Closing summary
Here’s a recap of today’s developments:
The Republican-led House all but disappeared for the long weekend after abruptly wrapping up its work on Thursday when the embattled speaker, Kevin McCarthy, failed to advance a stopgap government spending bill.
The White House planned to begin telling federal agencies to prepare for a shutdown. If Congress does not pass a spending bill before 1 October, the lapse in funding is expected to force hundreds of thousands of federal workers to go without pay and bring a halt to some crucial government services.
The historic US autoworkers’ strike as the United Auto Workers president, Shawn Fain, called on 38 additional plants across 20 states to join the strike. During a livestream update, Fain announced the additional strikes at automaker plants as contract negotiations with the big three automakers remain far apart on economic issues. He invited Joe Biden to the picket line.
Joe Biden pledged to fight for gun safety laws while unveiling a new White House office of gun violence prevention. Kamala Harris will oversee the office. “On this issue, we do not have a moment to spare nor a life to spare,” she said in remarks on Friday.
Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, and his wife have been charged with bribery offenses in connection with accepting gold bars, cash and a Mercedes-Benz, among other gifts, in exchange for protecting three businessmen and influencing the government of Egypt.
The conservative justice Clarence Thomas has attended at least two donor events organized by the Koch network, the ultra-right political organization founded by the libertarian billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, which has brought multiple cases before the supreme court, according to a new report.
The third Republican presidential primary debate will be held on 8 November in Miami. Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner of the party’s race, skipped the first debate and recently announced he’ll also forego the second.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced he is leaving the Democratic party and becoming a Republican.
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, and the US politics live blog today. Have a good weekend.
Updated
Third GOP presidential primary debate to be held on 8 November
The third Republican presidential primary debate will be held on 8 November in Miami.
The date, first reported by CNN, is more than a month after the second debate which is scheduled to take place on 27 September at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The first took place on 23 August in Milwaukee.
Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner of the party’s race, skipped the first debate and recently announced he’ll also forego the second.
Maxwell Frost, the 26-year-old congressman from Florida, described Joe Biden as “one of the fiercest champions of gun violence protection” as he stood beside the president and vice president at the Rose Garden.
Frost said that as the first member of Gen Z to be voted into Congress last year, he is often asked what got him involved in politics and his answer is:
I didn’t want to get shot in school. I was 15 years old when a shooter walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and murdered 20 children and six teachers. Like millions of kids, I went to school the next day with anxiety and fear that my life would be taken, my friends’ lives would be taken, and my family’s lives would be taken by senseless gun violence.
He said that he had served as the national organizing director for March for Our Lives before being elected to Congress, and that he learned the “brutal truth” that the time people pay the most attention is usually “coupled with carnage and death”.
Not today. Today the country sees us here, at the White House, with a president who is taking action.
Biden: 'Safety of our kids from gun violence is on the ballot'
Biden said that for every member of Congress who refuses to act on gun violence, we will “need to elect new members of Congress”.
There comes a point where our voices are so loud, our determination is so clear, that we can longer be stopped. We’re reaching that point. We’ve reached that point today, in my view, where the safety of our kids from gun violence is on the ballot.
He said the “deadly and traumatic price” of inaction on gun control “can no longer be the lives of our children and the people of our country”.
Updated
Biden: 'Guns are the number one killer of children in America'
Biden urged that “it’s time to ban assault weapons, high capacity magazines”, and for Congress to do more.
He said the new federal Office of Gun Violence will be overseen by Kamala Harris, who has been “on the frontlines” her entire career as a prosecutor and as a attorney general.
Listing the four primarily responsibilities of the newly formed office, he said none of those steps would alone “solve the entirety of the gun violence epidemic”. “Together, they will save lives,” he said.
I never thought even remotely say this in my whole career: guns are the number one killer of children in America. Guns are the number one killer of children in America.
In 2023, more than 500 mass shootings have taken place and "well over 30,000” deaths as a result of gun violence, he said, describing it as “totally unacceptable”.
Updated
Joe Biden, who was introduced by Florida congressman Maxwell Frost, announced the creation of the first ever federal office of gun violence prevention and said he was “determined to send a clear message about how important this issue is to me and to the country”.
He said that after every mass shooting, he has heard the same message all over the country: “Please do something. Do something to prevent a tragedy.” He said his administration has been working “relentlessly to do something”.
He said that last year, he signed into law the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which he descried as “the most significant gun safety law” and an “important first step”.
For the first time in three decades, we came together to overcome the relentless opposition from a gun lobby, gun manufacturers and so many politicians opposing common sense gun legislation.
“We’re not stopping here,” Biden added.
Updated
'We do not have a moment to spare': Harris urges gun control action
Harris said she “owed” it to the parents and children she has comforted who has been traumatized by losing a family member to gun violence.
On this issue, we do not have a moment to spare nor a life to spare.
