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US

Republicans want Biden home visitor logs – but not Trump’s

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WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) – The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee on Sunday demanded visitor logs for President Joe Biden’s house in Wilmington, Delaware, after classified documents were found in his office and garage.

“Without a list of individuals who have visited his residence, the American people will never know who had access to these highly sensitive documents,” Representative James Comer said in a letter to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain dated Sunday.

Republicans have sought to compare the Biden documents case, which involves material from his time as vice president, with that of former President Donald Trump, who faces a federal criminal probe of how he handled classified documents after he left the White House in 2021. But legal experts say there are stark contrasts between the two cases.

Comer said he would not seek visitor logs for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, where more than 100 classified documents – some of them labeled top secret – were found in an FBI search.

“I don’t feel like we need to spend a whole lot of time because the Democrats have done that for the past six years,” he said in an interview Sunday with CNN.

Trump has announced he would seek the presidency again in 2024, with Biden as his expected Democratic rival.

The Biden disclosures emerged last week after his legal team said it had found classified documents relating to his time as vice president in the Obama administration at his Delaware home. His lawyers on Saturday reported finding five additional pages at his home.

Top secret material was included in some of the 10 or so documents found at the Penn Biden Center think tank, CBS reported on Sunday, citing an unidentified law enforcement source. The White House had no comment on the report. A representative for Biden’s personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, did not return a request for comment.

There is no legal requirement that U.S. presidents disclose visitors at their home or at the White House. The Biden administration reinstated disclosures of official guests to the White House and released its first batch of records in May 2021. Former President Donald Trump had suspended the practice shortly after he took office in 2017.

TRUMP VS. BIDEN DOCUMENT ISSUES

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives launched an investigation on Friday into the Justice Department’s handling of improperly stored classified documents possessed by Biden. Comer’s committee is also reviewing the case.

The investigation comes as Trump is under federal criminal investigation for mishandling classified documents after his presidency.

In the Biden case, the president’s lawyers informed the National Archives and Justice Department about finding a small number of documents at a think tank in Washington and later at Biden’s Wilmington home.

In Trump’s case, the National Archives tried for more than a year after Trump left office to retrieve all of the records he retained, without success. When Trump finally returned 15 boxes of documents in January 2022, Archives officials discovered they contained classified materials.

After the matter was referred to the Justice Department, Trump’s lawyers handed over more material from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and said there were no more documents on the premises.

That turned out to be false. In the end, the FBI recovered an additional 13,000 documents, about 100 of which were marked classified, from the estate.

House Democrats introduced the “Mar-a-Lago Act” in 2017 that would require Trump to regularly disclose visitors to his Florida home, but it was never voted on in the chamber or full Congress.

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, the outgoing House Intelligence Committee chairman, said Congress should seek an assessment from the U.S. intelligence community on whether any documents, from either Trump or Biden, jeopardized national security.

“I don’t think we can exclude the possibility without knowing more of the facts,” Schiff said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Heather Timmons and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

U.S. strongly committed to Japan defense, Biden tells Kishida, hails military boost

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WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden told Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday the United States was “fully, thoroughly, completely” committed Japan’s defense and praised Tokyo’s security build up, saying the nations had never been closer.

Kishida is in Washington on the last stop in a tour of the G7 industrial powers and has been seeking to bolster long-standing alliances amid rising concern in Japan, and the United States, about mounting regional security threats from China, North Korea and Russia.

In a meeting at the White House, Biden called it a “remarkable moment” in the U.S.-Japan alliance. He said the two countries had never been closer.

“Let me be crystal clear: The United States is fully, thoroughly, completely committed to the alliance, and importantly … to the defense of Japan,” he said, while also thanking Kishida for strong leadership in working closely on technology and economic issues.

“We are modernizing our military alliances, building on Japan’s historic increase in defense spending, and new national security strategy,” Biden said.

Kishida thanked Biden for U.S. work on regional security and said: “Japan and the United States are currently facing the most challenging and complex security environment in recent history.” He said Tokyo had formulated its new defense strategy released last month “to ensure peace and prosperity in the region.”

He said the two countries shared fundamental values of democracy and the rule of law “and the role that we are to play is becoming even greater.”

Kishida said he looked forward to a “candid” exchange of views on issues including “a free and open Indo-Pacific” – language the two sides use to describe efforts to push back against China – the G7, which Japan’s currently chairs, and climate change.

In a later speech at Washington’s Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Kishida called China the “central challenge” for both Japan and the United States and said they and Europe must act in unison in dealing with the country.

