for a different state, with a population more representative of the US as a whole, to be given the first go.
Read the full article here.
During his remarks, Biden noted the importance of ensuring that all Americans have access to clean water.
“Water ought to be something that’s just guaranteed,” said Biden, noting that the US is the richest country in the world.
Biden said that the problem of older pipes leading to lead exposure and poisoning is an issue across America.
“It’s especially bad in older cities, in the midwest and the northeast,” said Biden.
“No amount of lead in water is safe. None,” Biden added.
Before beginning his remarks, Biden joked about having to support the Philadelphia Eagles before their Super Bowl appearance next Sunday as his wife, Jill Biden, is from the city.
From Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jonathan Tamari:
Joe Biden in Philly:
— Jonathan Tamari (@JonathanTamari) February 3, 2023
"Fly Eagles Fly. I happen to mean it, but even if I didn't, I'd say it. Otherwise, I'd be sleeping alone" he says, referring to Jill Biden
Updated
Harris is currently speaking in Philadelphia in joint remarks with Joe Biden about infrastructure investment that will upgrade clean water systems.
Harris is speaking about the importance of clean drinking water, as Harris and Biden announce $500m that Philadelphia will use to address lead pipes throughout the city.
“No child in America should ever have to endure that kind of experience. No parent in America should ever have that experience,” said Harris, recalling a 2 year-old child who was hospitalized for lead poisoning after drinking water out of the tap.
Just three days after disgraced New York representative George Santos withdrew from House committee assignments, House Republicans have encouraged Twitter users to follow him on social media.
The House Republican tagged George Santos’ official account with the hashtag “FollowFriday”, encouraging users to follow the congressman’s account.
From the House Republicans Twitter account:
#FollowFriday @RepSantosNY03 from #NY03! pic.twitter.com/qWn3riPcYu
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) February 3, 2023
The New York Republican congressman remains under investigation for several lies he listed on his résumé and current campaign finance filings.
Updated
A former Manhattan prosecutor wrote in a new book that he almost pursued a racketeering charge against Donald Trump, reports the New York Times.
Mark F Pomerantz resigned in protest from the Manhattan district attorney’s office last year after the office’s newly elected DA, Alvin Bragg, declined to pursue an indictment against Trump.
In a forthcoming book entitled “People vs. Donald Trump”, Pomerantz says that the Manhattan district attorney’s office mapped out charges to bring against Trump under the state’s racketeering law.
More from the Times:
Mr. Pomerantz and his colleagues cast a wide net, examining a host of Trump enterprises — including Trump University, his for-profit real estate education venture, and his family charitable foundation.
“He demanded absolute loyalty and would go after anyone who crossed him. He seemed always to stay one step ahead of the law,” Mr. Pomerantz, a prominent litigator who has prosecuted and defended organized crime cases, writes of Mr. Trump. “In my career as a lawyer, I had encountered only one other person who touched all of these bases: John Gotti, the head of the Gambino organized crime family.”
A lawyer for Mr. Trump recently sent Mr. Pomerantz a letter threatening that, “If you publish such a book and continue making defamatory statements against my clients, my office will aggressively pursue all legal remedies.”
Read the full article here (paywall).
Our columnist Moustafa Bayoumi has filed on the Republican move to expel Ilhan Omar from the foreign affairs committee, ostensibly over her allegedly antisemitic remarks about Israel, and what it says about the GOP’s own problems with antisemitism…
Who remembers how, in 2018 and just days before the deadliest attack on Jewish people in US history, a prominent US politician tweeted: “We cannot allow Soros, Steyer, and Bloomberg to BUY this election!”?
The tweet was widely – and correctly – understood as dangerously antisemitic, particularly heinous in a period of rising anti-Jewish hatred. And whose tweet was this? If you thought the answer was Minnesota’s Democratic representative Ilhan Omar then, well, you’d be wrong. The author was none other than the House majority leader at the time, Republican Kevin McCarthy.
And who can forget when Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has tweeted that “Joe Biden is Hitler”, speculated that the wildfires in California were caused by a beam from “space solar generators” linked to “Rothschild, Inc.”, a clear wink to bizarre antisemitic conspiracy theories. Incidentally, Greene, who has a long record of antisemitic and anti-Muslim statements, has been recently appointed, by the same Kevin McCarthy, now speaker of the House, to the homeland security committee.
Then there’s former president Donald Trump, who dines with Holocaust deniers like Nick Fuentes and antisemites like Ye. In stereotypically anti-Jewish moves, Trump has repeatedly called the loyalty of Jewish Americans into question. Just this past October, he wrote that “US Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel – Before it is too late!”