The vice president said the administration will “use the full power of the federal government” to “strengthen the coalition of survivors, and advocates, and students, and teachers, and elected leaders, to save lives and fight for the rights of all people to be safe from fear”.
One in five Americans have lost a family member to gun violence, says Harris
Kamala Harris, speaking at the Rose Garden, said Americans “should be able to shop in a grocery store, walk down the street, or sit peacefully in a classroom” and be safe from gun violence.
The US has been “torn apart by the fear and trauma that results from gun violence”, the vice president said, standing besides Joe Biden and Florida congressman Maxwell Frost.
In our country today, one in five people has lost a family member to gun violence. Across our nation every day, about 120 Americans are killed by a gun.
The impact of gun violence is not equal across all communities, she said.
Black Americans are 10 times more likely to be victims of gun violence and homicide. Latino Americans twice as likely.
Harris said that, as a former courtroom prosecutor, she had seen “with my own eyes what a bullet does to the human body”.
We cannot normalise any of this. These are not simply statistics. These are our children.
My colleague David Smith is at the Rose Garden event and has tweeted this picture of Biden and Harris emerging from the White House:
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Maxwell Frost emerging from Oval Office: pic.twitter.com/y61HiggpTP
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) September 22, 2023
Updated
Tennessee state representative Justin Jones has been spotted heading to the Rose Garden ahead of Joe Biden’s speech announcing the formation of the nation’s first federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention, according to a White House pool report.
Jones is one of the “Tennessee Three”, along with Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson, who was expelled earlier this year for his role in a pro-gun control protest inside the Tennessee Capitol.
Throughout his presidency, Joe Biden has used executive actions to regulate homemade firearms – known as ghost guns – in the same way as traditional firearms, and to clarify who counts as a gun seller and thus is required by law to conduct background checks.
Last year he also signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that, among other things, tightens background checks and bolsters mental health programs.
Biden has advocated for re-instating the national assault weapons ban and expanding background checks since he was vice-president. A historic increase in gun homicides in 2020 pushed community-based violence prevention further up the administration’s agenda.
Biden and Harris to deliver address on first federal gun violence office
Joe Biden is expected to announce the nation’s first federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention during a Rose Garden event at 2.45pm Eastern time.
The office will be overseen by the office of the vice president, Kamala Harris, who will also be speaking at the event.
In a statement released on Thursday, Biden said:
In the absence of that sorely-needed action, the Office of Gun Violence Prevention along with the rest of my Administration will continue to do everything it can to combat the epidemic of gun violence that is tearing our families, our communities, and our country apart.
The White House just skirted around a question from the press about whether Joe Biden believes the New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez should resign.
The senator, who has an influential position as chair of the US Senate committee on foreign relations, was indicted earlier today on bribery charges.
“I’m going to be really careful here and not comment because it is an active matter,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre says the White House will not comment on Sen. Bob Menendez's (D-NJ) indictment since it's an “active matter," and doesn't comment when asked if President Biden thinks he should resign.
— The Recount (@therecount) September 22, 2023
“We learned about this just like all of you," Jean-Pierre says. pic.twitter.com/9HDqJP0rgP
Jean-Pierre said the matter was the US Senate’s to deal with and that “discussions are happening” there about the “next steps.”
100 people shot and killed daily in US - WH briefing
Congresswoman Lucy McBath is addressing the press in the west wing at the daily briefing, which today is headlining on the new national gun violence prevention office. The new project will be officially launched just under an hour from now.
Georgia representative McBath told how her young son was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2012 and she was “robbed of every dream that a mother holds,” she said, and noted that she would never see her son graduate high school, go to college or get married.
“Every single day, over 100 people are shot and killed in the United States. Gun violence has no boundaries,” she said, whether people become victims in suburbs, cities or rural areas.
McBath will join Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the rose garden shortly for the formal launch of the new office to prevent gun violence.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris plan to speak in the rose garden at the White House in about an hour on the creation of the nation’s first federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention, to be led by the US vice president.
In a few moments, the White House press briefing will begin, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accompanied at the podium by Georgia representative Lucy McBath, who campaigns on gun safety. She lost her son to gun violence.
This is what she posted yesterday:
I wanted to give my son the world.
— Lucy McBath (@lucymcbath) September 21, 2023
I surrounded him with community and made sure he knew that I loved him every single day.
But in the end, our Nation's dangerous gun laws failed my son.
I will never stop fighting until we end gun violence. pic.twitter.com/q8WiDqcM3X
Joe Biden has told Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the US will provide a small number of long-range missiles to help in Ukraine’s fight against Russia, three US officials and a congressional official told NBC News on Friday.
The officials did not confirm when the missiles would be delivered and remain anonymous as they have not been authorised to speak on the subject publicly.
A congressional official told NBC News that there was still a debate about the type of missile that would be sent and how many would be delivered to Ukraine.
The news comes after the White House rejected Zelenskiy’s request for Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to be sent to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package to bolster the country’s counteroffensive.
