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Five things to watch as Biden heads to the Middle East

President Biden will land in Israel on Wednesday for his first presidential visit to the Middle East, seeking to reassert U.S. influence in the region. 

The trip has already been marked by controversy due to Biden’s plans to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS. Biden will spend a few days in Israel before traveling to Saudi Arabia.

Threats from Iran and domestic concerns about energy production are expected to be dominant issues on the trip. Here are five things to watch.

Biden faces pressure on human rights

In deciding to visit Saudi Arabia and meet with MBS, Biden has faced accusations of backtracking on his campaign pledge to make the Gulf state a “pariah” after the 2018 murder of U.S.-based Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday that Biden would advocate for human rights issues during the trip, but wouldn’t address questions of whether Biden planned to raise Khashoggi’s killing with the Saudi crown prince. 

The White House has defended the trip as advancing America’s interests, and Biden is expected to use the meeting in part to address global energy disruptions caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

Sullivan also insisted on Monday that Biden had ended the Trump administration’s “blank-check policy” with respect to Saudi Arabia, pointing to the release of the U.S. intelligence report assessing MBS approved Khashoggi’s murder. 

The family of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh also sought a meeting with Biden on his trip. In a scathing letter to the president last week, the family accused the Biden administration of helping “whitewash” what they said was an “extrajudicial killing” by Israeli forces.

The State Department said earlier this month that a third-party investigation showed bullets from Israeli Defense Forces likely killed Abu Akleh, but that there was “no reason” to believe it was intentional. 

Four Democratic senators sent a letter Tuesday saying the probe did “not meet any plausible definition of the ‘independent’ investigation” and said it did not provide transparency.

The family of Malki Roth, an American-Israeli girl killed in a 2001 Palestinian suicide bombing, have also asked for a meeting with Biden in Jerusalem. And the president has faced calls from the families of victims in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its alleged role in the attacks. 

Will there be progress on energy?

In Saudi Arabia, Biden will attend a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council — a group that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Saudi Arabia. 

Biden is expected to discuss oil production with the countries, which also include several members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC+. 

“We will convey our general view … that we believe that there needs to be adequate supply on the global market to protect the global economy and to protect the American consumer at the pump,” Sullivan said Monday. 

Experts say that Biden can use the meeting to improve coordination with Gulf countries on energy security and address questions about plans for a price cap on Russian oil, though it’s unlikely to result in an immediate commitment by Saudi Arabia to increase oil production.

“I think progress probably could look like some sort of joint projects around both renewable energy and maybe some more sort of positive language around Saudis being involved in stabilizing the market, greater coordination,” said Rachel Ziemba, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. 

The White House has been careful not to raise expectations too high. Oil and gas prices have been declining in the U.S. after the average price for a gallon of gas topped $5 for the first time last month. 

Iran looms large

Threats posed by Iran are expected to be a top focus of Biden’s meetings with both Israeli officials and Arab states. 

The Biden administration has sought a return to the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran, which former President Trump withdrew from in 2018, but those conversations have stalled in recent weeks. Sullivan said Monday that a deal remains “on the table” and declined to set a deadline for an agreement. 

Experts say that a return to a deal is still possible, though diminishing.

Israel, meanwhile, opposes the 2015 agreement. Speaking to reporters during a briefing Tuesday, a senior Israeli official said it is grateful that the U.S. has left the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list, but said that “time has run out for the JCPOA,” the formal name for the deal. 

But the Israeli official stressed close collaboration with the administration on Iran. 

The U.S. and Israel plan to announce a Jerusalem Declaration that, while serving as a blueprint for the bilateral relationship over the next few years, will include committing “both countries to using all elements of its national power against Iranian nuclear threat,” the official said.  

Also part of that collaboration is the increasingly open relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and efforts to pursue a regional air defense network. 

Israel, Saudi take steps toward normalization

Biden will become the first sitting U.S. president to fly directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia later this week, a moment that administration officials have pointed to as a sign of warming ties between the two nations. 

The Biden administration has said it is working to facilitate normalization between Israel and Arab countries, a continuation of work under the Trump administration on the so-called “Abraham Accords.” 

There have been murmurs about some steps that could be finalized on Biden’s trip to move Israel and Saudi Arabia towards more normal relations. The countries, for example, could agree to allow commercial flights from Israel to fly over Saudi Arabia. 

