Joe Biden calls Tennessee’s expulsion of two Black Democrats for gun control protest ‘undemocratic’ – live

Democrats in Tennessee are planning to reveal their next moves later on Friday in the wake of the “racist” expulsion by Republicans from the state house of two Black lawmakers for taking part in a protest for tighter gun laws.

It comes as Joe Biden and others weigh in on the “undemocratic” actions of the Republicans in booting two of three Democrats who joined the protest that followed last week’s Covenant school shooting in Nashville that killed six, including three nine-year-olds.

The two politicians ousted for a “breach of decorum”, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, are Black. A third Democrat, Gloria Johnson, who survived the expulsion vote, is white.

The president, in a statement released last night, condemned Republicans for playing politics, and not focusing on “commonsense gun safety reforms”:

Today’s expulsion of lawmakers who engaged in peaceful protest is shocking, undemocratic and without precedent. Rather than debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee.

This morning, Martin Luther King III, son of the famed civil rights leader, praised the two expelled politicians and launched an attack on the “unconscionable” actions by the majority party for ignoring gun reform. On CNN he said:

Martin Luther King III. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Our nation refuses to deal with this issue. I’m so excited that these young men are fighting for democracy.

We had an assault ban until 2014, it’s very sad. [But] people can stand up and things can change, my father and mother taught us that.

The episode, he said, made it “crystal clear” that “racism is still very real”:

We’ve got to eradicate this evil. My dad used to say darkness cannot put out darkness, only light can do that.

It just goes to show how sad and tragic and divisive, and how awful racism is. We are better than that. We have got to change this behavior.

Jones, in comments on Thursday, said the nation was watching. “They think this issue is over. We’ll see you on Monday,” he said, referring to more protests likely to draw thousands to Nashville.

We’re waiting to learn what moves the Democrats might make. There will almost certainly be special elections, in which Jones and Pearson, who represent about 130,000 constituents between them, will be eligible to run. And they could be reinstated meanwhile by their county commissions.

Read the latest on this story here from the Guardian’s Nina Lakhani:

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US officials say they know who’s behind the leak and posting on social media of classified documents offering their assessment of Russia’s progress in the war in Ukraine: it’s Russia.

Reuters reported on Friday that three US officials, speaking anonymously, told the news agency that the documents also appear to have been altered to lower the number of casualties suffered by Russian forces.

The military documents offer a partial, month-old snapshot of the war, they said, adding that their assessment that Russia, or pro-Russian elements, were behind the leak was informal, and separate to an official investigation into what happened.

The three declined to discuss the documents in detail, the agency said, and the Kremlin and Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Guardian’s Lorenzo Tondo reported on Friday that the Pentagon is investigating the security breach in which classified war documents detailing secret American and Nato plans for supplying aid to Ukraine before its prospective offensive against Russia were leaked to Telegram and Twitter.

Read more here:

The Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has added its voice to the furor over the expulsion of two Democratic Black state lawmakers by Republicans.

In a statement, Kathy Sinback, the chapter’s executive director, attacks the racial overtones of what she calls a “shameful” move:

Over the course of this legislative session, the Tennessee general assembly has systematically eroded the rights of some of the most vulnerable communities in our state. These expelled lawmakers represent over 136,000 people – predominantly people of color – in districts across the state, and this expulsion strips these voters of their representation.

Furthermore, only a small minority of Tennessee legislators are people of color. Not only is this targeted expulsion of two Black legislators without due process an extreme measure that undermines democracy, it raises questions about the disparate treatment of Black representatives, while continuing the shameful legacy of disenfranchising and silencing the voices of marginalized communities and the Black lawmakers they elect.

This unprecedented, authoritarian effort to silence opposition sets a dangerous precedent that could threaten democracy in statehouses across the country. We will continue to fight for a state where all Tennesseans have a voice and are treated justly and equitably.”

My colleagues on the Guardian’s video production team have compiled this rather excellent look at the expulsion of two Black Democratic lawmakers by Republicans in Tennessee, noting such “banishments” have taken place only a handful of times since the American civil war.

The episode has ignited a furious backlash from Joe Biden downwards, and features elements of racism, Republicans standing in the way of gun reforms, and an assault of democracy.

The video is well worth a look. You can watch it here:

Clarence Thomas defends undeclared hospitality

Embattled supreme court justice Clarence Thomas says he believed the decades of lavish hospitality he received from a Republican mega-donor did not need to be disclosed.

The statement from the conservative justice released on Friday is his first response to the bombshell accusations by ProPublica the day before that he took travel on yachts and jets, and other gifts funded by the property billionaire Harlan Crow, but did not declare them.

Clarence Thomas. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Democrats are calling for Thomas’s impeachment.

In the lengthy statement, a rare move for a sitting supreme court justice, Thomas says, in part:

Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.

I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines.

Thomas says he will comply with tweaks made to disclosure rules for all justices and federal judges last month that require personal hospitality to be declared.

In his own statement, reported by Law and Crime, Crow insisted he and his wife Kathy were “dear friends” with Thomas and his wife Ginni, and “we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue”.

Read more:

Republicans in Kansas on Friday voted to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, but the bill is likely to be vetoed by Democratic governor Laura Kelly.

The Kansas house voted 70-52 to pass the bill requiring the state’s medical board to revoke the licenses of doctors who provide such care, followed by a 23-12 vote in the senate that sent the measure to Kelly’s desk, the Associated Press reported.