DRAMATIC MILITARY CHANGE

Japan last month announced its biggest military build-up since World War Two – a dramatic departure from seven decades of pacifism, largely fueled by concerns about Chinese actions in the region.

“Biden commended Japan’s bold leadership in fundamentally reinforcing its defense capabilities and strengthening diplomatic efforts,” according to a joint U.S.-Japan statement issued after the meeting.

U.S. and Japanese foreign and defense ministers met on Wednesday and announced increased security cooperation following nearly two years of talks and the U.S. officials praised Tokyo’s military buildup plans.

[1/5] U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida walk through the colonnade on their way to the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2023. T.J. Kirkpatrick/Pool via REUTERS

Japan’s military reform plan will see it double defense spending to 2% of GDP and procure missiles that can strike ships or land-based targets 1,000 km (600 miles) away.

Before the meeting, a senior U.S. official said Biden and Kishida were expected to discuss security issues and the global economy and that their talks are likely to include control of semiconductor-related exports to China after Washington announced strict curbs last year.

SEMICONDUCTORS

The joint statement said the United States and Japan “will sharpen our shared edge on economic security, including protection and promotion of critical and emerging technologies, including semiconductors.”

Kishida, Japan’s Foreign Minister Hayashi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later signed an agreement on peaceful space exploration at NASA’s headquarters in Washington.

Blinken said this would take space cooperation “to new heights” and strengthen the partnership in areas including research into space technology and transportation, robotic lunar surface missions, climate-related missions, and “our shared ambition to see a Japanese astronaut on the lunar surface.”

At the ceremony, Kishida said the U.S.-Japan alliance was “stronger than ever.”

As well as chairing the G7, Japan took up a two-year term on the U.N. Security Council on Jan. 1 and holds the rotating monthly presidency of the 15-member body for January.

Kishida has said he backs Biden’s attempt to limit China’s access to advanced semiconductors with export restrictions. Still, he has not agreed to match sweeping curbs on exports of chip-manufacturing equipment that Washington imposed in October.

The U.S. official said Washington was working closely with Japan on the issue and believes they share a similar vision even if their legal structures are different. He said the more countries and significant players that backed the controls, the more effective they would be.

A Japanese official said economic security, including semiconductors, was likely to be discussed, but that no announcement was expected on that from the meeting.

Biden and Kishida committed to “strengthening vital trilateral cooperation” among the United States, Japan and South Korea, said the joint statement, which follows North Korea’s decision to exponentially increase its nuclear force and codify its right to a first strike.

Kishida’s visit follows one by Biden to Tokyo in May and a meeting between the two at a November regional summit in Cambodia.

(This story has been refiled to delete the extra word ‘defense’ in paragraph 1)

Reporting by Jeff Mason, Andrea Shalal, David Brunnstrom, Michael Martina, Tim Ahmann and Eric Beech; Editing by Don Durfee, Alistair Bell and Grant McCool

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

Trump executive Weisselberg prepares for jail on Rikers Island

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NEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) – A longtime executive for Donald Trump is expected to be sent to New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail after being sentenced on Tuesday for helping engineer a 15-year tax fraud scheme at the former president’s real estate company.

Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty in August, admitting that from 2005 to 2017 he and other executives received bonuses and perks that saved the company and themselves money.

Weisselberg is expected to be sentenced to five months behind bars, after paying nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest and testifying at the criminal trial of the Trump Organization, which was convicted on all counts it faced.

The sentence will be imposed by Justice Juan Merchan, who oversaw the trial in a New York state court in Manhattan. Weisselberg would likely serve 100 days with time off for good behavior.

Those days will probably not be easy for Weisselberg, 75, at a jail known for violence, drugs and corruption. Nineteen inmates there died last year.

“You’re going into a byzantine black hole,” said Craig Rothfeld, a prison consultant helping Weisselberg prepare for lockup.

50-YEAR RELATIONSHIP

Many convicts in New York City facing one year or less behind bars head to Rikers Island, which lies between the New York City boroughs of Queens and the Bronx and houses more than 5,900 inmates.

Rothfeld spent more than five weeks at Rikers in 2015 and 2016 as part of an 18-month sentence for defrauding investors and tax authorities when he was chief executive of the now-defunct WJB Capital Group Inc.

He now runs Inside Outside Ltd, which advises people facing incarceration. Another client is Harvey Weinstein, the former Hollywood movie producer convicted twice of rape.

After being sentenced, Weisselberg will likely be driven to Rikers and trade his street clothes for a uniform and sneakers with velcro straps.

Rothfeld said he hopes Weisselberg will be segregated from the general population, and not placed in a dorm with inmates who may not know him but will know his boss, who is seeking the presidency in 2024.