Administration officials have been tightlipped about any details of new developments.

“Any normalization of any kind would be a long process,” Sullivan said Monday. “But looking for progress and momentum in that direction is certainly something we are focused on as we head off to the Middle East.”

Biden balances Israel-Palestine conflict

There’s little chance Biden will be able to move Israeli officials to permit the U.S. to reopen its consulate in Jerusalem, shuttered by Trump, that offered a direct link between Palestinians and Washington. 

Short of a direct engagement between Israelis and Palestinians on peace negotiations, the trip is likely to provide an opportunity to advance stalled benefits for Palestinians, such as access to 4G mobile networks and increased freedom of movement. 

Israel’s government will be in campaign mode for the next several months after its governing coalition dissolved late last month, which experts say could further constrain conversations about Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians.

Biden’s desire to stay out of the campaign process, and the uncertainty over which party and individuals will be leading the Israeli government in the months to come, could influence how much progress can be made during the president’s trip this week.

“I think that weighs on the president’s trip now. Things that may have been possible or discussed may not be possible in a political environment like this,” said Rich Goldberg, who served for a year as director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction for the White House National Security Council.

Brett Samuels contributed.

Source: TEST FEED1

Judge allows abortions to resume in Louisiana

A federal judge has ruled that abortion services can resume in the state of Louisiana, blocking the state from enforcing its so-called trigger ban. 

Judge Donald Johnson granted a temporary restraining order to the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and set a hearing on the case for July 18.

CRR, along with ​​Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, last month challenged the state abortion ban that was designed to go into effect immediately after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that had guaranteed the right to an abortion nationwide.

Both organizations requested for emergency relief to allow medical providers in the state to continue providing abortions and let patients continue to access the procedure. A judge initially temporarily blocked enforcement of the ban, but that order was lifted when the case was moved to a different court.

Tuesday’s ruling puts a temporary restraining order back in place.

Louisiana is one of the several states that enacted trigger laws that either banned or severely restricted abortion care in their states following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last month, which struck down the constitutional right to an abortion. 

Some of those laws are also being challenged in court.

In a statement Wednesday, CRR senior staff attorney Jenny Ma said it is an “incredible relief” that people can access abortion care in the state. 

“This is an incredible relief for people who need abortion care right now in Louisiana. Abortion care in the state can resume today, and further irreparable harm has been avoided. Our work continues and we now look ahead to our hearing on Monday, where we will ask the judge to block the bans more permanently,” Ma said in a statement. “Every hour and every day that a clinic can still provide abortion care fundamentally changes the lives of people for the better.”

President Biden signed an executive order last week intended to protect abortion and contraception access, but acknowledged that it is up to Congress to pass legislation that tackles the issue in the most meaningful ways. 

House Democrats are also planning to vote on pair of bills that address the issue of protecting abortion rights, including an updated version of the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that would codify abortion rights into law and expand Roe’s protections.

Source: TEST FEED1

Energy & Environment — US emissions have big cost for other countries: study

New research suggests the U.S. has cost other nations more than $1.8 trillion in damages because of its contributions to climate change, and environmental groups are pressing the Biden administration to halt logging in old-growth forests.  

This is Overnight Energy & Environment, your source for the latest news focused on energy, the environment and beyond. For The Hill, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk. Subscribe here.

US, China caused $3T in climate damage: research

China and the U.S., the world’s top two greenhouse gas emitters, have collectively cost the global economy more than $3 trillion, according to research published Tuesday.

• Researchers from Dartmouth College found that five of the world’s biggest emitters — the U.S., China, India, Russia and Brazil — cost the world some $6 trillion in gross domestic product over a quarter-century period. 
• The two biggest emitters, China and the U.S., accounted for more than $1.8 trillion each in lost global income from 1990 to 2014.  

Researchers say this could help provide a foundation for climate litigation: “This research provides an answer to the question of whether there is a scientific basis for climate liability claims — the answer is yes,” Dartmouth PhD candidate Christopher Callahan, the lead author of the study, said in a statement.

“We have quantified each nation’s culpability for historical temperature-driven income changes in every other country.”  

The research also put a specific number to the damage major emitters have done to developing nations, which are often especially vulnerable due to their geographic locations in the global south and along continental coastlines.

