Gun shops in Canada have actually seen pistols fly off the racks, with lots of offering out entirely after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed weapon control legislation freezing all handgun purchases.
In what seems a seismic political misfire, Canadian weapon shops have actually been reporting an enormous rise in pistol sales after the nation’s leftist prime minister, Justin Trudeau, revealed that he would be carrying out weapon control laws absolutely freezing the import and sale of this class of gun.
Many stores in the nation have actually now supposedly offered out of handguns totally, in spite of very limiting laws currently in location in the nation which can make the purchase of a pistol onerously challenging.
According to a report by the AFP, every weapon shopkeeper who spoke with the firm honestly derided Trudeau’s statement that he would prohibit the sale of pistols, while likewise stating that they had actually all seen a huge rise in handgun sales because he made the statement recently.
Jen Lavigne, co-owner of That Hunting Store, consults with clients on June 3, 2022 in Ottawa, Canada.– Canadians hurried to purchase pistols today, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed on May 30, 2022, a proposed freeze on sales in the wake of current mass shootings in the United States. “Sales have actually been vigorous,” stated Lavigne. “We offered 100 pistols or practically our whole stock in the last 3 days given that the prime minister revealed the freeze,” she stated. (Photo by DAVE CHAN/AFP through Getty Images)
” We offered 100 pistols, or nearly our whole stock, in the last 3 days, because the Prime Minister revealed the freeze,” stated the co-owner of That Hunting Store, Jen Lavigne, prior to stressing that the restriction would just “hurt legal weapon owners”.
Another store owner, Josko Kovic of DoubleTap Sports, stated that the Liberal Party leader’s statement had actually “produced a panic” which “individuals are now hurrying out to purchase pistols”.
” Almost all shops are offered out, including me,” Kovic kept in mind, with the AFP likewise reporting that lots of weapon shops saw lines out the door just hours after Trudeau’s anti-gun statement, which numerous offered their whole stock of pistols within a matter of days.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has actually presented a brand-new costs to parliament that would stop the import, purchase and sale of pistols. https://t.co/usNj5V7ZaN
The rise in handgun sales took place in Canada in spite of the reality that this class of gun is exceptionally tough to purchase in the nation, needing potential owners to get several character recommendations and signatures from their partners, on top of acquiring a licence and passing a strict background check.
According to a Newsweek post on the matter, pistol owners are likewise obliged by law to register their freshly gotten guns with the regional cops prior to even being permitted to take the weapon house.
However, none of these extreme limitations appear to be enough for Justin Trudeau, who revealed that he had actually brought brand-new legislation to Parliament which would completely freeze the sale and import of handguns in all Canada.
” What this suggests is that it will no longer be possible to purchase, offer, move or import pistols throughout Canada,” the leftist Prime Minister stated, while apparently utilizing mass shootings in the United States to validate the restriction.
Trudeau likewise declared that while “weapon violence is a complex issue”, the “mathematics” of the problem reveals that “the less the weapons in our neighborhoods, the more secure everybody will be”.
This is regardless of the reality that Chicago in the United States ran a pistol restriction from 1982 till 2010 and just saw murder numbers increase within this amount of time.
Police Net Dozens of Illegal Firearms Including AK-47 over a Month in ‘Gun-Free’ UK https://t.co/Tzvzxr1rWY
Lawmakers return to Capitol Hill to a one-two punch of high-stakes happenings this week as a bipartisan group of senators continues talks on a potential gun violence package and the Jan. 6 select committee prepares to unveil its findings when primetime hearings get under way on Thursday.
A group of nine senators will resume gun reform talks this week as a string of violence continues across the country, headlined by the tragic shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., Uvalde, Texas and Tulsa, Okla. The latest high profile mass shooting took place over the weekend in Philadelphia, where at least three people were killed and 12 were wounded when a gunman fired into a crowd on tourist-laden South Street (CBS Philly).
But questions continue to surround what could warrant inclusion in an ultimate package. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on Sunday that any bill will not include provisions related to “comprehensive” background checks or an assault weapons ban, which some Democrats clamor for (The Hill).
“We’re not going to do everything I want,” Murphy said.“Right now, people in this country want us to make progress. They just don’t want the status quo to continue for another 30 years.”
Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, a lead GOP member of the group, said on Sunday that he hopes half of the 50-member Senate Republican conference can get behind the deal that ultimately emerges (The Hill). Talks at present center around incentivizing states to institute so-called red flag laws, boosting funding for mental health services and school security, and expanding background checks.
Toomey added that any legislation will be born out of the Senate rather than input from the White House, adding that President Biden is not being “very helpful” in talks (The Hill).
“I think the president might have been a president who would reach across the aisle, try to bring people together,” Toomey told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “But he’s chosen not to take that approach. … Since day one, he has sided with the far left of his party and really not reached out to Republicans.”
■ The Washington Post: Senators say gun deal is within reach, but without Biden’s wish list.
■ Mike Lillis, The Hill: Partisan divide on guns just grows larger with each tragedy.
■ The New York Times: Mass shootings where stricter gun laws might have made a difference.
Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association and other outside groups that have funneled millions of dollars to GOP lawmakers over the years could play a role in ongoing talks.
The leading pro-Second Amendment group’s influence was clear almost a decade ago when Senate Republicans sank a bill to beef up background checks following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School (The Hill). However, the situation has changed to a degree as the NRA’s financial prowess isn’t what it was back then (The Washington Post).
■ The Hill: Two in three parents say they are concerned about mass shootings at schools: poll.
■ The Associated Press: Tulsa shooting puts focus on waiting period for purchases.
■ The Hill: House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) says red flag laws are “unconstitutional.”
■ The New York Times: Mental health clinic in the school? No thanks, says the school board.
There are many Americans who won’t believe evidence and conclusions presented beginning this week by the House panel investigating Jan. 6. The skeptics reject the committee’s very existence as partisan and overwrought.
No matter how spellbinding the hearing witnesses, committee depositions and video montages, defenders of former President Trump and of the attackers who mobbed the Capitol and used violence against law enforcers stopped listening long ago.