“Certainly Mr. Weisselberg’s 50-year relationship with the former president is on all our minds,” Rothfeld said.

A spokesman for the city’s Department of Correction said the agency’s mission is “to create a safe and supportive environment for everyone who enters our custody.”

Rikers is scheduled to close in 2027.

STAR WITNESS

Weisselberg was the star government witness against his employer.

He told jurors that Trump signed bonus and tuition checks, and other documents at the heart of prosecutors’ case, but was not in on the tax fraud scheme.

Though no longer CFO, Weisselberg remains on paid leave from the Trump Organization. He testified in November that he hoped to get a $500,000 bonus this month.

Weisselberg testified that the company is paying his lawyers. It is paying Rothfeld as well, a person familiar with the matter said. Rothfeld declined to comment.

Trump was not charged and has denied wrongdoing. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office is still investigating his business practices.

Merchan will also sentence the Trump Organization on Friday. Penalties are limited to $1.6 million.

Weisselberg remains a defendant in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million civil lawsuit alleging that Trump and his company inflated asset values and Trump’s net worth.

Rothfeld said he advised Weisselberg not to go outside at Rikers because of the risk of violence in courtyards, and not to interject himself into conversations between other inmates.

“The goal is to keep to yourself,” Rothfeld said.

Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Richard Chang

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

Brazil police amass at camp of Bolsonaro’s backers after capital stormed

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  • Lula promises justice for those behind Sunday’s riots
  • Bolsonaro, in Florida, says protesters ‘crossed the line’
  • Biden and other world leaders condemn ‘outrageous’ act
  • Lula took office in January after narrow October win

BRASILIA, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Brazilian police amassed at a camp of supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday, a day after rioters launched the worst attack on Brazil’s state institutions since its return to democracy in the 1980s.

After thousands of Bolsonaro’s backers stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on Sunday, hundreds of police in riot gear and some on horseback deployed at the pro-Bolsonaro camp outside Brasilia’s army headquarters, while soldiers in the area withdrew, Reuters witnesses said.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro’s leftist rival who took office on Jan. 1 after a narrow October election win, promised to bring those responsible for the violence to justice, after demonstrators broke windows and furniture, destroyed art work and stole guns and artifacts.

Lula, who was back at work at the Planalto presidential palace, planned to meet his defense minister and armed forces commanders to discuss the attacks that recalled the assault on the U.S. Capitol two years ago by backers of former President Donald Trump.

U.S. President Joe Biden joined other world leaders in condemning Sunday’s riots, calling them “outrageous”, while Bolsonaro who is now in Florida denied inciting his supporters and said the rioters had “crossed the line”.

Pro-Bolsonaro truckers, who have caused havoc on Brazil’s highways for weeks, held more protests through the night.

A toll road operator for the BR 163 highway that cuts through Brazil’s top grain producing state Mato Grosso reported several blockades that were cleared by dawn. Police said blockages on another highway in Parana state were also cleared.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the governor of Brasilia removed from office late on Sunday for 90 days over alleged security failings and demanded that social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and TikTok block accounts of users spreading anti-democratic propaganda.

Facebook parent Meta (META.O) said on Monday it was removing content supporting or praising the weekend actions. Telegram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

‘FASCIST’ ASSAULT

Lula, a former union organizer who was also president from 2003 to 2010, said the local militarized police force that reports to Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a former Bolsonaro ally, did nothing to stop the protesters advancing.

[1/7] A demonstrator reacts next to members of security forces as supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro leave a camp outside the Army Headquarters, in Brasilia, Brazil, January 9, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

Lula decreed federal intervention of public security in the capital and promised exemplary punishment for the leaders of the “fascist” assault that was aimed at provoking a military coup that could restore Bolsonaro to power.

“All the people who did this will be found and punished,” Lula told reporters from Sao Paulo State.

He blamed Bolsonaro for inflaming his supporters after a campaign of baseless allegations about election fraud after the end of his rule marked by divisive nationalist populism.

From Florida, where Bolsonaro flew 48 hours before his term ended, the former president rejected the accusation. He said on Twitter that peaceful demonstrations were democratic but the invasion of government buildings “crossed the line.”

The assault raised questions among Lula’s allies about how security forces in the capital were so unprepared for rioters who had discussed their plans on social media for days.

The occupation of the government buildings had been planned for at least two weeks by Bolsonaro’s supporters in groups on messaging platforms such as Telegram and Twitter, yet there was no move by security forces to prevent the attack, called by one group “the seizure of power by the people.”

