Post Politics Now: Senate Democrats tee up a doomed vote to write abortion protections into law - The Washington Post
Today, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to take a key step to tee up a vote this week on writing abortion protections into federal law as the Supreme Court appears to poised to overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The effort by Democrats seems destined to fail but will ensure the issue remains front and center again following the leak of a draft court decision that has scrambled the politics of the upcoming midterm elections.
Meanwhile, President Biden is scheduled to hold an event promoting efforts to expand Internet access before signing legislation aimed at speeding up deployment of military equipment to Ukraine. Later, Biden heads to Potomac, Md., for a fundraiser to benefit the Democratic National Committee as the party braces for a challenging election season.
The White House weighed in Monday following protests over the weekend outside the homes of Supreme Court justices John G. Roberts Jr. and Brett M. Kavanaugh, cautioning demonstrators not to engage in violence or issue threats.
The demonstrations Saturday night in the Washington area are among the latest in response to the leaked draft opinion that suggests the court is on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade.
Biden “strongly believes in the Constitutional right to protest.,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a tweet. “But that should never include violence, threats, or vandalism. Judges perform an incredibly important function in our society, and they must be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety.”
Twenty Internet providers, including Comast, Verizon and AT&T, have agreed to increase speeds or cut prices to help tens of millions of unconnected households afford service, the White House announced Monday morning.
President Biden is expected to tout the effort during an event Monday afternoon during an event in the Rose Garden at the White House. The commitments will help make good on a program that was created by the bipartisan infrastructure law that Biden signed last year.
With the midterms looming, Biden has repeatedly highlighted provisions of the law, with the aim of making a case that Democrats can get things done while in charge in Washington.
According to the White House, the commitments of the 20 Internet providers will allow eligible households to obtain high-quality plans for no more than $30 a month — and in some cases, free.
The service is being offered through the Affordable Connectivity Program, which was part of the infrastructure law. The White House said 48 million households could qualify for the program based on income or other criteria.
Writing in The Health 202, The Post’s Rachel Roubein offers several takeaways from reporting by her and other colleagues about how the antiabortion movement amassed political power by mobilizing a minority of committed Americans and pushing Republicans to adopt the issue as a top priority. The takeaways are:
- Over the last few decades, the right built an academic legal movement within Ivy League universities, one that was critical of the evolution of American jurisprudence.
- The antiabortion movement and the Republican Party coalesced over the last decade, as the politics surrounding the procedure crystallized into a partisan issue.
- President Donald Trump’s decision to make the Supreme Court a campaign priority had a massive impact — and he followed through by nominating judges handpicked by conservatives.
Ashley Parker: The week ahead at the White House — President Biden has a busy mishmash of a schedule this week, including two fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee (one Monday night in Potomac, Md., and one Wednesday night in Chicago).He begins his week Monday with remarks on lowering the cost of high-speed Internet and signing a bill providing more assistance to Ukraine. On Tuesday, Biden will talk about his plan to fight inflation — one of the key political issues dragging down his approval numbers — before holding a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy.Then, on Wednesday, Biden travels to Chicago, first stopping at a family farm to discuss the Ukraine war’s impact on the rising cost of food and other prices — part what he has tried to dub “Putin’s Price Hike” — before addressing the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ convention, followed by the aforementioned fundraiser.The president will be back in Washington on Thursday and Friday for a two-day U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit. And if we were a betting woman — which we are, very occasionally, when we’re feeling fine about losing some money — we would guess that Biden heads to Wilmington, Del., for the weekend.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), considered among the more vulnerable Senate Democrats on the ballot this year, has seized on comments by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that a national ban on abortion could be possible if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court and Republicans take over Congress.
In a new digital ad, Hassan tries to tie three of her potential Republican opponents to McConnell in the latest example of how Democrats are trying to use the reinvigorated abortion debate to their advantage in the upcoming midterms.
During an interview with USA Today, McConnell acknowledged the possibility of a national ban but said it would “depend on where the votes were.” He also indicated he has no interest in changing the Senate’s filibuster rule. That would mean legislation imposing a national ban would need 60 votes to move forward in the chamber.
For Democrats, the presidential nominating calendar could look far different in 2024 as the party considers ditching the storied tradition of beginning the process in Iowa.
Writing in The Early 202, The Post’s Theodoric Meyer and Leigh Ann Caldwell report that 18 state Democratic parties declared they wanted to be one of the first states in the country to vote (or, in Iowa’s case, to caucus) in the 2024 primaries by the Friday deadline set by the Democratic National Committee. They write:
The deadline kicks off a months-long process that could dethrone the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primary — or both states’ contests — from their traditional spots at the front of the pack.The decision to rethink the primaries comes two years after the Iowa Democratic Party bungled the caucuses by relying on a faulty app that caused results to be delayed for days. And it follows years of complaints that two of the Whitest states in the country play an outsize role in choosing the nominee of an increasingly diverse party.