And therein lies a question: Is the panel interested in public persuasion, an expanded draft of history, recommendations to safeguard democracy, or tarring Trump ahead of a possible (some say likely) 2024 presidential bid?
Members of the panel are in sync about the basic narrative planned for June, but they divide over whether they should make recommendations (Axios Sneak Peak).
“Our goal is to present the narrative of … how close we came to losing our democracy with this violent attack on the 6th,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the committee (The Guardian). “There’s a great deal they haven’t seen” (The Hill).
■ The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch writes that committee members are eager to reach a broad segment of Americans and show how democracy in 2020 and 2021 was under attack.
■ NBC News: Jan. 6 revelations will “blow the roof off the House,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said.
■ Roll Call: The Jan. 6 panel won’t get all it seeks for its public hearings this month.
■ Politico: How Biden plans to handle the Jan. 6 hearings.
▪ FiveThirtyEight: American are moving on from Jan. 6, even if Congress hasn’t.
▪ The Washington Post: How the White House lost Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), and its plan to transform America.
▪The Hill: Trump endorses House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as “strong and fearless” House GOP leader.
LEADING THE DAY
➤ POLITICS
After a one-week break, primary elections are back in full swing this week as voters head to the polls in seven states, including in a number of districts where House Republicans are battling challengers in search of another term in office.
As The Hill’s Emily Brooks details, a number of incumbent House GOP members are attempting to fend off challenges from the right on Tuesday. In South Dakota, Rep. Dusty Johnson (R), the state’s at-large member, faces a challenge from state Rep. Taffy Howard (R), who is backed by a PAC that pushes stolen-election theories.
Across the country, Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and the Congressional Leadership Fund, the top outside group supporting House GOP candidates, have suddenly pumped around $1 million into the primary and attacked Greg Raths, her opponent.
Kim also faces another redistricting-centric issue: introducing herself to new voters. The incumbent member currently represents California’s 39th District, but her move to the new 40th District covers much of Rep. Mark Takano’s (D-Calif.) current territory, creating trouble for her reelection.
On top of contests in South Dakota and California, races are also taking place in Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey and New Mexico.
■ The Hill: Six races to watch in the California primary.
■ The Associated Press: 2022 midterms: What to watch in primaries in seven states.
■ The New York Times: Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.) drops reelection bid after bucking his party on guns.
Elsewhere on the campaign scene in Alabama, Katie Britt is trying to put a swift end to a Lazarus attempt by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) in the state’s open Senate race to replace the retiring Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).
In the past week alone, key GOP figures threw their weight behind Britt’s campaign, including Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. As The Hill’s Tal Axelrod notes, that’s on top of the support from Shelby, whose seat she’s trying to fill, and a group affiliated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
The runoff is set for June 21.
■ Politico: Trump weighs a big bet in Alabama Senate contest.
■ The Hill: Democrats weigh chances in Ohio Senate race.
■ NBC News: Republicans brace for next round of Trump primary chaos.
IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES
➤UKRAINE CRISIS
Russia pounded Kyiv for the first time in more than a month with air strikes early Sundayand Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a veiled warning that Moscow intends to target sophisticated weapons systems sent to Ukraine by Western allies (The New York Times, The Associated Press and Reuters).
It was a reminder that Russia, waging a ferocious war in eastern Ukraine, has the power to lash out and hit multiple targets inside its neighbor.
Russia said on Sunday that it destroyed tanks donated from abroad to Ukraine, a claim denied by a Ukrainian official. Putin warned that any Western deliveries of long-range rocket systems to Ukraine would prompt Moscow to hit “objects that we haven’t yet struck.”
Weapons being sent to Ukraine from the U.S. include four precision-guided, medium-range rocket systems; helicopters; Javelin anti-tank weapon systems; radar; and tactical vehicles. Before any U.S. weapons arrive to help Ukraine, Russia wants to overrun Ukraine’s embattled eastern industrial Donbas region where Russia-backed separatists have fought Kyiv’s authority since 2014, military analysts said. The Pentagon said last week it will take at least three weeks to get the precision U.S. weapons onto the battlefield.
Meanwhile Russian Gen. Roman Kutuzov was killed in eastern Ukraine, adding to the string of high-ranking military casualties sustained by Moscow, according to Russian state television reporter Alexander Sladkov, who published the news on the Telegram messaging app (Reuters). Russia has lost thousands of soldiers and at least eight to 10 generals since its invasion on Feb. 24, according to U.S. estimates (The Associated Press).
The Washington Post: Ukrainian born Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) made her second trip as a congresswoman to Ukraine, visiting heavily damaged Chernihiv, 95 miles north of Kyiv.
■ Dust off that dirty word “detente” and engage with China, by Niall Ferguson, columnist, Bloomberg Opinion. https://bloom.bg/3aIDFFi
■ A summit to nowhere in the Americas, by Mary Anastasia O’Grady, editor, The Wall Street Journal. https://on.wsj.com/3arLEGy
WHERE AND WHEN
The House meets on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
TheSenate convenes at 3 p.m. and resumes consideration of the nomination of Alex Wagner to be an assistant secretary of the Air Force. A cloture vote on the Wagner nomination is scheduled at 5: 30 p.m.
The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 9: 30 a.m. Biden has no public events on his schedule at press time.
Vice President Harris, who is on the West Coast, will host a roundtable with faith leaders at 2: 25 p.m. PDT at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor to discuss abortion and related reproductive health issues. Harris at 4 p.m. at the Los Angeles Sheraton Grand Hotel will tour the Summit of the Americas fair (the summit begins today) and “engage with civic leaders from the Western Hemisphere” about women’s empowerment and other issues in governance.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at 1: 30 p.m in Washington. The secretary at 4 p.m. hosts and speaks at a virtual roundtable event about food security issues tied to the war in Ukraine.
First lady Jill Biden at 11 a.m. at the White House will help unveil a new postal stamp to honor former first lady Nancy Reagan. Biden will be joined by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation board chairman Fred Ryan and Anne Peterson, niece of the former first lady. The first lady will travel to Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona to film content this evening for National Geographic to honor our National Parks.