Police retook the damaged public buildings in the futuristic capital after three hours and dispersed the crowd with tear gas.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino said 200 demonstrators had been arrested, although that number is expected to rise.

Dino said investigations aimed to uncover who financed the several hundred buses that brought Bolsonaro’s supporters to Brasilia and question the suspended Brasilia governor.

Bolsonaro faces legal risks from several investigations before the Supreme Court in Brazil and his future in the United States, where he traveled on a visa issued only to sitting presidents, is in question.

“Bolsonaro should not be in Florida,” Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro said on CNN. “The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil.”

Live: Bolsonaro supporters camped outside military HQ

Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu, Gabriel Stardgarter, Gabriel Araujo, Anthony Boadle and Sergio Queiroz; Editing by Brad Haynes and Edmund Blair

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

Bolsonaro backers sack Brazil presidential palace, Congress, Supreme Court

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BRASILIA, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Supporters of Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro invaded the country’s Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court on Sunday, in a grim echo of the U.S. Capitol invasion two years ago by fans of former President Donald Trump.

Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in an October election, announced a federal security intervention in Brasilia lasting until Jan. 31 after capital security forces were initially overwhelmed by the invaders.

Lula, who was only inaugurated on Jan. 1, blamed Bolsonaro for inflaming his supporters after a campaign of baseless allegations about potential election fraud following the end of his rule marked by divisive nationalist populism.

The president’s allies also raised questions about how public security forces in the capital Brasilia were so unprepared and easily overwhelmed by rioters who had been planning on social media for days to gather for weekend demonstrations.

“These vandals, who we could call … fanatical fascists, did what has never been done in the history of this country,” said Lula in a press conference during an official trip to Sao Paulo state. “All these people who did this will be found and they will be punished.”

The capital invaders left a trail of destruction in their wake, throwing furniture through the smashed windows of the presidential palace, flooding parts of Congress with a sprinkler system and ransacking ceremonial rooms in the Supreme Court.

The sight of thousands of yellow-and-green clad protesters running riot in the capital capped months of tension following the Oct. 30 vote.

Bolsonaro, an acolyte of Trump’s who has yet to concede defeat, peddled the false claim that Brazil’s electronic voting system was prone to fraud, spawning a violent movement of election deniers.

“This genocidist … is encouraging this via social media from Miami,” Lula said, referring to Bolsonaro. “Everybody knows there are various speeches of the ex-president encouraging this.”

Bolsonaro was silent for nearly six hours about the chaos in Brasilia before posting on Twitter that he “repudiates” Lula’s accusations against him.

The former president, who has rarely spoken in public since losing the election, also said peaceful demonstrations are part of democracy but invading and damaging public buildings “crosses the line.” He flew to Florida 48 hours before the end of his mandate and was absent from Lula’s inauguration.

The violence in Brasilia could amplify the legal risks Bolsonaro faces. It also presents a headache for U.S authorities as they debate how to handle his stay in Florida. Prominent Democratic lawmakers said the United States could no longer grant Bolsonaro “refuge” in the country.

The Bolsonaro family lawyer, Frederick Wassef, did not respond to a request for comment.

By 6:30 p.m. local time (2130 GMT), some three hours after initial reports of the invasion, security forces had managed to retake the capital’s most iconic three buildings.

Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a longtime Bolsonaro ally facing tough questions after Sunday’s security lapses, said on Twitter more than 400 people had been arrested and authorities were working to identify more.

The invasions were condemned by leaders around the world.

U.S. President Joe Biden called the events an “assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power,” adding that Brazil’s democratic institutions had full U.S. support.

“Using violence to attack democratic institutions is always unacceptable,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on Twitter. “We join Lula in urging an immediate end to these actions.”

Far from the capital, Brazilian industries were on alert for a fresh round of unrest from Bolsonaro supporters, whose post-election highway blockades have disrupted grains shipments and meatpacking operations in recent months.

State-run oil company Petrobras stepped up security at its refineries, in a cautionary measure after attack threats against assets including Brazil’s biggest fuel plant, three company officials said, declining to be named as information is private.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA), as the company is formally known, said in a statement that all its assets and refineries are operating normally.

Analysts warned the unrest could trigger more volatility in Brazil’s financial markets, which have swung sharply in recent weeks on doubts about how Lula will reconcile big spending promises with stretched public finances.

JUDGES DENOUNCE “TERRORISTS”

The Supreme Court, whose crusading Justice Alexandre de Moraes has been a thorn in the side of Bolsonaro and his supporters, was ransacked by the invaders, according to images from social media showed protesters clubbing security cameras and shattering the windows of the modernist building.