In case it’s not obvious, let me state it plainly. Today’s Republican party has a serious antisemitism problem. The easy acceptance and amplification of all sorts of anti-Jewish hate that party leaders engage in emboldens all the worst bigots, raving racists, and far-right extremists across the globe, all the while threatening Jewish people here and everywhere.
So it is more than a little rich that House Republicans voted on Thursday to remove Omar from the foreign affairs committee, where she’s served since 2019, because, they say, of her antisemitic views.
Read on:
After less than seven minutes, Jean-Pierre’s gaggle has come to an end as the press secretary told reporters that passengers were being instructed to sit down due to turbulence.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is currently in a gaggle aboard Air Force 1, on route to Philadelphia where Harris and Biden will give remarks on the city’s upgraded water systems.
Jean-Pierre answered several questions on the status of the Chinese spy balloon that was reported above the US.
“The president was briefed on this on Tuesday,” adding that Biden has continued to receive updates on the spy balloon.
The recommendation from US military officials was not to take “kinetic action” due to safety risks for people on the ground.
Jean-Pierre did not answer questions on if the US will attempt to capture the balloon, but added that the Pentagon is “keeping a close eye on it” and will continue to monitor it.
The Indiana Republican Victoria Spartz said today she will not run for an open Senate seat in 2024 and will also retire from her seat in the US House.
The decision ends speculation which mounted when the 44-year-old refused to back Kevin McCarthy during last month’s 15-vote marathon for House speaker, voting “present” instead of backing any of the rightwing figures put up against McCarthy by a group of far-right rebels.
She told reporters: “My concern is that … we didn’t come together yet. So, we have to go back … as a group of people, and figure it out.”
Some observers, however, suggested that Spartz might be hedging her bets ahead of a Senate run.
Seems not. In a statement on Friday, the Ukraine-born Spartz said: “It’s been my honor representing Hoosiers in the Indiana state senate and US Congress and I appreciate the strong support on the ground. 2024 will mark seven years of holding elected office and over a decade in Republican politics.
“I won a lot of tough battles for the people and will work hard to win a few more in the next two years. However, being a working mom is tough and I need to spend more time with my two high-school girls back home, so I will not run for any office in 2024.”
Jim Banks, a prominent hardliner in the US House, is the favourite to win the Republican primary to replace the retiring Mike Braun in the US Senate. Donald Trump has endorsed Banks.
Updated
Texts sent by Alex Jones show the rightwing media figure repeatedly texted with members of the Proud Boys in 2020.
Jones conversed with Gavin McInnes, the founder of Proud Boys, and Jason Biggs, who is on trial for seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol attack of 6 January 2021, an attempt to keep Donald Trump in office despite his election loss to Joe Biden.
Some 22,000 of Jones’ texts, spanning August 2019 to 15 May 2020, were reviewed by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch reporting team.
Jones also frequently texted with Roger Stone, the rightwing political fixer sentenced to 40 months in prison in 2020 over his attempts to sabotage a congressional investigation that posed a political threat to Trump. Jones was pardoned by Trump in December 2020.
Hatewatch found that despite Jones using his Infowars broadcasts to rail against pornography as a plot to “end the family”, he repeatedly texted links to pornographic videos.
The messages also offer a glimpse into Jones’ state of mind as he was being sued by multiple parents of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting, after he repeatedly said the shooting was a hoax.
In one message, Jones told his wife “I am in hell”. A message to his father described his situation as like “a black hole”.
Hatewatch obtained the messages from Mark Bankston, an attorney who represented Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of Jesse Lewis, who was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. Heslin and Lewis sued Jones for defamation, and were awarded $49m.
Bankston received the messages from Jones’ lawyers, after they mistakenly sent their legal opponent 22,000 of Jones’ texts.
Interim summary
Hello again, live blog readers, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are heading to Philadelphia this afternoon to talk about the economy and we’ll have that news for you as it happens, so do stick around.
It’s been a morning of mixed politics developments, here’s where things stand so far:
Biden and Harris are due to speak in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 3.15pm ET, with remarks on the economy. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will “gaggle” with accompanying reporters aboard Air Force One en route to the city, available on audio via the White House Live link, expected around 1.40pm ET.