For all the developments in the Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion and related geopolitics, follow our Ukraine live blog here.
Zelenskiy was given the red carpet treatment at the White House yesterday, after two days in New York at the United Nations General Assembly. Before visiting Biden he was on Capitol Hill meeting with US Senators.
I took this photo of President Zelenskyy yesterday when we welcomed him to Washington. I asked him a question about grain shipments and Putin’s plans to weaponize winter and limit the world’s food supplies. We stand with Ukraine. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/3sCCo7cIlo
— Senator Amy Klobuchar (@SenAmyKlobuchar) September 22, 2023
Updated
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain filed a labor complaint against Republican presidential candidate and South Carolina senator, Tim Scott, over comments regarding the strike.
The complaint filed to the national labor relations board came after Scott on Monday criticized the strike against the Big Three automakers and suggested striking workers should be fired. When asked about the strike at a campaign event on Monday, Scott replied:
I think Ronald Reagan gave us a great example when federal employees decided they were going to strike. He said, ‘You strike, you’re fired.’ Simple concept to me, to the extent that we can use that once again.
Under the National Labor Relations Act, anyone can file a charge against an employer or a labor organization if they believe rights have been violated.
Just another example of how the employer class abuses the working class in America, employers willfully violate labor law with little to no repercussions. Time for more stringent laws to protect workers rights!!#StandUpUAWhttps://t.co/eIm87SHTRN
— Shawn Fain (@ShawnFainUAW) September 21, 2023
Dallas mayor Eric Johnson announces he is switching to Republican party
The mayor of one of the largest US cities announced he is leaving the Democratic party and becoming a Republican.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, said his decision was because “the future of America’s great urban centers depends on the willingness of the nation’s mayors to champion law and order and practice fiscal conservatism”.
Our cities desperately need the genuine commitment to these principles (as opposed to the inconsistent, poll-driven commitment of many Democrats) that has long been a defining characteristic of the GOP.
In other words, American cities need Republicans – and Republicans need American cities.
Updated
Supreme court justice Clarence Thomas’s involvement as a potential fundraising draw is part of a decades-long personal relationship with the influential Koch brothers that has remained almost entirely out of public view.
The relationship was apparently nurtured during regular trips to the Bohemian Grove, a secretive all-men’s retreat in northern California, where Thomas stayed with the real estate magnate Harlan Crow and the Koch siblings, according to records and people who have spent time with him there, reported ProPublica.
Friday’s report is the latest in a string of exposés into the personal and financial ties between Thomas and rich benefactors, many of whom are donors to rightwing causes.
ProPublica has previously revealed undeclared links to Crow including luxury holidays and travel; a real estate sale which benefited Thomas’s mother; and school fees paid for his grand nephew. In a statement earlier this year, confirmed that Crow is a close friend with whom he has taken “family trips” and has argued that he was not required to disclose the free vacations.
As it stands, Thomas will be on the bench when the conservative super-majority supreme court hears a Koch-backed case that seeks to strip federal agencies of their power to make rules on the environment, labor rights and consumer protection among other issues.
If the Koch network’s attorneys win the case, it would undo decades of legal precedent and have a profound impact on the health and safety of ordinary Americans’ lives – and the ability of the government to tackle the climate emergency.
Clarence Thomas spoke at two donor events of ultra-right Koch network - report
The conservative justice Clarence Thomas has attended at least two donor events organized by the Koch network, the ultra-right political organization founded by the libertarian billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, which has brought multiple cases before the supreme court, according to the latest revelations by ProPublica on the judge, his friends and financial disclosures.
Thomas was brought in to speak at the fundraising events in the hope that access to one of the most senior and right-leaning judges on the supreme court would encourage the network’s wealthy donors to keep giving, three former Koch network employees and one major donor told the non-profit investigative news outlet.
In one case, the 75-year-old justice traveled to a weekend event in Palm Springs, California, in January 2018 on a private jet, which he never reported on his annual financial disclosure form, in an apparent violation of federal law requiring justices to report most gifts, according to ProPublica.
Updated
Shawn Fain, the UAW’s president, rebuffed Donald Trump’s ostensibly union-friendly posture, saying in an issued statement:
Every fibre of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers.
Crucially, however, the UAW has yet to endorse Biden’s re-election bid, despite the president’s labour-friendly posture and his vocal support for the union’s demands – giving Republicans leeway to make inroads with its members.
Bullishly heading the Republican charge is Donald Trump, who has made clear his intention to woo UAW members by scheduling a keynote speech in Detroit next week – the symbolic heartland of the US motor industry and near the site of the strike-hit Ford plant in Dearborn.
He will address 500 workers and union members from a range of industries – including carworkers – in a bid to reclaim the level of working-class support that enabled him to carry Michigan in his 2016 presidential victory over Hillary Clinton, before losing the state in his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden.