• In Bangladesh, for instance, the U.S. accounted for $14.1 billion in economic losses over 25 years, with China representing another $13.6 billion.  
• “Greenhouse gases emitted in one country cause warming in another, and that warming can depress economic growth,” Dartmouth assistant professor of geography Justin Mankin, senior researcher on the study, said in a statement.
• “This research provides legally valuable estimates of the financial damages individual nations have suffered due to other countries’ climate-changing activities.” 

Researchers said the study also repudiated the idea that climate change can only be mitigated by collective international action rather than action by a single country.

“Nations need to work together to stop warming, but that doesn’t mean that individual countries can’t take actions that drive change,” Callahan said. “This research upends the notion that the causes and impacts of warming only occur at the global level.” 

Read more about the findings here.

GREEN GROUPS TO BIDEN: STOP THE HARVESTING

Environmental groups are calling on the Biden administration to halt the logging of mature and old-growth forests that they say are essential to slowing climate change.

• More than 240,000 acres of big, carbon-trapping trees are on the chopping block, according to a report issued on Tuesday by a coalition of nonprofits like Earthjustice, the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity.
• That’s an area of 100-plus year old trees approximately the size of Indianapolis. 

The organizations argue that the planned cuts are in contradiction with an April executive order by the Biden administration to restore and conserve the nation’s mature and old-growth forests — which is running into a historic mandate that demands for national land-management agencies provide lumber companies with a steady supply of timber. 

“The best way to protect these carbon-storing giants is to let them grow, but our federal agencies keep turning them into lumber,” Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.  

In the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota, for example — which at 180,000 acres holds the largest targeted tract —  mature ponderosa pine trees are targeted for removal. 

In Oregon’s Willamette National Forest, 1,000 acres of mature and old growth trees are set to be cut, while another planned clearcut on state forest administered by the Bureau of Land Management would cut down 4,573 acres.

Spivak argued that the administration could slow climate change by “permanently protecting mature and old-growth trees,” noting that it would take centuries to re-capture the carbon lost when those trees were cut down.

Asked for comment, a U.S. Forest Service spokesperson argued that extreme weather is the biggest threat to old-growth forests and detailed the Biden administration’s effort on the issue.

“Recent, peer-reviewed science continues to show that primary threats to mature and old- growth forests are wildfire, drought, and other climate-induced disturbances, as we are seeing in real time with threats to sequoia groves and Yosemite National Park in California,” spokesperson Larry Moore said in a statement. 

Read more about the report here from The Hill’s Saul Elbein.

Conservation group sues EPA over fracking smog

The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday, demanding that the agency take action to mitigate the air pollution emitted by Colorado’s oil and gas sector. 

• If successful, the lawsuit would force the EPA to order the State of Colorado to limit the pollution coming from both drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities in both the Denver metro area and the Denver-Julesburg Basin, according to the petition.
• The Denver-Julesburg Basin is a geological rock formation that stretches from southern Colorado into Wyoming along the east side of Colorado’s “Front Range.” 

“We’re never going to solve our smog problem until the EPA cracks down on Colorado allowing unlimited air pollution from drilling and fracking,” Robert Ukeiley, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.

“If it takes a lawsuit to bring about that fix, that’s what we are going to do,” Ukeiley added.  

Both the Denver metro area and North Front Range region have concentrations of ozone — also known as smog — that far exceed EPA standards designed to protect both public health and Colorado’s “natural beauty,” according to the center. 

The state’s Air Pollution Control Division — a branch of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment — was required to submit plans to the EPA detailing smog cleanup strategies, a statement accompanying the lawsuit stated. 

While the EPA authorized that plan, the center argued that a potential loophole could allow for unlimited pollution from drilling and fracking, according to the statement. 

Read more about the lawsuit here from The Hill’s Sharon Udasin.

ON TAP TOMORROW

• Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee to testify on the department’s budget
• The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on energy prices
• The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on three bills related to pollution
• The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on nuclear waste cleanup that features Energy Department officials
• The House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on forestry in the farm bill

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Herschel Walker’s ‘bad air’ comments the latest in series of policy gaffes (Georgia Public Broadcasting)
• OPEC Oil Output Lags Behind Targets Despite Pledges to Boost Supplies (The Wall Street Journal) 
• Lake Mead shrinks to record low amid punishing drought and consumer demand (CBS News) 
• US cruise ships using Canada as a ‘toilet bowl’ for polluted waste (The Guardian) 
• Obama scores Emmy nod for ‘Our Great National Parks’

🔭 Lighter click: Out of this world!