The US president tooted his horn over the better-than-expected latest jobs figures. “Today, I am happy to report that the state of our union and the state of our economy is strong,” said Biden, referring to the over 500,000 jobs that were created in January.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will postpone a scheduled trip to China after yesterday’s discovery of what is believed to be a Chinese spy balloon over the US, sailing above Montana within peering distance of a nuclear weapons installation.
A senior member of Donald Trump’s Wisconsin 2020 election campaign said their team should “fan the flame” of denial about Trump’s key loss there to Biden and and spread the false claim that Democrats were “trying to steal this election” in a leaked November 5, 2020 audio clip. The guy on tape is still a senior RNC figure.
Indiana representative Victoria Spartz announced in a statement today that she will not be seeking reelection or running for the US Senate.
“I will not run for any office in 2024,” said Spartz, who is Republican, in a statement.
Rep. Victoria Spartz announces that she's not running for Senate in 2024 -- or for reelection #IN05 pic.twitter.com/V1ZQlmE1A7
— Erin Covey (@ercovey) February 3, 2023
The announcement comes as rumors circulated around a potential Senate run from Spartz given an open seat.
Spartz received wide attention for voting ‘present’ during House speaker elections, where House Speaker Kevin McCarthy required 15 votes to secure the position.
Updated
Senior state officials have commented on the postponement of Blinken’s trip to China after a Chinese spy balloon was discovered over the US yesterday, noting that conditions were no longer right for Blinken’s travel.
From Reuters’ reporter Hümeyra Pamuk:
NEW: Senior State Dept officials say presence of the Chinese balloon in U.S. airspace a 'clear violation" of U.S. sovereignty and describe the incident as "unacceptable". Say the conditions are not right for Blinken to travel to China.
— Hümeyra Pamuk (@humeyra_pamuk) February 3, 2023
When asked why this balloon was different, the U.S. official said: "This is the first time it's happened on the eve of a planned secretary of state visit to the PRC" and added the incident would have narrowed the trip's agenda in an "unhelpful and unconstructive" way. https://t.co/6KEE8AJsbZ
— Hümeyra Pamuk (@humeyra_pamuk) February 3, 2023
While attending the funeral of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old man beaten to death by police in Memphis, Tennessee, this week, Kamala Harris called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed in the House in 2021 but failed in the Senate.
Jonathan Freedland speaks to Dr David Thomas, former police officer and professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, about why lawmakers find police reform a difficult issue to legislate on.
Listen to the Guardian’s Politics Weekly America podcast here.
Updated
Amid Biden’s boasts about his administration’s economic gains, the 80 year-old president has not confirmed if he is running for reelection in 2024.
Biden indicated last year that he will likely seek out the presidency again, but deferred any official announcements until early 2023.
“I think everybody wants me to run, but we’re going to have discussions about it,” said Biden to reporters during a November press conference. Biden added then that he would be using the holidays to discuss his decision with family.
More recently, Biden’s top advisors have indicated that he will seek out a second term.
Ron Klain, Biden’s outgoing chief of staff, said Biden will be running in 2024 during a transition ceremony on Wednesday for his successor Jeff Zients, reported the Hill.
“As I did in 1988, 2008 and 2020, I look forward to being on your side when you run for president in 2024,” said Klain.
Jobs are going up, inflation is going down, and my economic plan is working. https://t.co/q9iJdKrmCw
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 3, 2023
Updated
Biden trumpets good news on jobs
Joe Biden gave brief remarks on the state of the economy following positive January job growth news.
“Today, I am happy to report that the state of our union and the state of our economy is strong,” said Biden, referring to the over 500,000 jobs that were created in January.
The president said that his administration has created more jobs than any other presidential term in history, adding that Black and Hispanic unemployment rates are also at record lows.
Biden boasted the economic growth as supporting working class communities in rural parts of America, adding “Trickle down economics work for one group of Americans, it doesn’t work for everybody.”
The victory lap comes as Biden and US vice president Kamala Harris prepare to visit Philadelphia later today and speak on $500m investments the city will be using to upgrade the its water system.
Guardian US reporter Lauren Aratani writes: The US job market added 517,000 jobs in January, a huge gain for the labor market even as the Federal Reserve has pushed up interest rates to bring down inflation and try to temper hiring. You can read her full report here.
Updated
Here’s more context on the Biden administration’s decision to delay Blinken’s trip to China, from Washington Post reporter John Hudson.
The decision came just hours before Blinken was scheduled to depart for Beijing. It's dramatic indication of how seriously the Biden administration takes the incident but also how nervous the administration is about appearing soft on China.