Kansas governor Laura Kelly. Photograph: John Hanna/AP

Kelly promised LGBTQ+ youth during a statehouse lobbying day last month that she would protect their rights and reject any measure “that aims to harm or discriminate against you”.

Supporters of the bill do not have a two-thirds majority in either chambers needed to override any veto, the AP said.

There seems to be enough support, however, for overriding Kelly’s expected veto of a transgender bathroom bill that passed the legislature by larger margins.

Read more:

White House moves to strengthen transgender protections

The Biden administration has released a proposal that would forbid schools and colleges across the US from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes competing in sports.

But teams could create some limits in certain cases – for example, to ensure fairness, according to the proposal, which did not go into extensive detail about the term.

Miguel Cardona, Biden’s education secretary. Photograph: Mike Theiler/UPI/REX/Shutterstock

If finalized, the proposal would become enshrined as a provision of Title IX, the federal nondiscrimination requirement in education at institutions that receive federal funding. It must undergo a lengthy approval process, however, and is almost certain to face challenges from opponents.

It comes as a slew of Republican-controlled states nationwide enact legislation banning or restricting transgender athletes taking part in sports in educational settings, and new anti-trans laws in general.

On Thursday, the US supreme court refused to let West Virginia enforce a state law banning trans athletes from female sports teams at public schools.

“Every student should be able to have the full experience of attending school in America, including participating in athletics, free from discrimination,” said Miguel Cardona, Biden’s education secretary, in a statement.

Read the full story:

Here’s a selection of Twitter reactions to the expulsion by Tennessee Republicans of two Black Democratic lawmakers for joining a protest for stronger gun laws.

The overriding theme seems to be that it’s a fight for democracy that’s just beginning, and the nation’s young people will be leading the charge.

From Democratic New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:

From NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner:

From Mallory McMorrow, Democratic Michigan state senator and gun reform advocate:

From Joe Walsh, former Republican congressman, now a political analyst:

California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom:

And finally, for now, the Tennessee house Republicans, who insist they were “obliged” to take action because the two expelled Democrats were “disrespectful”:

Democrats in Tennessee are planning to reveal their next moves later on Friday in the wake of the “racist” expulsion by Republicans from the state house of two Black lawmakers for taking part in a protest for tighter gun laws.

It comes as Joe Biden and others weigh in on the “undemocratic” actions of the Republicans in booting two of three Democrats who joined the protest that followed last week’s Covenant school shooting in Nashville that killed six, including three nine-year-olds.

The two politicians ousted for a “breach of decorum”, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, are Black. A third Democrat, Gloria Johnson, who survived the expulsion vote, is white.

The president, in a statement released last night, condemned Republicans for playing politics, and not focusing on “commonsense gun safety reforms”:

Today’s expulsion of lawmakers who engaged in peaceful protest is shocking, undemocratic and without precedent. Rather than debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee.

This morning, Martin Luther King III, son of the famed civil rights leader, praised the two expelled politicians and launched an attack on the “unconscionable” actions by the majority party for ignoring gun reform. On CNN he said:

Martin Luther King III. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Our nation refuses to deal with this issue. I’m so excited that these young men are fighting for democracy.

We had an assault ban until 2014, it’s very sad. [But] people can stand up and things can change, my father and mother taught us that.

The episode, he said, made it “crystal clear” that “racism is still very real”:

We’ve got to eradicate this evil. My dad used to say darkness cannot put out darkness, only light can do that.

It just goes to show how sad and tragic and divisive, and how awful racism is. We are better than that. We have got to change this behavior.

Jones, in comments on Thursday, said the nation was watching. “They think this issue is over. We’ll see you on Monday,” he said, referring to more protests likely to draw thousands to Nashville.

We’re waiting to learn what moves the Democrats might make. There will almost certainly be special elections, in which Jones and Pearson, who represent about 130,000 constituents between them, will be eligible to run. And they could be reinstated meanwhile by their county commissions.

Read the latest on this story here from the Guardian’s Nina Lakhani:

A Good Friday good morning to our US politics blog readers! There’s more than a whiff of racism hanging over the Tennessee state house this morning, where Republican lawmakers on Thursday expelled two of three Democrats who took part in a rowdy gun control protest on the chamber floor.

Those ousted are Black, while the third, who survived the expulsion vote, is white. Their perceived crime was “breaking decorum” for joining constituents demanding tighter gun laws in the wake of last week’s Covenant school shooting in Nashville that killed six, including three nine-year-olds.

Reaction to the expulsions has been swift as observers mull elements of racism, gun rights and an attack on democracy. Joe Biden called it “undemocratic”, while Martin Luther King III said on CNN Friday: “Racism is still very real … we have got to eradicate this evil.”

We’ll have more coming up. Here’s what else we’re watching today:

• Conservative supreme court justice Clarence Thomas is facing calls for his impeachment after it was revealed he accepted undeclared luxury gifts from a Republican mega-donor for more than two decades.

• Stormy Daniels, the adult movie actress paid off by Donald Trump to keep quiet about an encounter before the 2016 election, says in a new interview the former president has been “dethroned”. Trump appeared in court this week charged with falsifying business records relate to the pay-off.

• Democrats in North Carolina are fuming over the defection of a lawmaker, giving Republicans a veto-proof supermajority in the state house for critical issues such as abortion, voting rights and gun controls.

• Biden received good economic news on Friday with figures showing unemployment in the US down to 3.5%, and 236,000 jobs added in March.

• Senate and House lawmakers are on their Easter break, and neither Biden nor vice-president Kamala Harris have any public events scheduled.