Both Moraes and the court’s Chief Justice Rosa Weber vowed punishment for the “terrorists” who had attacked the country’s democratic institutions. The heads of both houses of Congress denounced the attacks publicly and moved up plans to fly back to the capital, according to people familiar with the matter.

Rocha, the Brasilia governor, said he had fired his top security official, Anderson Torres, previously Bolsonaro’s justice minister. The solicitor general’s office said it had filed a request for the arrest of Torres.

Torres told website UOL he was with his family on holiday in the United States and had not met with Bolsonaro. UOL reported he was in Orlando, where Bolsonaro is now staying.

“Vandalism and ransacking will be combatted with the rigor of the law,” Anderson tweeted on Sunday afternoon, adding he had directed police in the capital to restore order urgently.

On Saturday, with rumors of a confrontation brewing in Brasilia, Justice Minister Flávio Dino authorized the deployment of the National Public Security Force. On Sunday, he wrote on Twitter, “this absurd attempt to impose the will by force will not prevail.”

In Washington in 2021, Trump supporters attacked police, broke through barricades and stormed the Capitol in a failed effort to prevent congressional certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Trump, who has announced a third bid for the presidency, in 2024, had pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, not to certify the vote, and he continues to claim falsely that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread fraud.

Reporting by Adriano Machado, Anthony Boadle, Lisandra Paraguassu, Ricardo Brito, Peter Frontini, Gabriel Araujo; Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Brad Haynes, Daniel Wallis and Lincoln Feast.

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US

Kevin McCarthy elected Republican U.S. House speaker, but at a cost

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WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Republican Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives early on Saturday, after making extensive concessions to right-wing hardliners that raised questions about the party’s ability to govern.

The 57-year-old Californian suffered one final humiliation when Representative Matt Gaetz withheld his vote on the 14th ballot as midnight approached, prompting a scuffle in which fellow Republican Mike Rogers had to be physically pulled away.

McCarthy’s victory in the 15th ballot ended the deepest congressional dysfunction in over 160 years. But it sharply illustrated the difficulties he will face in leading a narrow and deeply polarized majority.

He won at last on a margin of 216-212. He was able to be elected with the votes of fewer than half the House members only because six in his own party withheld their votes – not backing McCarthy as leader, but also not voting for another contender.

As he took the gavel for the first time, McCarthy represented the end of President Joe Biden’s Democrats’ hold on both chambers of Congress.

“Our system is built on checks and balances. It’s time for us to be a check and provide some balance to the president’s policies,” McCarthy said in his inaugural speech, which laid out a wide range of priorities from cutting spending to immigration, to fighting culture war battles.

McCarthy was elected only after agreeing to a demand by hardliners that any lawmaker be able call for his removal at any time. That will sharply cut the power he will hold when trying to pass legislation on critical issues including funding the government, addressing the nation’s looming debt ceiling and other crises that may arise.

Republicans’ weaker-than-expected performance in November’s midterm elections left them with a narrow 222-212 majority, which has given outsized power to the right-wingers who opposed McCarthy’s leadership.

Those concessions, including sharp spending cuts and other curbs on McCarthy’s powers, could point to further turbulence in the months ahead, especially when Congress will need to sign off on a further increase of the United States’ $31.4 trillion borrowing authority.

Over the past decade, Republicans have repeatedly shut down much of the government and pushed the world’s largest borrower to the brink of default in efforts to extract steep spending cuts, usually without success.

Several of the hardliners have questioned McCarthy’s willingness to engage in such brinkmanship when negotiating with Biden, whose Democrats control the Senate. They have raged in the past when Senate Republicans led by Mitch McConnell agreed to compromise deals.

The hardliners, also including Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Chip Roy of Texas, said concessions they extracted from McCarthy will make it easier to pursue such tactics – or force another vote on McCarthy’s leadership if he does not live up to their expectations.

“You have changes in how we’re going to spend and allocate money that are going to be historic,” said Perry.

“We don’t want clean debt ceilings to just go through and just keep paying the bill without some counteracting effort to control spending when the Democrats control the White House and control the Senate.”

One of those Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, warned that the concessions McCarthy made to “the extremists” in his party may come back to haunt him, and made it more likely that the Republican-controlled House will cause a government shutdown or default with “devastating consequences.”

In a sharp contrast to the battles among House Republicans, Biden and McConnell appeared together in Kentucky on Wednesday to highlight investments in infrastructure.

McCarthy’s belated victory came the day after the two-year anniversary of a Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, when a violent mob stormed Congress in an attempt to overturn then-President Donald Trump’s election loss.