The White House daily briefing is scheduled at 2: 30 p.m.
🖥 Hill.TV’s “Rising” program features news and interviews at http://thehill.com/hilltv, on YouTube and on Facebook at 10: 30 a.m. ET. Also, check out the “Rising” podcast here.
ELSEWHERE
➤INTERNATIONAL
In London, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a no-confidence vote this evening in Parliament as conservative lawmakers try to force him from office a little more than two years after his election. Johnson for months has been accused of misleading lawmakers about in-person parties held at Downing Street during the height of the pandemic’s U.K. lockdown (The New York Times). Johnson has issued a string of explanations, concessions and apologies, including through his office to Queen Elizabeth II following a Downing Street party in which alcohol was brought in using a suitcase on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral last year (CNBC).
The U.S. and South Korea today joined in live-fire exercises to launch eight ballistic missiles into the sea in a show of force matching a North Korean missile display a day earlier that extended Pyongyang’s provocations. The U.S. military fired one missile and South Korea deployed seven (The Associated Press).
The U.S. is the host today through Friday of the hemispheric-focused Summit of the Americas, the first gathering of leaders from North, Central and South America in nine years. The Hill’s Rafael Bernal and Brett Samuels report on five things to watch in Los Angeles, where Biden and the vice president each have events scheduled before the summit’s conclusion.
At the Vatican, could a second papal resignation be in the cards? Pope Francis fueled speculation on Sunday that he could follow in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI and step down from the papacy by announcing a planned trip to L’Aquila, a central Italian city, for a feast started by Pope Celestine V, one of the few popes to resign. The chatter comes as Francis, 85, has been confined to a wheelchair over the past month (The Associated Press).
Justices will soon wrap up a dramatic term on the high court. Justice Stephen Breyer will retire. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will be seated to begin the new term in October. And in the foreground is a pending abortion decision that has already triggered a firestorm with a leaked draft decision that, if backed by the court’s conservative majority, would give 50 states the power to determine women’s rights to terminate pregnancies. The Hill’s John Kruzel reports on five of the biggest issues to watch as the court’s momentous term ends.
➤ BABY FORMULA
Abbott Laboratories announced over the weekend that U.S. consumers should begin to see EleCare infant formula on store shelves beginning June 20 following the gradual restart of manufacturing at its Sturgis, Mich., facility, which has been closed since February due to product contamination. Abbott and the Food and Drug Administration agreed on May 16 that the plant could reopen. The production and distribution of Similac and other infant formulas will follow EleCare “as soon as we can,” the company said without offering a timetable (Fox Business and The Associated Press). … Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Sunday that, like Biden, she “probably” did not know about the national formula shortage until April (The Hill).
➤ POX & PANDEMIC
From May 13 to June 2, the World Health Organization confirmed 780 cases of monkeypox across four global regions that are not endemic for monkeypox (meaning, not in parts of Africa where monkeypox is common), according to a report released on Sunday. Most but not all known cases so far have involved men who have sex with men. “Even one case of monkeypox in a non-endemic country is considered an outbreak,” WHO said. To date, 88 percent of cases were reported in 20 countries in Europe; 10 percent were reported in the Americas; 1 percent of cases appeared in the Eastern Mediterranean region; and 1 percent of infections have been in the Western Pacific region. WHO describes the monkeypox risk at the global level as “moderate.” No deaths from the disease in non-endemic countries have been reported, according to WHO.
🦠 Even as COVID-19 infections rise in the U.S., the public yearning for normalcy is winning out. Many people no longer see the virus as the threat it once was because of vaccinations, anti-viral treatments, testing and a sense that there is some herd immunity in play after three years of the pandemic. Yet, millions of people are still vulnerable to infection, serious illness and long COVID. The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reports why epidemiologists say it is hard to reconcile those two faces of the pandemic.
The Hill’s Peter Sullivan follows up with a question that is unsettling among scientists. Does it matter anymore that COVID-19 infections in the U.S. are on the rise?
Total U.S. coronavirusdeaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,008,585. Current average U.S. COVID-19 daily deaths are 247, according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of today, 77.2 percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 66 percent is “fully vaccinated,” according to the Bloomberg News global vaccine tracker and the government’s definition. The percentage of Americans who have received third or booster doses is 30.8.
➤ SPORTS
🎾 Rafael Nadal on Sunday extended his dominance at the French Open, taking home his 14th singles title in the event and adding his 22nd Grand Slam championship, the most in men’s tennis history. Nadal defeated Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 on the clay of Roland Garros, where he has an incredible lifetime record of 112-3. The win puts Nadal, 36, two Grand Slam titles clear of rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who both have 20, having won the Australian Open in January to break a three-way logjam. Wimbledon, the next on the calendar, starts in three weeks (ESPN).
And finally …Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible to the naked eye throughout June. It’s the first time since December 2004 that the five planets will be viewable while arrayed in the heavens. The planetary show won’t recur for another 18 years (Axios). By that time, space tourists might be taking in the view at zero gravity.
Thousands of arbitrators from 200 nations have actually flown to Bonn, Germany, to start 2 weeks of “round the clock” talks preparing the next round of environment conferences and conferences.
The most instant concern facing participants on Monday will be to set the phase for a fresh round of significant United Nations talks later on this year in Egypt, AFP reports
Also on the program at the World Convention Center is conversation on how to draw out financing from “abundant polluters” and move it to susceptible establishing countries least accountable “for worldwide heating to manage its progressively relentless effects …”
These talks come as nationwide leaders require environment matters increase above all other issues.
A guarantee of $100 billion a year from 2020 still has actually still not been satisfied, with lots of nations balking at the large scale of payments required by the U.N. and its numerous subsidiaries.
” Climate modification is not a program we can manage to press back on our international schedule,” outbound U.N. environment modification chief Patricia Espinosa cautioned ahead of the get together.
She stated it is necessary that countries come to the UN COP27 conference in Sharm el-Sheikh in November prepared to more discuss “strong, concrete actions– backed by particular strategies– to provide the immediate and transformational environment aspiration we merely should see prior to it’s far too late”.
