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| Joe Biden to talk infrastructure in Michigan amid pressure over Gaza – live | Joe Biden to talk infrastructure in Michigan amid pressure over Gaza – live |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The president will be promoting his $2.3tn plan in Dearborn, whose large Arab-American plans to protest against his stance on Middle East strife | The president will be promoting his $2.3tn plan in Dearborn, whose large Arab-American plans to protest against his stance on Middle East strife |
| House minority leader Kevin McCarthy has just released a statement announcing he will oppose the bipartisan bill to form a September 11-style commission to study the Capitol insurrection. | |
| The Republican leader argued that the commission would be “duplicative and potentially counterproductive” because of the other existing investigations into the 6 January attack. | |
| “While the Speaker has wasted time playing political games, numerous Congressional and intergovernmental agency efforts have picked up the slack,” McCarthy said. | |
| McCarthy also criticized Democrats for ignoring “the political violence that has struck American cities, a Republican Congressional baseball practice, and, most recently, the deadly attack on Capitol Police on April 2, 2021”. | |
| “Given the political misdirections that have marred this process, given the now duplicative and potentially counterproductive nature of this effort, and given the Speaker’s shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation,” he concluded. | |
| The bipartisan bill is expected to come up for a vote this week, and it will likely still pass the Democratic-controlled House. However, McCarthy’s stance demonstrates that it may be difficult to get the legislation through the evenly divided Senate. | |
| If the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, wanted to symbolise the Joe Biden administration’s determination not to become embroiled in the Israel-Palestine issue, he could not have timed better his current trip to Copenhagen, Reykjavik and Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. | |
| Important discussions on the Arctic and the climate crisis may be on the agenda, but the chilly north is a distance from the tunnels, rocket fire and screams of those suffering in the latest war in the Middle East. | |
| It may well be that in his numerous calls to key regional actors on the plane to Denmark Blinken made more progress in inching Israel, and Hamas, towards a ceasefire the US had been reluctant to demand in public. | |
| But an impasse at the UN security council, where the US has opposed any move towards a resolution calling for a ceasefire, has left the European Union pondering the extent to which the new administration, at least when it comes to Israel, is truly different from its predecessor, and asking how the US can be persuaded to be less phobic about expending capital in the search for peace in the Middle East. | |
| Joe Biden had another call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, as Israel and Hamas continued to engage in violent attacks in Gaza that have already killed more than 200 people, most of them Palestinian. | Joe Biden had another call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, as Israel and Hamas continued to engage in violent attacks in Gaza that have already killed more than 200 people, most of them Palestinian. |
| In the conversation, the US president indicated he supported a ceasefire in Gaza, but he avoided explicitly calling for an end to the violence. | In the conversation, the US president indicated he supported a ceasefire in Gaza, but he avoided explicitly calling for an end to the violence. |
| “The president reiterated his firm support for Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks,” the White House statement said in readout of the call. | “The president reiterated his firm support for Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks,” the White House statement said in readout of the call. |
| “He encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians. The two leaders discussed progress in Israel’s military operations against Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza. The president expressed his support for a ceasefire and discussed US engagement with Egypt and other partners towards that end.” | “He encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians. The two leaders discussed progress in Israel’s military operations against Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza. The president expressed his support for a ceasefire and discussed US engagement with Egypt and other partners towards that end.” |
| Greetings from Washington, live blog readers. | Greetings from Washington, live blog readers. |
| Joe Biden will travel to Dearborn, Michigan, today to tour the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center and deliver remarks at the plant. | Joe Biden will travel to Dearborn, Michigan, today to tour the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center and deliver remarks at the plant. |
| The trip marks the president’s latest effort to promote his $2.3tn infrastructure plan as he continues to negotiate with Republicans over the proposal. | The trip marks the president’s latest effort to promote his $2.3tn infrastructure plan as he continues to negotiate with Republicans over the proposal. |
| Biden has called for a $174bn investment in the electric vehicle industry to create US jobs and lead the world in a sector that is viewed as crucial to decreasing carbon emissions. | Biden has called for a $174bn investment in the electric vehicle industry to create US jobs and lead the world in a sector that is viewed as crucial to decreasing carbon emissions. |
| However, the president’s trip may not be as promotional as he had originally hoped. The Detroit Free Press reports that a group of Arab-American residents plan to protest Biden’s visit because of his recent comments about the violence in Gaza: | However, the president’s trip may not be as promotional as he had originally hoped. The Detroit Free Press reports that a group of Arab-American residents plan to protest Biden’s visit because of his recent comments about the violence in Gaza: |
| The president will soon leave for Michigan, and the blog will have more details on the trip as it unfolds, so stay tuned. | The president will soon leave for Michigan, and the blog will have more details on the trip as it unfolds, so stay tuned. |