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Martin Pengelly
Ted Cruz was among senators from both parties voicing criticism of Pete Buttigieg, the US transportation secretary, at a hearing today on Southwest Airlines’ recent meltdown, which led to travel misery for thousands.
“Notably absent from today’s meeting is Secretary Buttigieg,” the Texas senator said.
“The Department of Transportation [DOT] didn’t give any mea culpa to impacted travelers. The Biden DOT didn’t issue refunds, didn’t issue reimbursements, it just screwed up their flights and then proceeded to say, ‘We want to be in charge of how the airlines behave.’”
There was Democratic criticism too, Maria Cantwell of Washington state saying air transportation “needs a more effective policeman on the beat. They need someone over at the Department of Transportation who is going to get the job done”.
Eagle eyed Guardian readers, however, may remember that Cruz has recent experience of embarrassing stories about flights, and south-west-ward ones at that:
Martin Pengelly
In a new biography, the Utah senator and former US presidential nominee Mitt Romney will reportedly consider the Republican party’s “slide toward authoritarianism” and how he may have helped empower extremists.
The book will be called Romney: A Reckoning and will be published in October. News of its release comes after the senator made headlines by confronting George Santos, the New York fabulist who has rocked the House Republican party, before Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
Romney said Santos was a “sick puppy” who did not belong in Congress. Santos, who faces investigations and calls to resign but remains a key vote in support of the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, responded by taunting Romney over his failed presidential ambitions.
Romney’s biographer, McKay Coppins, told Axios of the senator’s “candor”.
“I’ve been covering Senator Romney for more than a decade,” Coppins said. “When I approached him two years ago about writing this biography, I told him it would only work if he was ready to be completely forthcoming.
“He reacted like it was a dare. I was astonished by his level of candor.”
Axios said Romney’s cooperation extended to giving Coppins “private emails, text messages and diary entries … including real-time communications among many of the most powerful figures in American politics”.
Full story:
China’s balloon that crossed the United States was equipped to collect intelligence signals and was part of a huge, military-linked aerial spy program that targeted more than 40 countries, the Biden administration said Thursday, outlining the scope and capabilities of the huge balloon that captivated the country’s attention before the US shot it down.
A fleet of balloons operates under the direction of the People’s Liberation Army and is used specifically for spying, outfitted with high-tech equipment designed to collect sensitive information from targets across the globe, the US said, AP reported. Similar balloons have floated over five continents, according to the administration.
From AP:
The statement from a senior State Department official offered the most detail to date linking China’s military to the balloon that was shot down by the US last weekend over the Atlantic Ocean. The public details are meant to refute China’s persistent denials that the balloon was used for spying, including a claim Thursday that US accusations about the balloon amount to “information warfare” against Beijing.
In Beijing, before the U.S. offered new information, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning repeated her nation’s insistence that the large unmanned balloon was a civilian meteorological airship that had blown off course and that the U.S. had “overreacted” by shooting it down.
“It is irresponsible,” Mao said. The latest accusations, she said, “may be part of the U.S. side’s information warfare against China.”
The US offered a flatly contradictory characterization of the balloon and its purpose. It said imagery of the balloon collected by American U-2 spy planes as it crossed the country showed that it was “capable of conducting signals intelligence collection” with multiple antennas and other equipment designed to upload sensitive information and solar panels to power them.
An unnamed official said the US has confidence that the manufacturer of the balloon shot down on Saturday has “a direct relationship with China’s military and is an approved vendor of the” army. The official cited information from an official PLA procurement portal as evidence for the connection between the company and the military.
Mike Pence, the former vice-president, is planning to rally conservatives in Iowa by running anti-trans ads, Associated Press reports.
Pence is stepping up his outreach in Iowa ahead of a possible 2024 presidential campaign, according to AP, by rallying conservatives against transgender-affirming policies in schools.
The effort by Advancing American Freedom, a group formed by Pence in 2021 and financed by his supporters, will include digital ads, rallies, canvassing and perhaps radio and television spots.
Trans-rights have become an issue that any Republican political hopeful must discuss – and specifically must criticize – during a campaign.
Martin Pengelly
A new poll found that just one additional candidate in the 2024 Republican primary will be enough to split the vote and keep Donald Trump ahead of Ron DeSantis, as the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley prepares to announce a run for president.