U.S. envoy on environment modification John Kerry has actually cautioned the war in Ukraine should not be utilized as a reason to let the world continue its dependence on coal.
Gavin Newsom is fighting international warming one jet flight at a time! https://t.co/PYrbbIzQE9
If nations extend their dependence on coal in reaction to the war, then “we are prepared,” Kerry informed the BBC.
” As a world we are still stagnating quickly enough,” to check the emissions of warming gases that are increasing temperature levels, Kerry warned. “We can still win this fight,” the previous senator stated, however it will need a “wholesale elevation of effort by nations all around the world.”
It happens midway in between the huge conferences in Glasgow in 2015 and COP27, to be kept in Egypt later on this year.
The talks will be performed by civil servants with minimal political input and will evaluate development on a host of problems concurred in the Glasgow Climate Pact,
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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Attention will be focused on the House this week as the select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol holds its first public hearing on Thursday.
The primetime hearing will mark the first time the panel, which has largely conducted its investigation behind closed doors, will present its findings to the public. Proceedings are set to begin at 8 p.m.
House Democrats are also looking to move a pair of gun-control measures this week following the mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y. and Uvalde, Texas. The legislation would enact “red flag” laws, raise the minimum age for purchasing semi-automatic weapons and ban civilians from using high-capacity magazines and bump stocks, among other actions.
Tuesday marks the first day the House is back in session since the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, which killed 19 students and two adults.
Senators are also awaiting news on the bipartisan gun control negotiations, which have been ongoing for almost a week, to discern what measures have a chance of passing Congress and reaching President Biden.
Also on the Senate side, the lower chamber is poised to turn to toxic burn pits legislation, which passed the House in a largely party-line vote in March.
First Jan. 6 public hearing
The Jan. 6 select committee is set to take its investigation public on Thursday in a primetime hearing that is promising to present the American people with findings from its nearly year-long probe.
Thursday’s hearing, the first of eight, marks the culmination of the committee’s probe, which conducted more than 1,000 interviews and obtained upwards of 125,000 records.
“The committee will present previously unseen material documenting January 6th, receive witness testimony, preview additional hearings, and provide the American people a summary of its findings about the coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the transfer of power,” the committee wrote in a statement last week.
The panel has not yet revealed who is scheduled to appear as a witness at Thursday’s hearing. The congressional investigators have spoken to a number of figures in former President Trump’s orbit, including Ivanka Trump, his daughter, Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, and Donald Trump Jr., his son.
On Thursday, former Attorney General William Barr met with the committee.
Axios reported last week that J. Michael Luttig, a former judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who advised then-Vice President Pence before the Jan. 6 attack, is expected to testify in the hearings.
Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), an adviser for the Jan. 6 committee, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that the hearings are “going to be very concise” and “exciting.”
“I think people are going to be absolutely surprised how much was known with multiple groups. And I think that’s what’s going to be exciting to see the committee,” he added.
The investigation drew headlines on Friday when news broke that former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro had been indicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas from the Jan. 6 select committee.
Also on Friday, a federal grand jury opted against changing former Trump White House officials Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino for defying subpoenas from the Jan. 6 panel, according to The New York Times.
Republicans are also planning counter-programming to the slate of hearings, according to Axios.
Trump is scheduled to meet with members of the House Freedom Caucus at the former president’s New Jersey club on Tuesday. Attendees include Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.).
The House Rules Committee is scheduled to take up two pieces of gun legislation on Tuesday in response to the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde.
The first, dubbed the Protecting Our Kids Act, is a package of eight bills that if passed would raise the age for purchasing semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21 years old, ban civilian use of high-capacity magazines and bump stocks, and require that ghost gun purchases are made in accordance with background check requirements.
The package also calls for prohibiting straw purchase of firearms — when someone who is unable to clear a background check buys a gun through a proxy — and bolstering safe storage of firearms, among other measures.
The House Judiciary Committee advanced the package in a 25-19 party-line vote on Wednesday following an hours-long markup. It now heads to the Senate for consideration.
The package is poised to pass the Democratic-led House but will likely face headwinds in the upper chamber, where at least 10 Republicans are needed to overcome a legislative filibuster.
A coalition of 21 House Democrats, led by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), penned a letter to House Democratic leadership on Thursday asking that the sweeping package be split into eight individual bills in an effort to maximize GOP support in the Senate.
Splitting the package into individual bills would force both chambers to vote on each measure separately. The House Rules Committee, however, is scheduled to consider the legislation as a single package.
The other piece of legislation, dubbed the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, seeks to nationalize “red flag” laws, which would allow courts to order the removal of firearms from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others.
Nineteen states and Washington, D.C. currently have red flag laws in place. The Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act — sponsored by Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), whose son was killed by gun violence — would expand the orders nationwide, allowing federal courts to deliver such measures.
It is unclear how much Republican support the red flag law legislation will garner in the Senate. Lawmakers in the upper chamber are currently engaged in negotiations on more limited legislation to curb gun violence.
A bipartisan working group — comprised of Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), among others — held a Zoom call on Tuesday to continue conversations, with the goal of reaching a deal on a basic framework by this week.
Murphy, the lead Democratic negotiator in the Senate, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that bipartisan negotiations are focusing on mental health funding, school safety measures and “modest but impactful” gun control proposals. Banning assault weapons and comprehensive background checks are not on the table, he added.
Late last month, before the Senate broke for recess, red flag legislation had emerged as a leading option in the upper chamber.
Senate votes on Alex Wagner nomination
The Senate is slated to vote on the nomination of Alex Wagner to serve as assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs. He previously served in a number of positions within the Department of Defense, including chief of staff to the secretary of the Army under the Obama administration.
Biden tapped Wagner to be an assistant secretary of the Air Force on July 29. He is currently serving as the vice president for strategic initiatives at the Aerospace Industries Association.
Senate takes up toxic burn pit legislation
Following Wagner’s nomination vote, the Senate is poised to take up legislation to address toxic burn pits. The bill, dubbed the Honoring our PACT Act, passed the House in a largely party-line vote of 256-174. Thirty-four Republicans bucked their party and joined Democrats in supporting the measure.