Next Tuesday’s event will be timed to coincide with the second Republican primary debate in California, which he is deliberately skipping to shield his presumed status as the party’s anointed nominee-in-waiting.
For his part, Biden has clearly sided with the union’s demands and urged management to share more of their companies’ record profits with the workforce.
A strike pitting a resurgent trade union against the US’s three biggest carmakers has exposed key differences in labour relations among Republicans – even while animating their assault on Joe Biden’s self-styled “Bidenomics” policies.
Led by Donald Trump, the former president and 2024 party frontrunner, Republican hopefuls have seized on the stoppage by 13,000 United Auto Workers (UAW) members at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis production facilities in Missouri, Michigan and Ohio to highlight rumbling economic discontent as a catalyst to recapturing the White House.
Republicans – who have attacked unions for decades – believe they stand to gain from a dispute that could seriously test Biden’s claim to be the most pro-labour president in US history.
Yet underlying their conviction is a divide between those professing sympathy for the strikers’ grievances and others who have invoked Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher to suggest that they deserve to be sacked.
Senator Menendez to step down as Senate foreign relations commitee chair
Democratic senator Bob Menendez must step down as chair of the Senate foreign relations committee now that he indicted.
Rules for the Senate Democratic caucus say that any member who is charged with a felony must step aside from a leadership position.
Menendez had to step down from his position when he was indicted in 2015. He later resumed the post in 2018 after he was cleared of the charges.
Updated
Senator Menendez dismisses federal bribery charges as 'smear campaign'
Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey released a statement following the announcement by prosecutors that he and his wife were charged with bribery offenses in connection with accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes” in exchange for protecting three businessmen and influencing the government of Egypt.
The statement reads:
For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly attempted to silence my voice and dig my political grave. Since this investigation was leaked nearly a year ago, there has been an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists.
The excesses of these prosecutors is apparent. They have misrepresented the normal work of a Congressional office. On top of that, not content with making false claims against me, they have attacked my wife for the longstanding friendships she had before she and I even met.
Those behind this campaign simply cannot accept that a first-generation Latino American from humble beginnings could rise to be a U.S. Senator and serve with honor and distinction. Even worse, they see me as an obstacle in the way of their broader political goals.
I have been falsely accused before because I refused to back down to the powers that be and the people of New Jersey were able to see through the smoke and mirrors and recognize I was innocent. I have worked every day to repay their trust by fighting to create jobs, strengthen public safety, update infrastructure, and reduce costs for New Jersey families. I have also stood steadfast against dictators around the globe – whether they be in Iran, Cuba, Turkey, or elsewhere – fighting against the forces of appeasement and standing with those who stand for freedom and democracy. I remain focused on continuing this important work and will not be distracted by baseless allegations.
They wrote these charges as they wanted; the facts are not as presented. Prosecutors did that the last time and look what a trial demonstrates. People should remember that before accepting the prosecutor’s version.
To my supporters, friends and the community at large, I ask that you recall the other times the prosecutors got it wrong and that you reserve judgement. I am confident that this matter will be successfully resolved once all of the facts are presented and my fellow New Jerseyans will see this for what it is.
David Schertler, a lawyer for Menendez’s wife, Nadine, said she “denies any criminal conduct and will vigorously contest these charges in court.”
Updated
Prosecutors reveal images from search of Menendez's home
FBI agents searching the New Jersey home of Senator Robert Menendez and his wife discovered approximately $500,000 of cash “stuffed into envelopes and closets”, some of which was “stuffed in the senator’s jacket pockets”, Williams said.
An image included in court documents shows lots of cash and a jacket with the senator’s name on it.
The indictment alleges that after a meeting between Senator Menendez and the Egyptian official, Wael Hana, Hana bought 22 one-ounce gold bars each worth about $1,800.
Investigators later found two of those gold bars when they searched Menendez’s house, according to prosecutors.
Hana and Jose Uribe also allegedly helped the senator’s wife, Nadine Menendez, buy a new Mercedes-Benz convertible if her husband interfered in a New Jersey state prosecution, the indictment said.
The indictment said that after the purchase was complete, Nadine Menendez texted her husband a heart emoji with the words:
Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes.
Updated
The investigation into Senator Robert Menendez and his wife is ongoing, US attorney Damian Williams said.
We are not done. And I want to encourage anyone with information to come forward and to come forward quickly.
After officially announcing the indictment, U.S. Attorney for SNDY Damian Williams says the probe into Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is “very much ongoing.” pic.twitter.com/dtF4nA8eEg
— The Recount (@therecount) September 22, 2023
FBI agents found $500,000 'stuffed into closets' and 'a lot of gold' in Senator Menendez’s home, say prosecutors
US attorney Damian Williams said FBI special agents discovered “a lot of gold” provided by Fred Daibes during a search of the Menendez couple’s home in New Jersey.