This week’s 14 failed votes marked the highest number of ballots for the speakership since 1859, in the turbulent years before the Civil war.

McCarthy’s last bid for speaker, in 2015, crumbled in the face of right-wing opposition. The two previous Republican speakers, John Boehner and Paul Ryan, left the job after conflict with right-wing colleagues.

McCarthy now holds the authority to block Biden’s legislative agenda, force votes for Republican priorities on the economy, energy and immigration and move forward with investigations of Biden, his administration and his family.

CONCESSIONS

But the concessions he agreed to mean McCarthy will hold considerably less power than his predecessor, Democrat Nancy Pelosi. That will make it hard for him to agree to deals with Democrats in a divided Washington.

Allowing a single member to call for a vote to remove the speaker will give hardliners extraordinary leverage.

The agreement would cap spending for the next fiscal year at last year’s levels – amounting to a significant cut when inflation and population growth are taken into account.

That could meet resistance from more centrist Republicans or those who have pushed for greater military funding, particularly as the United States is spending billions of dollars to help Ukraine fend off a Russian assault.

Moderate Republican Brian Fitzpatrick said he was not worried that the House would effectively be run by hardliners.

“It’s aspirational,” he told reporters. “We still have our voting cards.”

Reporting by David Morgan, Moira Warburton and Andy Sullivan; Additional reporting by Gram Slattery, Jason Lange and Makini Brice, writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Cynthia Osterman, William Mallard and Daniel Wallis

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Hardline Republicans dig in against McCarthy’s House speaker bid

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WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Hardline Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives rejected Kevin McCarthy’s speakership bid for an 11th time on Thursday, while his supporters worked behind closed doors in hopes of cementing a deal that could bring success.

The voting propelled the House to a level of dysfunction not seen since the turbulent era just before the Civil War, even after McCarthy offered to curb his own clout, raising questions about the party’s ability to wield power.

After the 11th ballot, the House adjourned for the third time this week without electing a speaker. Lawmakers will reconvene at noon (1700 GMT) on Friday.

McCarthy’s opponents say they do not trust him to fight for the deep spending cuts and other restrictions they want to impose on President Joe Biden and the Democratic-controlled Senate.

But some Republicans held out hope of an agreement between the California Republican and at least some of the 20 hardline conservatives who have opposed his candidacy in ballot after ballot.

“Things are coming together in a very healthy way,” said Representative Patrick McHenry, a McCarthy supporter who is poised to lead a top congressional committee.

“We don’t know the timeframe. But the engagement is there and that’s why I’m optimistic,” he said.

Among other things, a possible agreement would allow for a vote on term limits for members of Congress, according to Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick.

But McCarthy’s supporters stopped short of predicting a resolution to the stalemate anytime soon.

Because of its inability to choose a leader, the 435-seat House has been rendered impotent – unable even to formally swear in newly elected members let alone hold hearings, consider legislation or scrutinize Biden and his administration.

Republicans won a slim 222-212 House majority in the November midterm elections, meaning McCarthy cannot afford to lose the support of more than four Republicans as Democrats united around their own candidate.

McCarthy, who was backed by former President Donald Trump for the post, offered the holdouts a range of concessions that would weaken the speaker’s role, which political allies warned would make the job even harder if he got it.

At least 200 Republicans have backed McCarthy in each of the votes this week. Fewer than 10% of Republican lawmakers have voted against him but they are enough to deny him the 218 votes needed to succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker.

“What you’re seeing on this floor does not mean we are dysfunctional,” said Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna as she nominated a McCarthy rival, Byron Donalds, for the 10th vote.

‘CONSTRUCT A STRAITJACKET’

“I can tell you there’s some good things happening,” said Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a McCarthy supporter who is among the most outspoken conservatives in the House. “I think we’re going to see some movement.”

But some of McCarthy’s opponents showed no sign of yielding.

“This ends in one of two ways: either Kevin McCarthy withdraws from the race or we construct a straitjacket that he is unwilling to evade,” said Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, who voted for Trump for speaker.

As speaker, McCarthy would hold a post that normally shapes the chamber’s agenda and is second in the line of succession to the presidency behind Vice President Kamala Harris. He would be empowered to frustrate Biden’s legislative agenda and launch investigations into the president’s family and administration in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.

In a late-night bargaining session, McCarthy offered the holdouts greater influence over what legislation comes up for a vote, according to a source familiar with the talks.

He also offered the ability for any single member to call a vote that could potentially remove him from the post – a step that helped drive at least one prior Republican speaker, John Boehner, into retirement.

