Senate confirms Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence
The Senate has confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence.
The vote was 52 in favor and 48 against, with all Democrats and Republican senator Mitch McConnell opposing her nomination.
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Senate advances Robert F Kennedy Jr to lead health and human services department
The Senate has voted to limit debate on Roberty F Kennedy Jr’s nomination as secretary of health and human services, a key step that paves the way for his confirmation in the days to come.
The vote fell along party lines, with all 53 Republicans in support and all 47 Democrats opposed.
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Updated at 17.32 GMT
Back in the Senate, lawmakers are voting to limit debate on Robert F Kennedy Jr’s nomination as secretary of health and human services.
That will set a up a final vote on his confirmation in the coming days which is expected to succeed, despite concerns from the Democrats over Kennedy’s embrace of various conspiracy theories, particularly when it comes to vaccines.
The prospect of Kennedy becoming one of the most powerful health officials in the country has delighted skeptics of modern medicine and terrified doctors, the Guardian’s Jessica Glenza reports:
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That Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have agreed to negotiate over Ukraine, and will even visit each other’s countries, is sure to ring alarm bells in Kyiv.
We have a live blog covering the latest out of Europe, including the conflict in Ukraine. You can follow it here:
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Trump says he spoke with Putin, will open negotiations over Ukraine
Donald Trump said he spoke today with Vladimir Putin, and the two leaders agreed to open negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump described the conversation as “lengthy and highly productive” and added he and Putin both agreed to visit each other’s countries. Here’s the post, in full:
I just had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects. We both reflected on the Great History of our Nations, and the fact that we fought so successfully together in World War II, remembering, that Russia lost tens of millions of people, and we, likewise, lost so many! We each talked about the strengths of our respective Nations, and the great benefit that we will someday have in working together. But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine. President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, “COMMON SENSE.” We both believe very strongly in it. We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations. We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now. I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful. Millions of people have died in a War that would not have happened if I were President, but it did happen, so it must end. No more lives should be lost! I want to thank President Putin for his time and effort with respect to this call, and for the release, yesterday, of Marc Fogel, a wonderful man that I personally greeted last night at the White House. I believe this effort will lead to a successful conclusion, hopefully soon!
No US president has visited Russia since Barack Obama in 2013, while Putin has not been to the United States since 2015, during a UN general assembly meeting.
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Senate confirms Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence
The Senate has confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence.
The vote was 52 in favor and 48 against, with all Democrats and Republican senator Mitch McConnell opposing her nomination.
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Mitch McConnell, formerly the top Republican in the Senate, broke with his party to vote against confirming Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
She is still expected to be confirmed, though voting is ongoing. Since stepping down as Republican leader last year, McConnell – who played a major role in enabling Trump during his first term and setting the stage for him to return to the White House – has repeatedly said he does not support the sorts of foreign policies that Gabbard has appeared sympathetic to.
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Senate voting on Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination as intelligence director
The Senate has started voting on confirming Tulsi Gabbard as Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence.
The former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii is expected to win the assent of the Republican-controlled chamber, despite concerns from Democrats regarding Gabbard’s views on Ukraine, Russia and Syria. Hillary Clinton once alluded to Gabbard as someone who is “the favourite of the Russians”, and the then-congresswoman’s decision to visit Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad and question his well-documented use of chemical weapons was roundly criticized.
But at her confirmation hearing, it wasn’t those statements that raised the most eyebrows among the Republicans whose votes she needed. Instead, it was her refusal to describe US government whistleblower Edward Snowden as a “traitor”. Nonetheless, she overcame that skepticism and saw her nomination advanced by the Senate intelligence committee. Here’s a look back at that:
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Donald Trump is also being sued by a Democratic member of the board that hears federal employees’ appeals of their discipline or dismissal who he attempted to fire, Reuters reports.
The lawsuit by Cathy Harris, a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, comes after Trump on Monday fired another Democratic member of the board, Ray Limon, Reuters reports.
Trump has fired several Democratic members of independent agencies, such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In an interview with the Guardian, Jocelyn Samuels, an EEOC commissioner removed by Trump, said she believes her firing was illegal and part of a plan to install a Republican majority on the board, which will then sanction conservative policies in workplaces nationwide:
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Inspectors general sue over firings by Trump
Eight federal government inspectors general have filed a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s order to fire them, Reuters reports.
Days after taking office, the president dismissed 18 officials charged with independent oversight of federal agencies, including the departments of state, energy and defense. The firings appeared to contradict federal law that requires Congress be given 30 days notice of such removals. Here’s more:
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Donald Trump will sign more executive orders at 2.30pm today, the White House said.