Agents discovered approximately $500,000 of cash “stuffed into envelopes and closets”, some of which was “stuffed in the senator’s jacket pockets”, Williams said. Some of the envelops of cash contained Daibes’ fingerprints and DNA, he said.
The FBI also found the Mercedes Benz car that Jose Uribe had provided the couple, he said.
Menendez 'used power and influence' to benefit the Egyptian government, prosecutor says
The indictment alleges that Senator Menendez “used power and influence” including his leadership role on the Senate foreign relations committee “to benefit the government of Egypt”, including allegedly providing sensitive, non-public US government information to Egyptian officials and that he “otherwise took steps to secretly aid” the Egyptian government, Williams said.
The New Jersey senator is also alleged to have “improperly pressured” a senior official at the Department of Agriculture to “protect a lucrative monopoly that the government of Egypt had awarded to [Wael] Hana” and that Hana used to “fund certain bribe payments”, he said.
The indictment also alleges that Menendez used his power and influence to try to disrupt a criminal investigation and prosecution undertaken by the New Jersey attorney generla’s office related to an associate and relative of [Jose] Uribe”.
Williams said the indictment also alleges that the senator tried to disrupt a federal prosecution of [Fred] Daibes in two ways, including by seeking to install a US attorney “who he thought could be influenced”.
Updated
US attorney Damian Williams said constituent service is part of any legislator’s job, and that Senator Menendez “is no different”.
There are things that Menendez says he can do for his constituents and things that he says he cannot do for his constituents, Williams said.
He put it all on his Senate website. It says he cannot compel an agency to act in someone’s favor. It says he cannot influence matters involving a private business. It says he cannot get involved in criminal matters or cases, period.
The indictment alleges that Menendez “was doing those things” behind the scenes and that he “took several actions as part of this corrupt relationship”.
Prosecutors hold news conference on bribery charges against Senator Robert Menendez
The US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York is holding a news conference announcing the charges against New Jersey Democratic senator Robert Menendez.
Damian Williams, addressing reporters, said his office obtained a three-count indictment charging Menendez, his wife Nadine Menendez, and three New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes for bribery charges.
The indictment alleges that between 2018 and 2022, the New Jersey senator, who leads the Senate’s foreign relations committee, and his wife “engaged in a corrupt relationship” with their three co-defendants. Williams said.
The indictment alleged that the senator and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes “in exchange for Senator Menendez using his power and influence, to protect and to enrich those businessmen and to benefit the government of Egypt”.
Updated
Search of Senator Menendez's home led to $480,000 in hidden cash and $100,000 in gold, prosecutors say
A search of the home of Senator Bob Menendez and his wife turned up $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in hidden cash, federal prosecutors said.
Menendez, the chair of the Senate committee on foreign relations, had previously been charged in New Jersey with accepting private flights, campaign contributions and other bribes from a wealthy patron in exchange for official favors, but a 2017 trial ended in a jury deadlock.
The federal government now seeks the forfeiture of assets including the couple’s New Jersey home, a 2019 Mercedez-Benz vehicle, about $566,000 in cash, gold bars and funds from a bank account.
Updated
The indictment alleges that Senator Menendez provided sensitive US government information and put pressure on an official at the department for agriculture for the purpose of protecting Egyptian American businessman Wael Hana, a co-defendant in the case, and the government of Egypt.
Menendez “promised to and did use his influence and power and breach his official duty to recommend that the President nominate an individual for U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey who Menendez believed could be influenced by Menendez with respect to the federal prosecution of Fred Daibes,” a New Jersey developer who is also facing charges, the indictment said.
Menendez has previously denied any wrongdoing.
Menendez, his wife and their three co-defendants are expected to appear in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, the New York Times reported.
Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, are accused of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes” in exchange for the New Jersey senator’s influence, according to a newly unsealed federal indictment.
Prosecutors allege the bribes included gold, cash, home mortgage payments, compensation for “low-or-no-show job” and a luxury vehicle.
According to Senate Democratic caucus rules, Menendez must step aside as leader of the Senate’s foreign relations committee, but he can still serve on the committee, CNN reported.
Updated
Senator Menendez and his wife face three federal conspiracy charges
We reported earlier that Democratic senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey has been charged in a federal corruption indictment.
Menendez, 69, and his wife, Nadine, are each facing three federal conspiracy charges:
Conspiracy to commit bribery
Conspiracy to commit honest services fraud
Conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right
Three New Jersey associates, identified as Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, are also named as co-defendants and face two counts.
Updated
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain noted there has been some real progress in negotiations with Ford, including eliminating a lower wage tier, additional job security, conversion for all temporary workers, reinstating cost of living adjustment that was eliminated in 2009, and the right to strike over plant closures.
The world is watching, and the people are on our side. We’ve seen poll after poll come out saying the American people support what we are doing.
The union also announced solidarity pickets with unions representing striking Hollywood television and film actors in New York City on 27 September.