Those concessions could potentially help McCarthy win over some of the holdouts but would leave him more vulnerable to the hardliners through the rest of the next two years if he ultimately wins the speakership.

That has even alarmed some Democrats, who have largely served as bystanders in the drama of the past three days.

“With every concession, he has to wake up every day wondering if he’s still going to have his job,” Democratic Representative Richard Neal told reporters.

The inability to agree on a leader also raises questions about whether Republicans will force a government shutdown or risk default later this year in a bid to extract steep spending cuts. Some of the holdouts say they expect McCarthy or any other Republican leader to take that approach.

If McCarthy ultimately fails to unite Republicans, they would have to search for an alternative. Possibilities include No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise and Representative Jim Jordan, who have both backed McCarthy. Jordan received 20 votes when nominated by the holdouts on Tuesday.

Reporting by Moira Warburton, Doina Chiacu, David Morgan, Kanishka Singh and Gram Slattery; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Will Dunham, Howard Goller and Christian Schmollinger

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Gram Slattery

Thomson Reuters

Washington-based correspondent covering campaigns and Congress. Previously posted in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santiago, Chile, and has reported extensively throughout Latin America. Co-winner of the 2021 Reuters Journalist of the Year Award in the business coverage category for a series on corruption and fraud in the oil industry. He was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard College.

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US

Kevin McCarthy vows to remain in race for U.S. House speaker amid hardline opposition

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WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) – Republican Kevin McCarthy vowed on Tuesday to remain in the race to be the powerful U.S. House of Representatives speaker, hours after hardline members of his party repeatedly blocked his bid to lead their brand-new majority.

In the first day of what could prove to be a brutal showdown between about 20 hardliners and the other 202 members of the Republican caucus, McCarthy failed in three ballots to achieve the 218 votes needed to become speaker, a role second in line to the Oval Office after the vice president.

It was a disconcerting start for the new Republican majority and highlights the challenges the party could face over the next two years, heading into the 2024 presidential election. Their slim 222-212 majority gives greater clout to a small group of hardliners, who want rule changes that would give them greater control over the speaker and more influence over the party’s approach to spending and the debt.

Late on Tuesday, McCarthy told reporters that former President Donald Trump had called him and reiterated his support. Trump has backed McCarthy in the race and remains a powerful figure in the Republican Party.

McCarthy, 57, from California, knew he faced an uphill climb heading into Tuesday’s vote and had vowed to continue to force votes. But the chamber voted on Tuesday evening to adjourn until noon ET (1700 GMT) on Wednesday, a move that would give Republicans time to discuss other candidates.

Conservative Representative Jim Jordan, 58, from Ohio, won 20 votes in the last ballot of the day, far from the threshold of 218 to become speaker but enough to stop McCarthy.

“I think that Kevin knows that this is his last shot,” said Representative Kenneth Buck, who had voted to support McCarthy. He noted that McCarthy previously tried in 2015 to become speaker and failed in the face of conservative opposition, adding, “He’s not gonna have this chance again.”

A protracted speaker election could undermine House Republicans’ hopes of moving forward quickly on investigations of Democratic President Joe Biden and his administration, and legislative priorities that include the economy, U.S. energy independence and border security.

The chamber’s top Democrat, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, bested McCarthy in all three votes. In the day’s final tally, Jeffries led McCarthy 212 to 202 votes. A majority of those voting, not a plurality, is needed to determine a speaker.

A standoff would leave the House largely paralyzed and could force lawmakers to consider another Republican candidate. In addition to Jordan, incoming Majority Leader Steve Scalise, 57, from Louisiana, was seen as a possibility.

The last time the House failed to elect a speaker on the first ballot was 1923.

‘RALLY AROUND HIM’

[1/10] U.S. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is surrounded by reporters after a House Republican caucus meeting on the first day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 3, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Jordan himself had spoken in support of McCarthy before he was nominated, and all three times voted for him.

“We need to rally around him,” Jordan had said in an impassioned speech on the House floor. “I think Kevin McCarthy’s the right guy to lead us.”

Jordan is a staunch ally of Trump and a co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

A former college wrestler, Jordan is preparing to oversee the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation of the Justice Department and FBI under Biden.

McCarthy’s hardline opponents are concerned that he is not deeply invested enough in the culture wars and partisan rivalries that have dominated the House – and even more so since Trump’s White House years.

Before the vote, McCarthy tried to persuade the holdouts during a closed-door party meeting, vowing to stay in the race until he gets the necessary votes, but many participants emerged from the gathering undaunted.