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Energy & Environment page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

READ THE FULL VERSION HERE

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Hillicon Valley — Twitter v. Musk: What to expect

Twitter filed its much-awaited lawsuit against Elon Musk Tuesday, urging a Delaware court to force the Tesla CEO to complete his $44 billion purchase of the company. 

The legal battle is likely to be lengthy, with several diverse results possible. 

This is Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Send tips to The Hill’s Rebecca Klar, Chris Mills Rodrigo and Ines Kagubare. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Lawsuit seeks to force Musk acquisition

Twitter sued Elon Musk Tuesday for attempting to walk away from his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, teeing up a protracted legal battle between the billionaire and the social media platform.   

Musk’s team contended in a filing Friday that Twitter had breached the agreement, which allows him to terminate the purchase.  

But Twitter is not letting the Tesla and SpaceX CEO drop the binding commitment he made to purchase the company and is asking for Musk to be compelled to complete the deal.  

The company filed the case in Delaware Chancery Court, a local court that handles investor disputes. 

Chancery judges in Delaware, which is the corporate home for more than half the public companies in the U.S., including Twitter, hear complex business law cases without juries. 

Read more about how the case could play out.

Jan. 6 panel hears testimony on Twittery

A former Twitter employee told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack that the company gave former President Trump special treatment because of the attention be brought to the platform.   

The employee told the panel Tuesday that the social media platform had considered implementing stricter rules after Trump had told the extremist Proud Boys group to “stand by” during a presidential debate. 

“My concern was that the former president, for seemingly the first time, was speaking directly to extremist organizations and giving them directives. We had not seen that sort of direct communication before, and that concerned me,” the former employee said. 

The employee also said that a Dec. 19, 2020, tweet amounted to “staking a flag in D.C. on Jan. 6 for his supporters to come and rally.” 

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said that the employee, who was not named and had their voice modulated to conceal their identity, had worked on Twitter’s content moderation team in 2020 and 2021.

AMAZON, RESEARCHERS PARTNER

Amazon will collaborate with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle on a Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trial for a cancer vaccine. 

According to a filing with the National Institutes of Health, Fred Hutch is testing a “personalized” vaccine for patients with late-stage melanoma skin cancer and certain breast cancers that have spread throughout the body or are not responding to other treatment. 

Fred Hutch is listed as the trial’s sponsor, and Amazon as the sole collaborator. The duo set a recruitment target of 20 participants above 18 years of age with skin and breast cancers for its phase one trial. 

Read more.

US DRAGS BEHIND EU IN CYBERSPACE

Cybersecurity experts argued on Tuesday that the U.S. is falling behind the European Union when it comes to being a leader in the realm of cybersecurity. 

Experts called the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation, a law governing data privacy and security rules, the global standard. The law, adopted in 2018, renewed how businesses handle personal data in Europe, with large fines for companies that fail to comply. 

The experts, including former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), said the U.S. needs to build cyber coalitions with allied nations, create a digital trade agreement and create an international cybercrime center, among other policy suggestions. 

Read more here.

BITS & PIECES

An op-ed to chew on: Big Tech must step up now to fight misinformation in the midterms 

Notable links from around the web: 

Companies want DOJ’s Apple investigation to pick up pace (Axios / Margaret Harding McGill) 

How Elon Musk Damaged Twitter and Left It Worse Off (The New York Times / Kate Conger and Mike Isaac) 

How Home Deliveries From Online Shopping Increase Air Pollution (Consumer Reports / Kaveh Waddell) 

‘No Tech for Israeli Apartheid:’ Protesters Disrupt AWS Conference Over Military Contract (Motherboard / Edward Ongweso Jr.)

One more thing: Musk, Trump tussle

Elon Musk said late Monday that former President Trump should “hang up his hat & sail into the sunset” after Trump called the Tesla CEO “another bullshit artist.” 