Yesterday, he signed an executive order directing federal agencies to work with Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency”, and announced the news in the Oval Office with the Tesla billionaire by his side. Here’s a look back on that:
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Democratic state attorneys general have taken the lead in challenging Donald Trump’s executive orders in court. At a conference in Los Angeles, the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino reports that some of these top prosecutors fear the country is on the verge of “dictatorship”:
Several Democratic state attorneys general warned that the country was in the grip of a full-blown constitutional crisis, as they battle Donald Trump in court over actions they argue are lawless and in some cases brazenly unconstitutional.
“We are on the brink of a dictatorship, and America has never been in a more dangerous position than she is today,” Kris Mayes, the attorney general of Arizona, said at a press conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Mayes alleged Trump’s stunning power grabs, his disregard for the rule of law, his alliance with – and reliance on – billionaire Elon Musk, and his attacks on judges and journalists amounted to “an ongoing coup against American democracy”.
“He was elected president, but no one put a crown on this guy’s head,” said Delaware’s attorney general, Kathy Jennings, co-chair of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, which convened its quarterly policy conference in Los Angeles. The state attorneys general spoke to reporters during a round table on the sidelines of the event.
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Robert F Kennedy Jr, Tulsi Gabbard set for key Senate votes today
The Senate is expected to today take crucial votes on Donald Trump’s controversial nominations of conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr and former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s to his cabinet.
At around 11am ET, the Republican-controlled chamber will vote on confirming Gabbard as director of national intelligence. Lawmakers will also take a preliminary vote on Kennedy’s nomination as secretary of health and human services, which will tee up a final confirmation vote in the days to come.
Democrats loudly condemned both nominees, saying their fringe and extreme views on the issues they would have to deal with, if confirmed, could do real harm. But Republicans decided not to fight the new president over his cabinet picks, and have confirmed just about everyone he has nominated. Here’s more about that:
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Updated at 14.47 GMT
Donald Trump’s zeal for tariffs may make the United States’s housing affordability crisis worse, the Guardian’s Callum Jones reports:
Pressing ahead with steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico risks exacerbating the US housing crisis and threatening the broader economy, dozens of congressional Democrats have warned Donald Trump.
The US president, after threatening to hit imports from the US’s two biggest trading partners with a 25% tax, is weighing how to proceed after approving a one-month delay.
In a letter to Trump seen by the Guardian, Democrats noted that the US imports key construction materials worth billions of dollars – from lumber to cement products – from Canada and Mexico each year.
“Given the severe housing shortage, compounded by rising construction costs, persistent supply chain disruptions, and an estimated shortfall of 6m homes, these looming tariffs, while intended to protect domestic industries, risk further exacerbating the housing supply and affordability crisis while stifling the development of new housing,” they wrote.
In a statement, the White House claimed Trump would use tariffs to “usher in a new era of growth and prosperity” for the US.
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Hegseth says Europe must provide ‘overwhelming share’ of aid to Ukraine
Addressing a meeting of Ukraine’s western allies in Brussels, defense secretary Pete Hegseth said the Trump administration expects European nations to pay for the “overwhelming share” of Ukraine’s defense.
We have a live blog covering the event, and you can follow it here:
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US consumers saw more inflation than expected in January
Consumer price inflation was higher than forecast in the United States last month, just-released government data confirms, potentially reducing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will heed Donald Trump’s call to reduce interest rates.
The data is also a warning sign for the new president that the deeply unpopular economic force, which played a major role in sinking Joe Biden’s public standing, is not quelled. Here’s more on the price growth, from the Guardian’s Callum Jones:
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Trump says more tariffs coming, calls for lower interest rates
Donald Trump has called for interest rates to be lowered, and said they would “go hand in hand” with tariffs he plans to announce.
He made the quip on Truth Social:
Interest Rates should be lowered, something which would go hand in hand with upcoming Tariffs!!! Lets Rock and Roll, America!!!
While tariffs are in a president’s wheelhouse, interest rates are not. Those are controlled by the independent Federal Reserve, and though presidents appoint the central bank’s leaders, they usually don’t push for them to lower rates – except for Trump, who did this sort of thing in his first term.
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Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said on Wednesday that he agrees with Donald Trump on the need for more burden sharing between the US and its European allies on aid for Ukraine, Reuters reports.
“I agree with him that we must equalize security assistance to Ukraine,” Rutte told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday ahead of a gathering of officials dedicated to discussing help for Ukraine.
Nato members agreed last year to provide Ukraine with 40bn euros in security assistance within a year but ended up sending over 50bn, with over half coming from European allies and Canada, according to the alliance.
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