The legislation would expand Veterans Affairs (VA) health care eligibility for veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits by creating a presumption of service connection for roughly two dozen cancers and respiratory illnesses, including chronic bronchitis and asthma.
An estimated 3.5 million U.S. service members have been exposed to burn pits, according to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, citing data from the VA. Burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan were at times utilized to incinerate garbage, including human waste, munitions, plastics, jet fuel and paint.
The bill is a top priority for Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.).
Tester and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), ranking member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, announced a deal last month to provide supplemental care to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.
They said their bill, titled the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act, is “the most comprehensive toxic exposure package the Senate has ever delivered to veterans in this country’s history.”
Biden called on Congress to pass legislation addressing toxic burn pits in his State of the Union address in March. He noted that his late son, Beau Biden, developed a cancer that may have stemmed from the toxic pits.
“We don’t know for sure if a burn pit was the cause of his brain cancer, or the diseases of so many of our troops,” Biden said, referring to his son. “But I’m committed to finding out everything we can.”
“I’m also calling on Congress: pass a law to make sure veterans devastated by toxic exposures in Iraq and Afghanistan finally get the benefits and comprehensive health care they deserve,” he added.
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The U.S. Navy pilot who was associated with a deadly crash throughout a regular training objective in Trona, California, previously today has actually been recognized.
Lt. Richard Bullock, who was designated to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113 based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, was making a regular training flight in a F/A-18 E Super Hornet around 2: 30 p.m. when his airplane all of a sudden when down “in a remote, uninhabited location,” the Navy stated.
” No civilians were damaged as an outcome of this event,” a declaration from the Naval Air Forces Public Affairs Office stated.
Local authorities helped the Navy in protecting the crash website and are assisting in the continuous healing effort, the declaration stated.
” The Navy grieves this awful loss along with the household, pals and shipmates of Lt. Bullock,” the Naval Air Forces Public Affairs Office stated.
The Navy is still examining the reason for the crash.
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The Summit of the Americas begins Monday in Los Angeles, the first gathering of leaders from North, Central and South America in nine years.
President Biden and Vice President Harris will both attend the week’s events, but the White House has offered few details about the agenda or even who will be invited in the days leading up to the summit.
Here are five things to watch for at the gathering:
Who attends
The White House has not finalized list of attendees to share even though the event is just days away.
The U.S. had not said whether it would invite Juan Guaidó, the officially recognized acting president of Venezuela. Some Latin American officials have taken issue with the United States’s expected exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua and the Maduro regime in Venezuela from the guest list. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Wednesday that he would not attend.
The Biden administration faced internal pressure from Democrats and Republicans alike not to invite the three heads of state that either don’t recognize or openly share disdain for the Inter-American Democratic Charter. But Latin American and Caribbean leaders pressed the U.S. to host a fully inclusive summit.
Santiago Canton, director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program at the Inter-American Dialogue, said Summit organizers should ask themselves whether the presence of Cuban, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan leaders would lead to democratic and human rights breakthroughs.
“Better to invite them [or] not invite them in order to get improvements on human rights and democracy? That’s the main issue. If we can get political prisoners freed in Venezuela and Nicaragua and Cuba and we can get some compromise that democracy is important and they will call for elections, I will be the first one to say ‘invite them.’”
“That didn’t happen,” added Canton. “So we should not invite them because by inviting them we are giving them an award for violating human rights and for breaking democracy.”
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, major American corporations took steps to halt or limit their business in Russia.
“I know, there’s always questions about the invite…But we also should talk about and focus on what the purpose of this meeting is. And that’s also critical and important,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at a press briefing.
“But I have to tell you: A week away, that’s a lifetime,” she added.
Complicated dynamic with Mexico
While several Latin American and Caribbean leaders warned they might not attend if Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua were not invited, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is the most likely guest to follow through on the threat.
López Obrador was expected to be a key guest at the event, with U.S. officials even informally inviting him to catch a Dodgers game in Los Angeles.
But he is also a transactional politician who saw in the Biden administration’s hemming and hawing over inviting the three openly non-democratic regimes as an opportunity to raise his regional profile.
López Obrador’s absence could overshadow attempts to project unity and collaboration.
“I see the administration coming out trying to level the playing field with at least a certain number of partners: Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Canada, Chile, Uruguay, and Colombia,” said Manuel Orozco, director of the Migration, Remittances, and Development Program at the Inter-American Dialogue.
“And with that bloc I hope to include Mexico into the mix, possibly Lopez Obrador will decide six hours before that he will attend the summit,” added Orozco.
The tension with López Obrador goes far beyond Summit attendance – the current Mexican administration has quietly butted heads with the U.S. over energy policy, climate change, labor, foreign investment and security issues.
For many observers, the most concerning of López Obrador’s policies is his backtracking on construction of democratic institutions that over three decades turned Mexico from a one-party state into a competitive, if flawed, democracy.
“The assaults on democracy that we’ve seen by López Obrador are serious. And one of the things that I have been watching is to see if the Biden administration has anything to say about it,” said Rebecca Bill Chavez, a former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Biden’s meeting with Bolsonaro
The White House has yet to release a schedule for Biden, but it is already expected he will meet one-on-one with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
It will mark the first time the leaders have met in-person since Biden took office in January 2021. Bolsonaro, a right-wing figure and outspoken supporter of former President Trump, previously confirmed he would attend and planned to meet with Biden.
“There is a very long list of issues that are going to be up for discussion,” Juan Gonzalez, a Biden adviser on national security issues in Latin America, said in a conference call previewing the summit.
Food security, the pandemic and climate change are likely to be among the topics. White House officials have danced around questions on whether Biden plans to confront Bolsonaro about his attempts to cast doubt on Brazilian elections ahead of his re-election bid in October.
Opinion polls have shown Bolsonaro is trailing leftist candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“The issue of the Brazilian elections is really up for the Brazilians to decide, and the United States does have confidence in Brazil’s electoral institutions, which have proved robust,” Gonzalez told reporters on Wednesday.