First lady Jill Biden said Monday that she told President Biden after her surprise visit to Ukraine this weekend that America needed to continue to support the country.
Traveling with the first lady and reporting from Bratislava, Slovakia, The Post’s Tyler Pager reports that Biden spoke with her husband, who was in Wilmington, Del., after she traveled to Ukraine on Sunday and met with Olena Zelenska, the first lady, who had previously not been seen in public since the start of Russia’s invasion in February.
Jill Biden capped a four-day swing through Eastern Europe on Monday in Bratislava. She met with Slovakia’s president, Zuzana Caputova, to convey America’s gratitude for Slovakia’s role in assisting Ukrainian refugees.
“We’re talking about the support that the United States has for the people of Slovakia and Ukraine and how we stand together in helping the Ukrainian people,” Jill Biden said before their meeting.
Cleve R. Wootson Jr.: GOP focuses on public safety in Wisconsin ahead of midterms — In Wisconsin, a swing state that has been scarred by both police violence and crimes that have made national headlines, public safety is again on the ballot. With the midterms looming, Republicans are inundating the state’s airwaves with images of burning buildings, boarded-up stores and chanting protesters, as both parties compete to convince voters they can keep them safe.That’s not too different from years past, but this election season, crime is part of a multifaceted Republican message that the country has fallen into chaos under Democratic control, from soaring prices to out-of-control schools to surging immigration.“Crime is a page in the playbook — it’s not a playbook by itself,” said one Republican strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss GOP persuasion tactics. “The argument in Wisconsin is that the status quo isn’t going so well, but it’s got to be part of a broader argument that, under Biden and [Democratic Gov. Tony] Evers, our way of life has been falling apart.”The attack has left Democrats, nationally and in Wisconsin, divided over how much to emphasize their own police-friendly credentials and how much to stick to the racial justice movement that erupted anew in 2020.
In pushing his baseless claims of fraud following the 2020 election, President Donald Trump had a loyal lieutenant in Mark Meadows, his then-chief of staff.
The Post’s Michael Kranish does a deep dive on the activities of Meadows, a former congressman from North Carolina, to advance the agenda of his boss. Michael writes:
Meadows granted conspiracy theory-peddling activists direct access to the Oval Office and personally connected some with the president, according to congressional reports and interviews with former White House officials. He pressed the Justice Department to investigate spurious and debunked claims, including a bizarre theory that an Italian operation changed votes in the United States — an allegation a top Justice official called “pure insanity,” according to email correspondence released by congressional investigators. He also pushed the Justice Department, unsuccessfully, to try to invalidate the election results in six states through federal court action.
In a piece looking at how the issue is testing the clout of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., The Post’s Robert Barnes, Carol D. Leonnig and Ann E. Marimow note that he could still push his colleagues toward another outcome. They write:
Many who know him well and have watched his maneuvering of the court through other issues are certain he is still preparing his own opinion in hopes he might draw at least one of the court’s newest conservatives to his side. Such an outcome might save the 1973 ruling on Roe and the subsequent affirming 1992 decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, while severely limiting their protections.In a statement confirming that the draft opinion leaked to Politico was authentic, Roberts stressed two points: “it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.” The coming weeks will tell whether his assertions are telling or mere formalities.
Our colleagues report that most observers of the court believe Roberts is still promoting a decision that would remove the viability line but otherwise keep Roe and Casey intact. Both liberals and conservatives are skeptical it can be done.
If Roe v. Wade is overturned, myriad policy decisions related to reproductive health are certain to be considered by state governments. On Sunday, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) refused to rule out the possibility that his state would ban certain forms of contraception.
The Post’s Amy B Wang and Silvia Foster-Frau reports that Reeves, appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” confirmed that, if the Supreme Court overturns Roe, a trigger law passed in Mississippi in 2007 would go into effect that essentially outlaws abortions in the state, although it makes exceptions for rape and for the life of the mother. Amy writes:
When asked if Mississippi might next target the use of contraceptives such as the Plan B pill or intrauterine devices, Reeves demurred, saying that was not what the state was focused on “at this time.”“My view is that the next phase of the pro-life movement is focusing on helping those moms that maybe have an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy,” Reeves said. “And while I’m sure there will be conversations around America regarding [contraceptives], it’s not something that we have spent a lot of time focused on.”
source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/09/democrats-abortion-biden-internet-ukraine/
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