Capitol attack panel to weigh criminal contempt against Bannon as Trump sues – live | US news

Over on Capitol Hill, Democratic senator Joe Manchin has eliminated the possibility of adding a carbon tax to the reconciliation package.

“The carbon tax is not on the board at all right now,” Manchin told reporters.

The possibility of a carbon tax had been discussed after Manchin indicated he would not support Joe Biden’s Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), the cornerstone of the president’s climate policy in the reconciliation package.

CEPP would reward utilities that make changes to rely more on renewable energy sources, while penalizing companies that do not do so. On the other hand, a carbon tax would force companies to pay a fee for the amount of carbon dioxide emissions they produce.

There had been a fair amount of skepticism that Democrats could add a carbon tax to the bill at this late stage of negotiations, considering they are looking to reach a deal in the next two weeks.

But it is now seeming increasingly unlikely that the final version of the reconciliation package will meet progressive lawmakers’ demands to adequately address the climate crisis, potentially imperiling the passage of the bill.

Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema has also arrived at the White House for a meeting with Joe Biden before the president’s afternoon discussions with other congressional Democrats, per CNN.

Sinema has repeatedly met with Biden at the White House to discuss the negotiations over the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package.

Like Democratic senator Joe Manchin, Sinema has indicated she will not support the reconciliation package with its current price tag of $3.5tn.

However, it’s unclear what top-line number can attract the support of both Sinema and congressional progressives, who consider $3.5tn to be the bare minimum cost needed to adequately address the crises facing the country.

Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and treasury secretary Janet Yellen will hold two meetings with congressional Democrats at 2 pm and 4:30 pm, the White House has just said.

The first meeting will be with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and the second will be with centrist Democratic lawmakers.

Here are the progressive members attending the first meeting, per the White House:

• Congresswoman Katherine Clark of Massachusetts
• Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan
• Congressman Jared Huffman of California
• CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal of Washington
• Congressman Ro Khanna of California
• Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California
• Congressman Mark Pocan of Wisconsin
• Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York

And here are the lawmakers attending the second meeting:

• Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada
• Senator Jon Tester of Montana
• Senator Mark Warner of Virginia
• Congressman Ami Bera of California
• Congresswoman Suzan DelBene of Washington, the chair of the centrist New Democrat Coalition
• Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey
• Congressman Tom O’Halleran of Arizona
• Congressman Mike Thompson of California

Joe Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, shared a photo from the White House as the president prepares to meet with congressional Democrats to discuss the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package.

“Beautiful brisk day for a lot of congressional meeting,” Psaki said on Twitter.

Discussing the president’s planned meetings at her briefing yesterday, Psaki said, “We’re encouraged by the accelerated pace of talks and are eager to get this done to meet the urgent needs of families.”

She added, “The president is certainly feeling an urgency to move things forward, to get things done. I think you’ve seen that urgency echoed by members on the Hill who agree that time is not unending here.”

Joe Biden will hold two meetings with congressional Democrats today to discuss the negotiations over the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package.

One meeting will be with some of the more centrist Democrats in Congress, while the other will be with progressive members.

The meetings come as Democrats remain at odds over the two bills, with centrists pushing for a smaller reconciliation package as progressives insist the current price tag of $3.5tn is the bare minimum needed to address the climate crisis and lower healthcare and childcare costs for American families.

As Democrats haggle over the reconciliation package, the infrastructure bill remains in limbo in the House, as progressives have said they will not support the legislation until the reconciliation package advances as well.

Today will give Biden another opportunity to make some headway in the stalled negotiations. Stay tuned.

It looks like Donald Trump’s legal efforts to block White House documents from the House select committee’s subpoenas have just been dealt a serious blow.

Trump’s lawsuit in DC District Court has been assigned to Judge Tanya Chutkan, who has previously expressed severe criticism of the Capitol insurrection and its participants, per Politico.

When sentencing one Capitol insurrectionist this month, Chutkan pushed back against comparisons between the January 6 attack and the protests over the police murder of George Floyd last summer.

“What happened … was nothing less than a violent mob trying to prevent the orderly, peaceful transfer of power as part of an election,” Chutkan said of the insurrection. “That mob was trying to overthrow the government. … That is no mere protest.”

Members of the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection have entirely dismissed Steve Bannon’s argument that he can invoke executive privilege in response to the panel’s subpoenas.

Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin, a member of the select committee and a former constitutional law professor, insisted the former Trump adviser “has no right to defy a subpoena”.

“The idea that ‘executive privilege’ would shield a private citizen from turning over evidence about a violent insurrection against the [government] because he knows a twice-impeached former president is farcical and insulting,” Raskin said on Twitter yesterday. “Get with it, Steve.”

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

The House select committee investing the Capitol insurrection will meet this evening to consider whether to hold one of Donald Trump’s former top advisers, Steve Bannon, in contempt for defying the panel’s subpoenas.

Bannon and three of Trump’s other former top aides — Mark Meadows, Dan Scavino and Kash Patel — have been instructed to assist the committee’s efforts to learn more about the January 6 attack that left five people dead.

Meanwhile, Trump himself has filed a lawsuit in DC District Court against the committee, attempting to shield certain White House documents from being subpoenaed by claiming executive privilege.

That legal argument is considered extremely weak, given that Trump is no longer president and thus cannot claim executive privilege. Joe Biden could claim executive privilege in the matter, but the current president has indicated he will not do so.

The committee’s response to the lawsuit underscored how committed the lawmakers are to moving forward with their investigation, regardless of Trump’s antics.

“The former President’s clear objective is to stop the Select Committee from getting to the facts about January 6th and his lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt to delay and obstruct our probe,” said Democratic chair Bennie Thompson and Republican vice-chair Liz Cheney. “Precedent and law are on our side.”

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.