What’s on the agenda
Unlike previous summits, the 2022 Summit of the Americas is unlikely to yield major announcements, but experts say it could be an opportunity for the U.S. to fund programs on issues that the hemisphere’s nations already agree on.
“The worst case scenario is that the Biden administration holds this kind of, ‘So we did it. We don’t have to engage again until the next summit,’” Chavez continued.
The event’s original intent was largely accomplished after the inaugural 1994 Summit in Miami, Fla., as most of the countries in the hemisphere declared their commitment to democracy and free trade.
That declaration led to the so-called “golden decade” of the 1990s, in large part a response to the military dictatorships, electoral fraud and civil wars that plagued the region in the mid 20th century.
Since then, however, the neoliberal governments that pushed aside anti-Yankee sentiment and embraced technocratic rule have for the most part themselves been pushed aside by the region’s voters.
Waves of populist sentiment have undone democratic regimes in Nicaragua and Venezuela, and openly threatened democratic institutions in a handful of countries, including Mexico and Colombia, the United States’ closest allies in the region.
By hosting the Summit, the Biden administration is seeking to quell the region’s anti-democratic pressures, particularly after they were egged on by the Trump administration’s overtly transactional, migration-centric approach to the region.
Leaders will discuss climate change, trade, and migration, but the White House has been careful not to outline any specific deliverables.
“As host of the summit, the United States has an excellent opportunity to outline a clear vision for the hemisphere,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.
“There are serious challenges that affect every nation in the region…Addressing these issues requires U.S. commitment and leadership in the region,” added Kaine.
Harris’s focus
Vice President Harris will play a key role at the summit, attending events on reproductive rights, promoting business opportunities for Latina women and delivering remarks to the gathering.
But much of the attention will be on whether or not she acknowledges the issue of migration, something that President Biden made a central part of her policy portfolio last summer.
Harris’s portfolio includes addressing the root cases of migration from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
She has announced millions of dollars in private-sector investments in those countries to try and stem the flow of people fleeing for better opportunities elsewhere.
When Harris took on the task, her office aggressively fought back against Republican attempts to tie the border to her migration agenda.
Although she’s been generally quiet on the issue, Harris has taken two trips to the region with wildly different results.
Her first trip to Guatemala and Mexico is mostly remembered for her blunt delivery of an appeal to migrants: “Do not come.”
Harris’s second trip was a politician’s ideal scenario, as a stadium full of Hondurans celebrating President Xiomara Castro’s inauguration gave the U.S. vice president a standing ovation.
This week’s summit gives Harris a platform to tout her work on the issue, which will likely be a point of attack for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.
White House officials said Biden will sign a migration declaration on the sidelines of the summit with other leaders, pledging to address the crisis.
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The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is preparing for a crucial week as it prepares to finally share with the public the fruits of its monthslong investigation into the riot in primetime on Thursday.
The 8 p.m. hearing kicking off a series of meetings shows the committee is eager to reach a broad segment of Americans and relay the extent to which democracy itself was at stake that day.
“The goal here is to construct this narrative,” said Molly Reynolds, a senior fellow in governance studies with Brookings.
“What they want to do is go through the countless depositions that they’ve taken and other evidence that they gathered and figure out a way to try and convey a story to the public.”
The challenge is making a captivating case for a wide audience, particularly those who feel they already know what happened that day or who are ready to move on from the attack.
According to polling from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the country is nearly evenly divided on how much it wants to reflect on the day.
While 52 percent said it’s important to learn more about what happened, 48 percent said it was “time to move on.” The divide is almost entirely partisan.
“I do think that the committee will have difficulties in communicating messages because of the kind of segregated information environment in which a lot of the American public exists,” Ryan Goodman, co-director of the Reiss Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law, told The Hill.
“That said, I do think the visual of a solemn public hearing and live testimony plus, in all likelihood video material, could focus attention in a way [for] the members of the American public are otherwise not thinking about these issues.”
Putting the hearing in primetime shows the committee doesn’t want to just reach those who already view the attack as a grievous assault on democracy. It wants to reach independents and even conservatives who have heard GOP leaders brand the panel as a partisan witch hunt.
Jesse Rhodes, a political science professor who helped craft the UMass poll, said even with the sharp partisan divide, there are those who don’t have strong feelings about the attack.
“We’re finding in the poll that about 19 percent of people are purely independent. And then there’s another 9 percent who lean Democratic and another 8 percent lean Republican. So there is a little bit of mushiness in the middle. And those people potentially can be shifted,” he said, noting that just one-third of Americans strongly identify as conservative.
“If there really is damning evidence of long-term planning, involvement in collusion by the president or his top advisors…that does have the potential to move some people.”
Rhodes and others have warned the committee must be careful in how it frames such messaging.
“I think the most important [thing] might be this is not perceived as a Trump versus Biden frame, which the first impeachment hearing pretty much was, but rather it imparts a Trump versus Pence framework. I think that there are many people that are concerned about the direct threat to Mike Pence that occurred on Jan. 6,” Goodman said.
“I think that captures attention in a very different way. It’s not as political or partisan.”
There are signs the committee could be leaning in that direction. Multiple outlets reported the panel has been in discussions about inviting Pence’s legal advisors and chief of staff to testify.
“As soon as this is perceived as or appears to be a strictly partisan affair and an attack on the Republican Party as an institution, then you’re going to get a lot of resistance or skepticism,” Rhodes said.
“To the degree that the messages can be about upholding and maintaining institutions and values that benefit people, regardless of party, the more you will get at least a willingness to hear some of these concerns.”
The panel’s makeup could help it.
Republicans in the House objected during the two committee impeachment proceedings on Trump, but the two Republicans on the Jan. 6 panel agree with its objectives.
“Each hearing is going to be different than I think a lot of what we’re used to seeing because everyone is rowing in the same direction. So you have the Democrats and you have [Rep. Liz] Cheney (R-Wyo.) and [Rep. Adam] Kinzinger (R-Ill.), so the committee is bipartisan, but they are all in pursuit of a shared goal in a way that just is not true of other recent high profile investigations, whether it be the Trump impeachment or Benghazi,” Reynolds said.