“I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset,” Musk wrote on Twitter in response to a clip of Trump’s remarks at a weekend rally. “Dems should also call off the attack — don’t make it so that Trump’s only way to survive is to regain the Presidency.” 

In another tweet, Musk pointed out that “Trump would be 82 at end of term,” adding that he believes that “is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America.” 

Musk then said that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) would “easily win” if he runs against President Biden in 2024.

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Technology and Cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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Health Care — White House eyeing expansion of second booster

One New Hampshire distillery is contributing its own efforts to fighting invasive species… by turning crabs into whiskey. 

Today in health care, White House officials have begun discussing plans to expand eligibility for a second COVID-19 vaccine booster to include more age groups, though the number of Americans who have received a first booster shot still remains low.

Welcome to Overnight Health Care, where we’re following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. For The Hill, we’re Peter Sullivan, Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi. Subscribe here.

Officials discussing expanding booster eligibility

Biden administration health officials on Tuesday said they are discussing authorizing a second COVID-19 booster shot for all adults, but downplayed any imminent recommendations. 

• “Those conversations have been going on for a while,” White House coronavirus coordinator Ashish Jha said Tuesday in a press briefing. Jha added, however, that the ultimate decision rests with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• “I know that the FDA is considering this, looking at it, and I know CDC scientists are thinking about this and looking at the data as well. The decision is purely up to them,” Jha said.   

The White House has been working hard to promote second booster shots to Americans over the age of 50, which have been authorized since late March. People ages 12 and older who are immunocompromised are also eligible.  

Lag in boosters: But while about 67 percent of all Americans have been fully vaccinated against the virus, only 34 percent of eligible Americans have received a booster dose, according to federal data. In addition, health officials are working on a fall booster campaign that will target specific variants of omicron, as evidence shows immunity from the first booster series is waning. 

Read more here.

Dems seek to protect those who travel for abortions

A group of Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled legislation to protect a person’s ability to travel across states to acquire reproductive care like abortions and contraception. 

The bill titled “Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2022” was introduced by Democratic Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.). 

Citing the 14th Amendment as well as prior Supreme Court rulings on interstate travel, the bill seeks to explicitly outlaw any attempts to “restrict or in way sanction, hold liable, discriminate against, or otherwise disadvantage any individual from traveling to another State to receive or provide reproductive health care that is legal in that State.” 

The bill would also invalidate state laws that went against the protections included within it and would give the U.S. attorney general the ability to take civil actions against states that try to enact or enforce such laws.  

Individuals and entities also impacted by potential laws restricting or penalizing travel for abortion would also be able to take civil action against states. 

Read more here.

FAUCI: SUBVARIANT IS SERIOUS, BUT DON’T ‘LET IT DISRUPT OUR LIVES’

Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said Tuesday that a new omicron subvariant on the rise is something to take seriously but should not be a cause for panic.   

The subvariant, known as BA.5, now makes up the majority of COVID-19 cases in the United States. It is even more highly transmissible than earlier variants of the virus, and has an increased ability to evade the protection of vaccines and prior infections.   

• “We should not let it disrupt our lives, but we cannot deny that it is a reality we need to deal with,” Fauci said at a White House press briefing.   
• “It’s something that A, we don’t panic on, B, we don’t let it disrupt our lives, but we take it seriously enough and utilize the tools that we have to mitigate,” he later added.   

The White House on Tuesday released a fact sheet with its plan for fighting the subvariant, which was largely a continuation of measures the administration had previously emphasized.   

Read more here.

AMAZON, RESEARCH CENTER PARTNER ON CANCER VACCINE

Amazon will collaborate with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle on a Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trial for a cancer vaccine. 

According to a filing with the National Institutes of Health, Fred Hutch is testing a “personalized” vaccine for patients with late-stage melanoma skin cancer and certain breast cancers that have spread throughout the body or are not responding to other treatment. 

Fred Hutch is listed as the trial’s sponsor and Amazon as the sole collaborator. The duo set a recruitment target of 20 participants above 18 years of age with skin and breast cancers for its Phase 1 trial.  

• The trial will dole out a 25-week regimen of the vaccines, absent any complications, and offer follow-ups over the next 12 months. 
• Amazon is providing “scientific and machine learning expertise” to the latest Fred Hutch endeavor, a company spokesperson told The Hill in a statement. The vaccine is in early stages, and “it’s unclear whether it will be successful.” 