On Sunday, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush are set to appear in Wentzville, Missouri at a solidarity rally where autoworkers have been on strike at General Motors.
During a livestream update, United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain announced it will expand its strike against parts distribution centers across the country at GM and Stellantis, extending its simultaneous strikes that began with one assembly plant each of the Detroit Three.
By targeting distribution centers, this turns the strike into a nationwide event, Fain said.
We will be everywhere from California to Massachusetts, from Oregon to Florida.
Fain also invited Joe Biden to join the picket line. On Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to answer if the president plans to visit a picket line. She said “all parties continuing to be at the negotiating table is a positive. It is important that we result in a win-win agreement.”
UAW President Shawn Fain personally invites President Biden to join the picket line:
— The Recount (@therecount) September 22, 2023
“We invite and encourage everyone who supports our cause to join us on the picket line … all the way up to the president of the United States.” pic.twitter.com/gZPdLO3WpZ
UAW president says 'no concessions on the table' as he calls on 38 more plants to join strike
Fain called on 38 additional plants across 20 states to join the strike, adding that there are “no concessions on the table”.
The head of the United Auto Workers said:
Today at noon Eastern time, all of the parts distribution facilities at General Motors are being called to stand up and strike. We will be striking 38 locations across 20 states across all nine regions of the UAW.
Members will shut down parts distribution until General Motors and Stellanti “come to their senses and come to the table with a serious offer”, he said.
It’s time to hit the picket lines across the country. It’s time to show the companies that we are united and we are fired up and we are ready for a record contract. It’s time to stand up against corporate greed. It’s time to stand up for our communities. UAW family – I’ll see you on the picket line.
UAW president says GM and Stellanti need 'serious pushing' but 'some real progress' with Ford
Fain said he gave UAW members’ demands to the big three automakers two months ago, and that they had “wasted over a month failing to respond”.
There has been “some movement” particularly in the last week, he said, adding that “some real progress” had been made with Ford.
He said he wanted to recognize that Ford “is showing that they’re serious about reaching a deal”.
I don’t have to tell you that this is an important victory in our fight to save our jobs, keep families together and keep our communities from being gutted.
General Motors and Stellantis are going “to need some serious pushing”, he said.
Updated
UAW president invites Joe Biden to join picket line
UAW president Shawn Fain, in a video address, invited Joe Biden to join the picket line against automakers.
He said:
We invite and encourage everyone who supports our cause to join us on the picket line from our friends and families all the way up to the President of the United States. We invite you to join us in our fight.
Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers (UAW) said the strike movement is not just about the big three US autoworkers, and that union members “are ready to stand up against corporate greed and stand up for our communities”.
The public “is on our side” and members “can and will go all out if our national leadership decides that companies aren’t willing to move”, he said.
He added that going on strike “isn’t something we take lightly” and "not something we do without a clear strategy to win”.
UAW leader to invite Joe Biden to join picket line - reports
The president of the United Auto Workers, Shawn Fain, will invite Joe Biden to join workers on the picket line against Detroit automakers, according to multiple reports.
The invitation from Fain, reported by Reuters and the Washington Post, comes as the president is already considering a trip to the picket line under pressure from Michigan Democrats.
Biden has called on the automakers to increase their wage proposals to reach a deal with the UAW. He said last week:
I believe they should go further to ensure record corporate profits mean record contracts for the UAW.
The United Auto Workers will not announce labor action against Ford as part its latest round of strikes against US automakers General Motors and Stellantis, according to the Reuters report.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) represents nearly 150,000 autoworkers at the manufacturers but has chosen to select local unions to strike rather than staging a mass walkout.
The strategy preserves the union’s strike fund and aims to leave the companies guessing as to which sites will walk out, building pressure to come to an agreement. The strike is the first time the UAW has walked out at all three automakers at once.
The union has emphasized the billions of dollars in profits the big three automakers – General Motors, Stellantis and Ford – have made since the 2008 economic recession and federal bailouts of the auto industry, where workers accepted numerous concessions that were never restored once the corporations returned to profitability.
UAW to announce new strikes against General Motors and Stellantis - report
The United Auto Workers is expected to escalate strike actions against US automakers General Motors and Stellantis after failing to reach agreement over a new contract, Reuters is reporting, citing sources familiar with talks.
The strike is expected to expand to at least six additional GM and Stellantis facilities in Michigan, the sources said.
Last week, UAW president Shawn Fain said the union would launch a series of “stand up” strikes at individual car plants after failing to reach a deal with the car companies. “If we don’t make serious progress by noon on Friday, September 22nd, more locals will be called on to stand up and join the strike,” Fain said this week.
Autoworkers have waited long enough to make things right at the big three. We’re not waiting around and we’re not messing around, so noon on September 22nd is a new deadline.
The union will also invite Joe Biden to come to the picket lines, according to a source.
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez charged with bribery
Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey and his wife, Nadine, have been charged in a federal corruption indictment in connection with their relationship with three businessmen from their home state.