“That’s going to make for a serious exposition of the facts that’s just going to feel different than what we’ve gotten used to.”
Goodman said the absence of Republicans opposed to the committee’s mission will not just change the tone but even the way in which information is presented.
“I do not think that the hearings are going to be anything like the circus that has existed in hearings – and the impeachment hearings – in that past in which some members of Congress were simply playing to kind of a right-wing media. And so this will be a more solemn hearing which is going to be truth seeking, [that’s] the way in which I see it. And I don’t think that hearings are going to be a source of disinformation. I think they’re going to be a source of information,” he said.
The committee has not yet announced who will testify at the first hearing, but it has pledged to release never before seen footage from Jan. 6.
“The committee will present previously unseen material documenting January 6th, receive witness testimony, preview additional hearings, and provide the American people a summary of its findings about the coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the transfer of power,” it said in a Thursday statement.
It’s not clear what type of footage the committee plans to present at the hearing.
While in the past it’s relied on visceral imagery – including an officer being smashed by rioters in a doorway and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) barely escaping as the mob closed in on the Senate chamber – even new footage of the attack may seem repetitive to those who watched it unfold live on television.
But Goodman said video recordings from some of the committee’s more than 1,000 depositions could be captivating for the public.
Rhodes also said new information will be key, especially to break through in an unusually busy summer news cycle.
“It can be a challenge to get people to refocus on events that occurred in the past, especially when there’s going to be a lot of elite disagreement between Democrats and Republicans about what happened and who was involved in with what culpability,” he said. “I think that’s a real challenge even though it sounds like the committee is going to have a lot of really juicy and damning information to share.”
“They may be able to bring attention especially if they come out with some really shocking new revelations but it is going to be a challenge to break through everything that’s going on right now.”
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will deal with a vote of no self-confidence in his management of the judgment Conservative Party after the limit of Parliamentary Members of his celebration stated they had actually despaired.
Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the ‘1922 Committee’ which represents non-governmental members of the judgment Conservative Party in Parliament and to whom the function of arranging management difficulties and contests falls, revealed early Monday early morning that the variety of letters he had actually gotten from his coworkers had actually passed the limit for a vote.
The statement follows months of discoveries over the Prime Minister and senior coworkers in his federal government and the irreversible federal government, the civil service, breaking the really coronavirus lockdown guidelines they produced and troubled the nation at big.
The procedure is lightning quick, and the Prime Minister will understand his fate as leader of Britain’s biggest political celebration prior to the bars of Westminster close their doors this night.
Standing outdoors Parliament, Sir Graham talked to news cams and re-affirmed the contents of his earlier composed declaration, stating of the procedure:
… a vote of self-confidence will occur within the guidelines of the 1922 Committee, that vote will happen this night in your home of Commons in between 6 and 8 o’clock, and we will reveal the outcome soon afterwards. There will be plans for proxy choose any associates who can’t exist face to face …
By Conservative Party guidelines, a management difficulty is reached when the Committee chairman has actually gotten letters from 15 percent of the members of the Parliamentary celebration. As things stand the Tories have 359 members in the 650 seat home, implying a limit of 54 members will have needed to have actually composed.
Sir Graham Brady (centre), chairman of the 1922 Committee, photographed in 2018, the last time the Conservative Party had a vote of no self-confidence in their leader. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau/PA Images by means of Getty Images)
These guidelines, as made up, do possibly hand numerous benefits to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The limit for a management obstacle, at 15 percent, is really low and certainly shows that 85 percent of those qualified to vote on whether Boris remains or goes have not yet felt inspired to put their own letters in.
As long as the Prime Minister can encourage half of his associates he is their best option he will win tonight’s vote and is however secured by the guidelines of these obstacles: as soon as a Conservative Party leader has actually won a vote of no self-confidence, they are then immune versus any other such obstacle for one year.
The scenarios around the vote might likewise benefit Mr Johnson– no clear option as leader has actually yet emerged and while he will definitely have devoted associates in Parliament who will choose him to remain, he might likewise be buoyed by coworkers who are disappointed with his efficiency however see any alternative leader as simply as bad and even possibly even worse.
Even if the Prime Minister endures tonight’s vote though, today might still mark the start of completion for Boris Johnson. The public, who might pay less attention to the minutiae and outlining of Westminster may take the reality a management difficulty is occurring at all on the back of months of scandals around the ‘partygate’ discoveries as an indication of weak point in the Prime Minister. A loss of self-confidence in the nation in the Prime Minister might equate as less votes in a future basic election, threatening the federal government.
While today’s competitors will be over rapidly, uncommonly the statement of the variety of letters having actually been reached has actually been postponed. Sir Graham exposed Monday early morning that the Prime Minister was notified of the difficulty taking place last night, however that the last letter to tip the balance had actually possibly shown up days back, as some Tory rebels had actually particularly asked that their letters not end up being active till after the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend.
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Britain’s governing Conservatives will hold a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday, June 6, 2022 that might oust him as Britain’s leader. AP
LONDON– Britain’s governing Conservatives will hold a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday that might oust him as Britain’s leader.
Party main Graham Brady states he has actually gotten enough letters from legislators requiring a vote on Johnson’s management to activate one. That takes place if 54 Tory legislators– 15% of the celebration’s group in your home of Commons– compose to Brady.
” The limit of 15% has actually been passed,” Brady stated. He stated the vote would occur face to face in your house of Commons on Monday night.
If Johnson loses the vote amongst the 359 Conservative legislators, he will be changed as Conservative leader and prime minister. If he wins, he can’t deal with another obstacle for a year.
Johnson has actually been having a hard time to turn a page on months of principles scandals, most especially over rule-breaking celebrations in federal government structures throughout COVID-19 lockdowns.
Late last month a detective’s report on what has actually ended up being called “partygate” knocked a culture of rule-breaking inside the prime minister’s No. 10 Downing St. workplace.
