Mayorkas impeachment trial under way
Senators are lining up to sign the oath book in the chamber, the opening formalities of the impeachment trial that’s just got under way against homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
It’s a slow process, as each of the 100 members must sign individually. But things are expected to pick up pretty quickly at its conclusion, with opening statements.
It’s unclear at what point Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer will call a vote to dismiss the two articles of impeachment received from the Republican-controlled House yesterday.
But Schumer says he will do so after “a period of debate”. Such a vote will effectively kill the impeachment outright.
There is no chance of Mayorkas being convicted, even if the trial was allowed to conclude. Prosecutors would need 60 votes in a chamber controlled by Democrats, and several Republicans have already indicated they would acquit him.
Key events
Biden just drew laughs from the steel union members watching his campaign event in Pittsburgh, when he made several mentions of “my predecessor” Donald Trump saying he “is busy right now.”
He was referring to the fact that his rival is standing trial in New York, the first ever criminal trial of a former US president.
Biden floats ramping up tariffs on Chinese steel
Joanna Walters
Joe Biden just confirmed what had been flagged before his trip – that he is considering tripling tariffs on Chinese steel, with indications that he wants to go to 25%.
“China is cheating, not competing on steel,” the US president said, at an event at the United Steelworkers union headquarters in Pittsburgh.
He protested that “for too long, the Chinese state has poured money into their steel industry” and that it was not fair competition.
He also said that Donald Trump “and the MAGA” Republicans want to impose tariffs across the board on all imports, which the president said will hurt American consumers. He referred to the Make America Great Again (Maga) slogan of Trump’s election campaign, which has come to signify the hard right of the Republican party.
“Trump simply does not get it,” he said
“I’m president because of you guys” – Biden
Joanna Walters
Joe Biden is now speaking at the steelworkers’ union headquarters in Pittsburgh.
The US president is 45 minutes behind schedule. Pro-Palestinian protesters are demonstrating outside the event.
Biden is on a three-day swing through the vital battleground state of Pennsylvania.
He was in his home town of Scranton yesterday, where he contrasted how his roots have kept him humble while presidential rival Donald Trump trades on his rich man’s persona.
Tomorrow Biden will visit Philadelphia again, which has been a frequent stop on the campaign trail.
Biden just raised cheers and claps from the gathered union members in Pittsburgh when he said: “I’m president because of you guys.”
Chuck Schumer has now made a motion to dismiss the first article of impeachment on the grounds it “does not allege conduct that rises to the level of a high crime or misdemeanor”.
A formal vote will follow shortly, unless there are any efforts or motions to delay it.
It could be at least an hour or two before any vote to dismiss the articles of impeachment against homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Or it could all be over very quickly.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, has just told the chamber he wants to allow up to 60 minutes of debate on each article before he calls a vote to dismiss.
Republican senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri isn’t happy. He says Schumer’s efforts to kill the impeachment are unprecedented:
Never before in the history of our republic has the Senate dismissed or tabled articles of impeachment when the impeached individual was alive and did not resign.
I will not assist Senator Schumer in setting our constitution ablaze, bulldozing 200 years of precedent.
There’s now a debate about whether the articles of impeachment actually meet the high bar of “high crimes and misdemeanors” required, which would make them invalid if it’s found they don’t.
If it is determined the articles are unconstitutional, then the vote to kill will likely follow in short order, and without the need for more debate.
Watch this space…
Mayorkas impeachment trial under way
Senators are lining up to sign the oath book in the chamber, the opening formalities of the impeachment trial that’s just got under way against homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
It’s a slow process, as each of the 100 members must sign individually. But things are expected to pick up pretty quickly at its conclusion, with opening statements.
It’s unclear at what point Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer will call a vote to dismiss the two articles of impeachment received from the Republican-controlled House yesterday.
But Schumer says he will do so after “a period of debate”. Such a vote will effectively kill the impeachment outright.
There is no chance of Mayorkas being convicted, even if the trial was allowed to conclude. Prosecutors would need 60 votes in a chamber controlled by Democrats, and several Republicans have already indicated they would acquit him.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s has signed a bill mandating that kindergartners in the state learn “the truths about the evils of communism”.
The hard-right Republican, who frequently touts an agenda promoting “freedom” in education, and giving parents rights over choices for their children’s curriculum, has made it compulsory for students up to 12th grade to attend the “history of communism” class, beginning in the 2026 school year.
Lessons must be “age appropriate and developmentally appropriate”, according to the bill. The state’s board of education will draw up academic standards for the lessons.
Florida high schoolers are already required to attend a 45-minute instruction class about “Victims of Communism Day” before they can graduate.
Wednesday’s bill signing took place at the Assault Brigade 2506 museum in Hialeah Gardens, near Miami. DeSantis was flanked by Cuban rebels who took part in the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, which took place 63 years ago today against the island’s communist dictator Fidel Castro.
Sam Levine
The voting equipment company Smartmatic has agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit with the far-right One America News Network (OAN) over lies broadcast on the network about the 2020 election.