The 39-page indictment against Menendez, a 69-year-old Democrat who leads the Senate’s foreign relations committee, follows a lengthy investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.
The investigation focused on whether Menendez and his wife improperly took cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a “low-or-no-show-job”, a luxury vehicle and “other things of value”, according to the indictment.
The US attorney’s office in Manhattan has scheduled a press conference for 11am Eastern time to discuss the indictment, which also charges the three businessmen: Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes.
Updated
Faced with the House stalemate over a government stopgap funding bill, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday set up a path for the Senate to move first on a bill to fund the government beyond 30 September.
Senate aides told the Hill the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) bill could serve as a legislative vehicle to pass a continuing resolution to fund the federal government for a few weeks – but that it will likely not include money for the war in Ukraine or disaster relief.
House Republicans erupted in fury on Thursday after hardliners again blockaded the floor for the second time in a week.
Congressman Steve Womack of Arkansas told Politico:
This is painful. It gives me a headache. This is a very difficult series of missteps by our conference. If you can’t do [the defense bill], what can you do?
Another, New York’s Anthony D’Esposito, said House GOP members were “pretty frustrated”.
At this point, it seems like there are some people playing policy warfare, and I think we need to move our country forward.
Mike Lawler, a moderate Republican New York congressman, described the GOP dysfunction as a “clown show”, NBC reported.
For my colleagues, they have to come to a realization: If they are unable or unwilling to govern, others will. And in a divided government where you have Democrats controlling the Senate, a Democrat controlling the White House, there needs to be a realization that you’re not going to get everything you want.
“Just throwing a temper tantrum and stomping your feet, frankly not only is it wrong – it’s pathetic,” he added.
In short, House Republicans continue to squabble over a budget plan that has no chance of ever becoming law, and some of them appear willing to shut down the government over the issue.
Hanging over the spending fight is the very real question of whether Kevin McCarthy will be able to hold on to his speakership.
Hard-right Republicans have made clear that, if McCarthy attempts to cut a deal with Democrats to fund the government, they will move to oust the speaker – a viable possibility when it only takes one member to call a vote to vacate the chair. But if hard-right Republicans do not drop their opposition to a stopgap bill, McCarthy may ultimately need Democrats’ support if he wants to avoid a shutdown.
Depending on whether McCarthy can strike a deal with his critics, the speaker may soon have to choose between keeping the government open and keeping his gavel.
With the odds of a shutdown rising, the White House again called on House speaker Kevin McCarthy to honor the funding deal outlined in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which passed the House and the Senate with bipartisan support earlier this year.
That agreement, brokered between President Joe Biden and McCarthy, suspended the debt ceiling and outlined modest spending cuts for fiscal year 2024, but those cuts were deemed insufficient by members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus.
Capitalizing on House Republicans’ narrow majority, those hard-right members are now demanding steeper cuts in exchange for their support of a stopgap spending bill. McCarthy’s previous concessions to the holdout members, including the launch of an impeachment inquiry against Biden last week, have so far failed to swing enough Republican votes to keep the government open.
It also remains unclear whether the Freedom Caucus’ proposed budget – which the White House has warned would include severe funding cuts for border security, education and food safety – can even pass muster with some of the more centrist members of the House Republican conference. Those suggested cuts will certainly fail to win widespread support in the Senate, which has taken a more bipartisan approach to the funding negotiations.
McCarthy’s House speakership hangs by a thread
Kevin McCarthy ended the week in the same predicament that he started it with: teetering on the edge of a government shutdown as his House speakership hangs by a thread.
The House wrapped up its work on Thursday with no clear path forward on advancing a stopgap government spending bill – a grim sign with just nine days left to avert a federal shutdown. In an advisory to members, House Republican whip Tom Emmer said spending negotiations were “ongoing”, but he did not specify any plans for a vote on Friday.
The announcement came hours after a procedural motion to advance House Republicans’ defense spending bill was defeated by far-right members for the second time this week. McCarthy and his team spent the week trying to appease and cajole the handful of holdouts within their conference who blocked the bill and also oppose a stopgap measure, but those efforts failed to sway enough members to advance the defense bill.
The two failed votes on Tuesday and Thursday were particularly worrisome for McCarthy considering the defense spending bill is generally viewed as the least contentious of the funding bills that Congress must pass.
Thursday’s proposal to take up House Republicans’ defense spending bill failed in a vote of 216 to 212, with five GOP members opposing the motion. They were Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Eli Crane of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Rosendale of Montana.
Explaining her vote against advancing the defense bill on Thursday, Greene said she wanted to send a message about the need to end funding for Ukraine.
I just voted NO to the rule for the Defense bill because they refused to take the war money for Ukraine out and put it in a separate bill.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) September 21, 2023
And 55% of Americans and 71% of Republican voters agree with me that we should stop funding a war in Ukraine.