Civil service private investigator Sue Gray explained alcohol-fueled celebrations held by Downing Street employee in 2020 and 2021, when pandemic constraints avoided U.K. homeowners from interacting socially and even going to passing away family members.
Gray stated the “senior management group” should bear duty for “failures of management and judgment.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street to go to the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions at your homes of Parliament, in London. AP
The prime minister stated he was “humbled” and took “complete duty”– however insisted it was now time to “proceed” and concentrate on Britain’s battered economy and the war in Ukraine.
But a growing variety of Conservatives feel that Johnson, the charming leader who won them a substantial parliamentary bulk in 2019, is now a liability.
If Johnson is ousted it would trigger a Conservative management contest, in which numerous popular federal government ministers are most likely to run.
Conservative legislator Roger Gale, a Johnson critic, stated “we have some great options to the prime minister so we’re not except option.
” Any single among those individuals in my view would make a much better prime minister than the one that we’ve got at the minute,” he informed the BBC.
A private investigator’s report knocked a culture of rule-breaking inside the prime minister’s No. 10 Downing St. workplace. AP
Discontent appears to have actually capped over a parliamentary break that accompanied events of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. For numerous, the four-day vacation was an opportunity to unwind– however there was no reprieve for Johnson, who was booed by some observers as he showed up for a service in the queen’s honor at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Friday.
Cabinet minister Steve Barclay, a Johnson ally, stated falling the leader now would be “indefensible.”
” The issues we deal with aren’t simple to fix,” he composed on the Conservative Home site. “Democracies around the globe are all presently dealing with comparable obstacles. Under Boris Johnson’s management, our strategy for tasks reveals how we are browsing through these international difficulties.
” To interrupt that development now would be untenable to numerous who provided their vote to us for the very first time at the last basic election, and who wish to see our Prime Minister provide the modifications assured for their neighborhoods.”
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LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face a no-confidence vote Monday that could oust him from power, as discontent with his rule finally threatens to topple a politician who has often seemed invincible despite many scandals.
If Johnson loses the vote among the 359 Conservative lawmakers, the party will choose a new leader, who will also become prime minister. If he wins, as seems more likely, he can’t face another challenge for a year under current party rules — though a narrow victory would leave him a hobbled leader whose days are likely numbered.
Regardless of the outcome, the fact that enough lawmakers are demanding such a vote represents a watershed moment for Johnson. It is also a sign of deep Conservative divisions, less than three years after Johnson led the party to its biggest election victory in decades.
Johnson’s renown as an election-winner has previously insulated him from the fallout of a growing number of scandals. But recently he has struggled to turn the page on revelations that he and his staff repeatedly held boozy parties that flouted the COVID-19 restrictions they imposed on Britain in 2020 and 2021.
Conservative Party official Graham Brady announced Monday that he had received letters calling for a no-confidence vote from at least 54 Tory legislators, enough to trigger the measure under party rules.
“The threshold of 15% (of Conservatives in the House of Commons) has been passed,” Brady said. He said the vote would take place in person in the Commons on Monday evening, with the result announced soon after.
Johnson’s Downing Street office said the prime minister welcomed the vote.
“Tonight is a chance to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on, delivering on the people’s priorities,” it said.
Johnson’s supporters think he will win the backing of more than 180 lawmakers and defeat the challenge. But he could still emerge severely weakened. The last prime minister to survive a no-confidence vote was Theresa May in 2018. She never regained her authority and resigned within months, sparking a leadership contest that was won by Johnson.
His selection in July 2019 capped a rollercoaster journey to the top. He had held major offices, including London mayor and U.K. foreign secretary, but also spent periods on the political sidelines after self-inflicted gaffes. He kept bouncing back, showing an uncommon ability to shrug off scandal and connect with voters that, for many Conservatives, overshadowed doubts about his ethics or judgment.
But qualms have been growing, and came to a head after an investigator’s report late last month that slammed a culture of rule-breaking inside the prime minister’s Downing Street office in a scandal known as “partygate.”
Civil service investigator Sue Gray described alcohol-fueled bashes held by Downing Street staff members at a time when pandemic restrictions prevented U.K. residents from socializing or even visiting dying relatives.
Gray said the “senior leadership team” must bear responsibility for “failures of leadership and judgment.”
Johnson also was fined 50 pounds ($63) by police for attending one party, making him the first prime minister sanctioned for breaking the law while in office.
The prime minister said he was “humbled” and took “full responsibility” — but insisted he would not resign. He urged Britons to “move on” and focus on the battered economy and the war in Ukraine.
But a growing number of Conservatives feel that Johnson is now a liability.
Lawmaker Jesse Norman, a longtime Johnson supporter, said the prime minister had “presided over a culture of casual law-breaking” and had left the government “adrift and distracted.”
“I am afraid I can see no circumstances in which I could serve in a government led by you,” Norman wrote in a letter published on social media.
If Johnson is ousted it would spark a Conservative leadership contest, in which several prominent government ministers are likely to run.
Conservative lawmaker Roger Gale, a Johnson critic, said “we have some very good alternatives to the prime minister so we’re not short of choice.”
“Any single one of those people in my view would make a better prime minister than the one that we’ve got at the moment,” he told the BBC.
Discontent seems to have come to a head over a parliamentary break that coincided with celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. For many, the four-day long weekend was a chance to relax — but there was no respite for Johnson, who was booed by some onlookers as he arrived for a service in the queen’s honor at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Friday.
Senior ministers — some of them likely candidates in a future leadership contest — tweeted messages of support for Johnson.
“The Prime Minister has my 100% backing in today’s vote and I strongly encourage colleagues to support him,” said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, one of the favorites to succeed Johnson.
Cabinet minister Steve Barclay, a Johnson ally, said toppling the leader now would be “indefensible.”
“The problems we face aren’t easy to solve,” he wrote on the Conservative Home website. “But under Boris Johnson’s leadership, our plan for jobs shows how we are navigating through these global challenges.”
“To disrupt that progress now would be inexcusable to many who lent their vote to us for the first time at the last general election, and who want to see our Prime Minister deliver the changes promised for their communities,” he added.
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