The first participant enrolled on June 9, and the study is expected to be completed by Nov. 1, 2023. 

Read more here.

Abortion ruling creating health care ‘chaos,’ panel warned

The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the constitutional right to abortion is creating “chaos” in the health care sector as some states see a spike in women seeking abortions and physicians are unsure of their legal rights, lawmakers were told in a hearing on Tuesday.  

The ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization has quickly created a patchwork of abortion laws across the country, with legal battles now playing out at the state level to determine what laws will be enforced, and whether they adhere to state constitutions. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Tuesday on the legal reality around abortion and reproductive care in a post-Roe America. 

The impact: Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, told lawmakers that physicians are fearful of prescribing certain medications that may contribute to miscarriage or be used for abortions because of the potential legal repercussions. 

“We are already seeing mass chaos among OBGYNs, emergency room physicians, and quite frankly pharmacists. We’re talking about people being denied or delayed care for pregnancy and non-pregnancy related conditions,” McNicholas said.   

Read more here.

EVENT INVITE

Securing America’s Retirement, Wednesday, July 13 at 8 a.m. ET 

A recent Gallup poll shows that 63% of Americans are “worried about having enough for retirement.” How might diversifying portfolios affect retirement security? And what policies will truly ensure a secure retirement for Americans? Contributing editor Steven Clemons sits down with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), BPC chief economist Jason Fichtner, Ohio School Employees Retirement System’s Farouki Majeed and more. RSVP today

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Genetically engineered pig hearts transplanted into dead people (The Verge) 
• Why this key chance to getting permanent birth control is often missed (NPR) 
• More men seeking vasectomies after Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade (CBS News)

STATE BY STATE

• Brain-eating amoeba that infected a swimmer in Iowa is increasingly found in northern states (NBC News) 
• UVM Health Network requests double-digit rate increase, citing inflation and pandemic pressures (VTDigger) 
• COVID hospitalizations double in Houston, TMC data shows, as new variant spreads (Houston Chronicle)

OP-EDS IN THE HILL

To restore trust in science, make it accessible; here’s how

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Health Care page for the latest news and coverage. See you tomorrow.

READ THE FULL VERSION HERE

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Equilibrium/Sustainability — Second glacier collapse shows high-altitude danger

Twin glacier collapses — this week’s in Kyrgyzstan’s Tian Shan Mountains and last week’s in Italy — suggest the danger for high-altitude landscapes is only rising.

“There’s no other directions glaciers are going other than retreating,” University of Minnesota glaciologist Peter Neff told The Washington Post.

Neff said that both avalanches were caused by collapsing ice, which carries far more weight and force than a conventional snow avalanche.

“The feeling from the event in Italy and [Kyrgyzstan] is this is coming more often,” he added. 

The disintegrating ice wall was captured by British trekker Harry Shimmin in an arresting minute-long video on Instagram.

“The whole group was laughing and crying, happy to be alive,” Shimmin wrote. “It was only later we realized just how lucky we’d been. If we had walked 5 minutes further on our trek, we would all be dead.” 

The avalanche followed last week’s glacier collapse in Italy’s Dolomite range, which killed nearly a dozen hikers.

Welcome to Equilibrium, a newsletter that tracks the growing global battle over the future of sustainability. We’re Saul Elbein and Sharon Udasin. Send us tips and feedback. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

Today we’ll look at why a conservation group is suing the Environmental Protection Agency over Colorado’s fracking pollution, followed by demands from activists that the Senate confirm the agency’s new top cop. Then we’ll examine how federal agencies are cutting hundreds of thousands of acres of old growth and mature forest.

Green group sues EPA over smog in Colorado

The Center for Biological Diversity demanded that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) take action to mitigate the air pollution emitted by Colorado’s oil and gas sector, in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday.  

If successful, the lawsuit would force the EPA to order the State of Colorado to limit the pollution coming from both drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities in both the Denver metro area and the Denver-Julesburg Basin, according to the petition.  

Where’s that? The Denver-Julesburg Basin is a geological rock formation that stretches from southern Colorado into Wyoming along the east side of Colorado’s “Front Range.”