Bishop cited a lack of trust in McCarthy’s leadership, telling reporters:
Let’s be honest with each other. How about a little candor, not what you think the people would like to hear. Just tell them squarely what you’re going to do. Do that!
After yesterday’s developments, I’m going to vote no on the Defense Approps rule again. There is no basis to anticipate a complete set of appropriations bills that will adhere to the Conference spending level agreement. (1/2)
— Rep. Dan Bishop (@RepDanBishop) September 21, 2023
Voting to advance only this “must-pass” bill is the antithesis of a disciplined change of direction. It will become the Christmas tree for completion of the Washington wash cycle — lather, rinse, and repeat. (2/2)
— Rep. Dan Bishop (@RepDanBishop) September 21, 2023
Rosendale said he was voting against “a ploy by the DC Cartel to continue their out-of-control spending”.
🧵 Today, the House of Representatives will bring up the DoD approps bill again to try and pass it. Unfortunately, the critically important funding of our military is being used as a ploy by the DC Cartel to continue their out-of-control spending which is why I will be voting…
— Matt Rosendale (@RepRosendale) September 21, 2023
These are the exact types of political games I was sent here to stop. I am ready, willing, and able to stay in Washington to work with anyone who wants to focus on developing the 12 appropriations bills and responsibly fund government.
— Matt Rosendale (@RepRosendale) September 21, 2023
Updated
McCarthy says hard-right Republicans ‘want to burn whole place down’
Leaving the floor after the House failed to approve House Republicans’ defense spending bill, Speaker Kevin McCarthy said:
I don’t understand why anybody votes against bringing the idea and having the debate. This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down. That doesn’t work.
“This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down.”
— The Recount (@therecount) September 21, 2023
— After House Republicans once again failed to pass a basic procedural rule to fund the Pentagon, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) hits some members of his own conference pic.twitter.com/Qt4AR71jP3
The Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, chastised his GOP colleagues over their internal divisions after a proposal to take up House Republicans’ defense spending bill failed, accusing them of jeopardizing Americans’ wellbeing for the sake of a political stunt.
“House Republicans continue to be held captive by the most extreme element of their conference, and it’s hurting the American people,” Jeffries said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
Why are the American people facing down another manufactured GOP crisis? They need to end their civil war.
“House Republicans continue to be in the midst of a civil war...that is hurting the ability of the Congress to do the business of the American people.”
— The Recount (@therecount) September 21, 2023
— Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, after House GOP failed to pass a procedural vote to allow a vote on a Pentagon funding bill pic.twitter.com/2E6XLVX2C6
There are several unknowns still hanging over House speaker Kevin McCarthy’s effort, which, as the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, has pointed out, could be politically damaging to the party.
The first is whether hard-right members of the House Freedom caucus – who have capitalized on McCarthy’s narrow majority – will eventually abandon their blockade as the shutdown deadline approaches.
The second is if whatever bill Republicans do pass will include the Ukraine aid and disaster relief funding the Democratic-led Senate is demanding. Without Senate agreement, any measure cannot be enacted.
Chaos on Capitol Hill as White House warns to prepare for shutdown
Good morning, US politics blog readers. The House wrapped up its work on Thursday after failing to advance a stopgap government spending bill, as members continued to clash with just days left to avert a federal shutdown. Kevin McCarthy, who had projected optimism at the start of the day, now faces a reality where his speakership hangs by a thread.
The White House will tell federal agencies on Friday to prepare for a shutdown, AP reported, citing a government official. If the House and the Senate do not pass a spending bill before 1 October, the lapse in funding will likely force hundreds of thousands of federal workers to go without pay and bring a halt to crucial government services.
McCarthy was dealt his second humiliating defeat of the week, after a proposal to take up House Republicans’ defense spending bill failed in a vote of 216 to 212, after five hard-right members – Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Eli Crane of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Rosendale of Montana – joined Democrats in opposing the motion. The Thursday vote marked the second time this week that the motion had failed, after members of the House Freedom caucus first blocked the bill on Tuesday.
Given that the defense spending bill is usually one of the least contentious spending measures in the House, the second failed vote spelled major trouble for the spending talks. Leaving the floor on Thursday, McCarthy voiced exasperation with his critics within the Republican conference.
“I don’t understand why anybody votes against bringing the idea and having the debate,” McCarthy told reporters.
This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down. That doesn’t work.
Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, has complicated matters from the sidelines, urging Republicans to use government funding as leverage for his own personal gains.
Emphasizing the serious threat posed by a shutdown, the White House implored Republicans to “stop playing political games with people’s lives”. “Extreme House Republicans showed yet again that their chaos is marching us toward a reckless and damaging government shutdown,” the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said Thursday.
Here’s what else we’re watching today:
1.30pm Eastern time: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief reporters alongside Georgia congresswoman and senior presidential adviser, Lucy McBath.
2:45pm: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will deliver remarks on gun safety in the Rose Garden in the White House.