McCarthy suggested to reporters later on Tuesday that the path to him becoming speaker lay in members voting “present” – neither for nor against him – which would lower the threshold needed to secure the job.

McCarthy has spent his adult life in politics – as a congressional staffer then state legislator before being elected to the House in 2006. As speaker, McCarthy would be well placed to frustrate Biden’s legislative ambitions.

But any Republican speaker will have the tough task of managing a House Republican caucus moving ever rightward, with uncompromising tendencies and – at least among some lawmakers – close allegiances to Trump.

Struggles with the party’s right flank cut short the careers of the last two Republican speakers, with John Boehner resigning the post in 2015 and Paul Ryan opting not to run for re-election in 2018.

The record number of voting rounds to elect a House speaker is 133 over a two-month period in the 1850s.

The Democrats picked Jeffries to serve as minority leader after Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve as speaker, announced that she would step down from her leadership role. She will remain in office as a representative.

Reporting by David Morgan, Moira Warburton and Gram Slattery; additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Makini Brice; Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell, Will Dunham and Howard Goller

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Gram Slattery

Thomson Reuters

Washington-based correspondent covering campaigns and Congress. Previously posted in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santiago, Chile, and has reported extensively throughout Latin America. Co-winner of the 2021 Reuters Journalist of the Year Award in the business coverage category for a series on corruption and fraud in the oil industry. He was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard College.

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World

U.S. weighs new COVID rules for travelers from China

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Dec 27 (Reuters) – The U.S. government may impose new COVID-19 measures on travelers to the United States from China over concerns about the “lack of transparent data” coming from Beijing, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

The move comes after Japan, India and Malaysia announced stepped up rules on travelers from China in the last 24 hours, citing a rise in infections there.

Japan has said it would require a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival for travelers from the China. Malaysia put in place additional tracking and surveillance measures.

“There are mounting concerns in the international community on the ongoing COVID-19 surges in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data, being reported from the PRC,” the officials said, using the initials of the People’s Republic of China.

Some hospitals and funeral homes in China have been overwhelmed as the virus spreads largely unchecked across the country of 1.4 billion people.

Official statistics, however, showed only one COVID death in the seven days to Monday, fuelling doubts among health experts and residents about the government’s data. The numbers are inconsistent with the experience of much less populous countries after they re-opened.

China said on Monday it would stop requiring inbound travelers to go into quarantine starting from Jan. 8 in a major step towards easing curbs on its borders, which have been largely shut since 2020.

Reporting by Steve Holland, writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

Arizona governor-elect asks court to sanction election denier Lake

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Dec 26 (Reuters) – Arizona’s Democratic Governor-elect Katie Hobbs asked a court on Monday to sanction defeated Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake over her failed effort to overturn the state’s election results.

An Arizona judge on Saturday rejected Lake’s lawsuit that challenged the counting and certification of the November electoral contest in a bid to be declared the winner despite a lack of evidence of voter fraud.

Hobbs joined a motion by Maricopa County for sanctions on Lake and her attorneys in which the county’s deputy attorney Thomas P. Liddy wrote Lake filed a “groundless” lawsuit for a “frivolous pursuit,” court documents showed.

“Enough really is enough,” Liddy wrote in the motion filed on Monday. “It is past time to end unfounded attacks on elections and unwarranted accusations against elections officials.”

Maricopa County’s motion had “no basis in law or fact,” Lake’s lawyers wrote in a response filed Monday evening, asking the court to deny the request for sanctions.

“Trust in the election process is not furthered by punishing those who bring legitimate claims as plaintiff did here,” the court document filed by Lake’s lawyers said. “In fact, sanctioning plaintiff would have the opposite effect.”

The sanctions would be in the form of a financial penalty imposed by a judge for violation of a court rule or misconduct.

Lake’s lawsuit had targeted Hobbs, who is currently Arizona’s secretary of state and becomes governor next week, along with top officials in Maricopa County. Her suit claimed “hundreds of thousands of illegal ballots infected the election” in Maricopa, the state’s most populous county.

In a separate court filing, Hobbs also asked the Superior Court in Maricopa County to award her over $600,000 to compensate for fees and expenses accrued in defending against Lake’s lawsuit.

Lake, a former television news anchor, was one of the most high-profile Republican candidates in the midterm elections to embrace former Republican President Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in 2020.

She lost the governor’s race to Hobbs but refused to concede and continued making unconfirmed claims about election improprieties on her Twitter feed.

Lake was one of the most prominent of the Trump-aligned Republican candidates who lost battleground state races in the midterm elections.

Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Mary Milliken and Alistair Bell

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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