The Yahoo News/YouGov poll gave DeSantis, the Florida governor, a 45%-41% lead over Trump head-to-head. Similar scenarios in other polls have prompted increasing attacks on DeSantis by Trump – and deflections by DeSantis.
But the Wednesday poll also produced an alternative scenario involving Haley that may worry DeSantis.
Haley was ambassador to the United Nations under Trump before resigning in 2018. She is due to announce her campaign in her home state next week.
Yahoo News reported: “In a hypothetical three-way match-up, Haley effectively plays the spoiler, attracting 11% of Republicans and Republican-leaners while DeSantis’s support falls by roughly the same amount (to 35%), leaving Trump with more votes than either of them” at 38%.
In his Florida speech later Joe Biden will draw attention to “congressional Republicans’ long record of working to cut Medicare [and] Social Security”, according to a White House memo.
CNN reported that advisors to Biden “don’t view the Sunshine State as a key piece of the electoral map in a 2024 run” – a reminder of how a once swing-state has moved dramatically towards Republicans.
So rather than kick off a long path towards winning the state in the next presidential election, Biden is instead making the journey, according to CNN:
Because there are no issues that dramatically pop in their polling like Medicare and Social Security.
There’s no state with a larger population that utilizes those programs and most critically.
And there are no two politicians they want to spar with more on the programs than [Florida politicians] Sen Rick Scott and Gov Ron DeSantis.
“For years, Republican Members of Congress have repeatedly tried to cut Medicare and Social Security, move toward privatizing one or both programs, and raise the Social Security retirement age and Medicare eligibility age,” the White House said in its memo.
It drew attention to comments by senior Republicans regarding cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits, including by Scott.
The Missouri House of Representatives has voted against a bill which would ban children from openly carrying firearms in public without adult supervision.
The proposal failed by a 104-39 vote in the Republican-held House, Associated Press reported. Only one Republican voted in support of it.
Donna Baringer, a Democrat, said police in her district had asked for the change to stop “14-year-olds walking down the middle of the street in the city of St Louis carrying AR-15s”.
“Now they have been emboldened, and they are walking around with them,” Baringer said.
“Until they actually brandish them, and brandish them with intent, our police officers’ hands are handcuffed.”
Republicans decried the effort as an infringement on gun rights.
“While it may be intuitive that a 14-year-old has no legitimate purpose, it doesn’t actually mean that they’re going to harm someone. We don’t know that yet,” said Rep Tony Lovasco, a Republican from the St Louis suburb of O’Fallon who voted against the bill.
Biden is set to arrive in Tampa at 12.15pm ET, according to his schedule, and plans to get his social security burns in during an address at 1.30pm.
While that’s going on, here’s some other things we’ll be keeping an eye on today:
Republicans in the House will kick off their “weaponization” investigation this afternoon. The committee, which at the moment sounds more like an opportunity to air grievances rather than actually investigate anything, plans to probe alleged discrimination by the federal government against conservatives.
Politico notes that the committee has “a lineup straight out of Fox News”, and says GOP members have acknowledged “they don’t totally know what will come from Thursday’s hearing”.
The CEO of Southwest Airlines will appear, tail between legs, before a Senate committee today to apologize for cancelling more than 15,000 flights over the Christmas holiday period. Southwest blamed winter weather for some cancellations, but staff have also blamed outdated technology.
Biden to hammer Republicans over spending proposals
Good morning, live blog readers, and welcome to the Guardian’s daily coverage of American politics.
Joe Biden is heading to Florida today, where he is set to continue to hammer Republicans over potential cuts to social security and Medicare.
Biden will highlight his work to protect both programs, the White House said, at a time when, according to Biden, Republicans are continuing “to push plans that would undermine these programs and the economic security of millions of their constituents”.
The visit, and focus on social programs, comes after Biden’s accusations during his State of the Union speech that some Republicans want to ‘sunset’ social security and medicare.
The sunset idea, proposed by Rick Scott, a Florida senator, would mean all federal programs – and social security and medicare are federal programs – would expire every five years, and need to be reauthorized to continue.
In his State of the Union address Biden said: “Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans — some Republicans — want Medicare and Social Security to sunset.”
Today the president plans to continue to hammer home the message about Republicans potential plans – although senior GOP leaders have distanced themselves from Scott’s ideas – in a state that has swung more Republican in recent years. Florida is also a state that is governed by Ron De Santis, a potential Biden presidential opponent in 2024.
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