Erik Connolly, a lawyer for Smartmatic, confirmed the case had been settled, but said the details were confidential. Attorneys for Smartmatic and OAN notified a federal judge in Washington on Tuesday that they were agreeing to dismiss the case, which Smartmatic filed in 2021.
Smartmatic sued OAN in November 2021, saying the relatively small company was a victim of OAN’s “decision to increase its viewership and influence by spreading disinformation”.
Smartmatic was only involved in the 2020 election in a single US county, Los Angeles, but OAN repeatedly broadcast false claims that its equipment had flipped the election for Joe Biden.
Donald Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell played a key role in advancing the outlandish claims.
Read the full story:
The extent of the opposition by hardline Republicans to speaker Mike Johnson’s foreign aid bills unveiled Wednesday is becoming clear, with some promising to block their passage.
“The Republican Speaker of the House is seeking a rule to pass almost $100bn in foreign aid – while unquestionably, dangerous criminals, terrorists, & fentanyl pour across our border,” Texas congressman Chip Roy tweeted.
The Republican Speaker of the House is seeking a rule to pass almost $100 billion in foreign aid – while unquestionably, dangerous criminals, terrorists, & fentanyl pour across our border. The border “vote” in this package is a watered-down dangerous cover vote. I will oppose. https://t.co/8LHlnZlgjd
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) April 17, 2024
“The border ‘vote’ in this package is a watered-down dangerous cover vote. I will oppose.”
Roy is among those refusing to consider US aid for Israel, and particularly Ukraine, without massive investments in border security, which he and others say isn’t included in Johnson’s just-released package.
Georgia extremist congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has threatened to call a vote to oust Johnson, is also furious.
News flash for Speaker Johnson, we have already passed HR2, the Senate has it and refuses to secure our border, they want 5,000 illegals per day to come in.
The House passed $14 Billion for Israel aid in November and the Senate refuses to pass it.
You, Speaker Johnson, voted…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 17, 2024
“You are seriously out of step with Republicans by continuing to pass bills dependent on Democrats. Everyone sees through this,” she wrote, also on X.
Johnson says the House will vote on the bills on Saturday night. There’s no guarantee he will still be speaker at that point if Greene, or others, deliver on their threat to call a “motion to vacate” vote.
Interim summary
It’s been a busy morning in US politics on several fronts. An impeachment trial in the Senate is about to get under way for homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and there have been developments in efforts to progress funding for Israel and Ukraine.
Here’s what we’ve been following:
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Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer is preparing to hold a vote that could dismiss the two articles of impeachment filed by House Republicans on Tuesday alleging that Mayorkas broke the law in enacting Joe Biden’s immigration policies. Schumer called the charges an “illegitimate and profane abuse of the US Constitution” and said the votes would come after a brief “period of debate”.
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Embattled speaker Mike Johnson said the House would vote Saturday evening on three foreign aid bills, including money for Ukraine and Israel. The Louisiana Republican has been walking a fine line trying to find a solution that will appease rightwingers seeking to oust him, while standing a chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate.
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Democrats in Arizona are resurrecting an effort to overturn an 1864 rule outlawing almost all abortions, enacted by a ruling earlier this month by the state’s supreme court. Respected pollster Larry Sabato says November’s Senate race in the key swing state now “leans Democratic” following the controversy, a change from “toss-up”.
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Republicans Ron DeSantis and Jeb Bush, current and former Florida governors, led tributes to Bob Graham, a two-term governor of the state, three-term US senator and Democratic political heavyweight who has died aged 87.
And still to come this afternoon:
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Joe Biden meets with steelworkers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as he touts his fair tax plan for workers and high earners. The president is due to deliver remarks at 1.45pm ET.
McConnell: Democrats failing obligations to assess evidence by tanking Mayorkas impeachment
In response, Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate minority leader, is not happy that the impeachment trial is about to be tanked.
He’s accusing Democrats of failing to live up to their obligations to assess the evidence and render a verdict, and taking potshots at Joe Biden’s border policies:
Today it falls to the Senate to determine whether and to what extent Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas enabled and inflamed this crisis. Under the Constitution and the rules of impeachment, it is the job of this body to consider the articles of impeachment brought before us and to render judgment.
The question right now should be how best to ensure that the charges on the table receive thorough consideration. But instead, the more pressing question is whether our Democratic colleagues intend to let the Senate work its will, at all.
Tabling articles of impeachment would be unprecedented in the history of the Senate. Tabling would mean declining to discharge our duties as jurors.
It would mean running both from our fundamental responsibility and from the glaring truth of the record-breaking crisis at our southern border.
Absent from McConnell’s statement blaming Democrats for the border crisis is any mention that his own Republican senators negotiated, then sank, bipartisan legislation to address it.
The about-face came apparently at the urging of Donald Trump, Biden’s presumptive opponent in November, who did not want Republicans to hand the president a pre-election victory on a campaign issue.