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) February 3, 2023
Biden has been sensitive to GOP criticisms, though on the issue of cancelling the trip, Republicans were divided on the matter. Cotton pushed to cancel the trip while McCarthy demanded a briefing. HFAC GOP encouraged Blinken to use the trip to send a tough message to China
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) February 3, 2023
Updated
Blinken delays trip to Beijing amid spy balloon puzzle
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will postpone a scheduled trip to China after yesterday’s discovery of a Chinese spy balloon over the US.
Here’s more on the discovery of the spy balloon, from the Guardian’s Julian Borger:
The Pentagon has said it is tracking a Chinese spy balloon flying over the US but decided against shooting it down for safety reasons.
Defence officials said the balloon had been watched since it entered US airspace at high altitude a couple of days ago. It has been monitored by several methods including crewed aircraft, and has most recently been tracked crossing Montana, where the US has silo-based nuclear missiles.
As a precaution, flights from Billings Logan airport were suspended on Wednesday.
The Chinese government has not confirmed if it owns the balloon, and state-backed media have used the incident to taunt the US.
Updated
Joe Biden will be giving remarks shortly about new figures released on the January job market report.
The US added 517,000 jobs in January, bringing the unemployment rate to a 53-year low of 3.4%.
The latest news on the job market signified significant growth for the labor sector, even as the Federal reserve increases interest rates to address rising inflation costs.
Experts had expected the unemployment rate to rise slightly last month, but the rate continued to decrease to levels seen pre-pandemic.
223,000 jobs were added to the labor market in December, an overall gain but lower than the 539,000 new jobs added each month since the start of 2022.
In the November 2020 clip taken two days after the 2020 election, Iverson praised Republicans’ efforts in Wisconsin while admitting that Democrats won the most votes in the state.
From the Associated Press:
At the end of the day, this operation received more votes than any other Republican in Wisconsin history…Say what you want, our operation turned out Republican or DJT supporters. Democrats have got 20,000 more than us, out of Dane County and other shenanigans in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Dane. There’s a lot that people can learn from this campaign.
Despite Iverson’s private comments that Republicans had lost Wisconsin in the 2020 US presidential election, Trump allies continued to spread the false claim that the election was stolen.
Trump 2020 campaign head in key state sought to fan flame of election denial
A senior member of Trump’s re-election campaign said that campaigners were going to “fan the flame” and spread the false claim that Democrats were “trying to steal this election” in a leaked November 2020 audio clip, the Associated Press first reported.
In the obtained audio recording, Andrew Iverson discussed the communications strategy for Trump’s reelection in Wisconsin, as Democrats outflanked Republicans in the region.
At the time, Iverson led reelection efforts in Wisconsin, a key battleground state which Biden eventually won by over 20,000 votes in 2020.
“Here’s the deal: comms is going to continue to fan the flame and get the word out about Democrats trying to steal this election. We’ll do whatever they need. Just be on standby if there’s any stunts we need to pull,” said Iverson.
The audio was given to the Associated Press by a former Trump operative, who withheld their name fearing political and personal retaliation. The unnamed operative was motivated as Trump prepares for a third reelection campaign for the US presidency.
Iverson, who is now the midwest regional director for the Republican National Committee (RNC), has deferred questions from the Associated Press to RNC spokesperson Keith Schipper.
Schipper declined to comment, saying that he has not heard the audio.
Updated
Audio shows Trump campaign bid to 'fan the flames'
Good morning, US politics live blog readers.
In a newly released audio recording from November 2020, a top member of Donald Trump’s re-election campaign noted that team members were going to “fan the flame” and spread word that Democrats were “trying to steal this election”, reported the Associated Press.
The recording focuses on Andrew Iverson, who led the re-election campaign in Wisconsin and is now the midwest regional director for the Republican National Committee.
In the audio clip, Iverson focused on the communication strategy for Trump’s reelection campaign in Wisconsin, as Democrats were outperforming Republicans in the vital battleground state.
“Here’s the deal: comms is going to continue to fan the flame and get the word out about Democrats trying to steal this election. We’ll do whatever they need. Just be on standby if there’s any stunts we need to pull,” said Iverson.
Here’s what else we can expect today:
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will travel to Philadelphia today to announced $500m that will be used to upgrade water pipes in the region. The two will also address the Democratic National Committee during its winter meeting.
Jeff Zients is gearing up to begin his tenure as Biden’s new chief of staff, succeeding Ron Klain.
Advocates and Black lawmakers have urged Biden to discuss police reform during his State of the Union address next week, as several high-profile police brutality incidents have occurred in recent months.