“We’re never going to solve our smog problem until the EPA cracks down on Colorado allowing unlimited air pollution from drilling and fracking,” Robert Ukeiley, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.  

The problem with smog: Both the Denver metro area and North Front Range region have concentrations of ozone — also known as “smog” — that far exceed EPA standards, which were designed to protect both public health and Colorado’s “natural beauty,” according to the environmental group.

• The state’s Air Pollution Control Division submitted plans to the EPA detailing smog cleanup strategies, which recently received the agency’s approval. 
   
• But the center argued that a potential loophole could allow for unlimited pollution from drilling and fracking.  

Families at risk: Oil and gas production in Colorado remains one of the biggest contributors to smog, which is linked to a variety of health problems like asthma and other respiratory issues, the center noted.

“Every additional day of delay in reducing smog puts more children and families at risk for potentially deadly diseases,” Ukeiley said. 

And the agency response? The EPA said that “because this is pending litigation EPA has no further information to add.” 

Equilibrium has also reached out to the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment for comment.  

To read the full story, please click here.

EPA MUST CONFIRM TOP REGULATOR: GREEN GROUPS

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to finish the process of hiring its chief enforcement officer before America’s people, waters and landscapes pay the price, environmental groups said this week.

Behind the news: David Uhlmann, a former federal prosecutor that Biden nominated more than a year ago, is still in limbo, leaving the crucial top role at the agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance empty.

Why does it matter? “Every day of delay hurts the American people,” Vickie Patton of the Environmental Defense Fund told The Washington Post.

Bipartisan push: Last month, a bipartisan group of 67 former U.S. attorneys charged that leaving such an important position vacant “deep into the second year of the Biden Administration undermines the rule of law, public health, and environmental protection.” 

Tough timing: The controversy comes as the EPA — and the broader Biden administration and Democratic caucus — struggle to determine their next moves in achieving federal climate goals. 

Those plans were undermined by last month’s landmark Supreme Court decision, which limited the EPA’s ability to call for broad changes to the nation’s power plants and cast doubt on the government’s ability to effectively oversee the transition off fossil fuels, our colleagues Zack Budryk and Morgan Chalfant wrote in The Hill.

Federal logging threatens climate-preserving trees

Federal plans to clear 10 old-growth forests are threatening the country’s climate and forestry goals, environmental groups charged on Tuesday.

• More than 240,000 acres of big, carbon-trapping trees are scheduled to be clearcut, according to a report issued by a coalition of nonprofits that includes Earthjustice, the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity.
• A clearcut signifies when an entire landscape is logged, as distinguished from a partial cut, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).   
• The groups called on the Biden administration to halt the logging of mature and old-growth forests that they say are essential to slowing climate change.

“The best way to protect these carbon-storing giants is to let them grow, but our federal agencies keep turning them into lumber,” Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. 

Forest Service pushes back: The U.S. Forest Service argues that the distinction of old growth versus new growth is obsolete in the age of climate change.

• “No longer is it enough to draw a line on a map around our old growth stands and think they will be protected against drought, wildfire, insect and disease,” USDA spokesperson Larry Moore told Equilibrium.
• Moore said that the Administration is launching a public comment process later this week “to ensure we are appropriately defining old growth and mature trees.”

Contradiction in policy?: Outside groups say the planned cuts contradict an April executive order by the administration to restore and conserve the nation’s mature and old-growth forests.

The groups argue the administration’s climate goals are being set aside in favor of the historic mission of federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service to produce timber and other forest commodities.

Threatened lands: For example, in the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota — which at 180,000 acres holds the largest targeted tract — most mature ponderosa pine trees are targeted for removal. 

Another clearcut scheduled for Oregon’s Willamette National Forest would remove 1,000 acres of mature and old-growth trees, while another planned clearcut on state forest administered by the Bureau of Land Management would cut down 4,573 acres.

Time running out: Spivak argued that the administration could slow climate change by “permanently protecting mature and old-growth trees,” noting that it would take centuries to re-capture the carbon lost when those trees were cut down. 

“We don’t have that kind of time,” he added.

IS THIS LOGGING NECESSARY?

Environmental groups argue that it is not.  

More than 95 percent of the nation’s tree products come from relatively small, young conifers grown on privately owned plantations, according to data from the for-profit environmental organization The Larch Company.  

Comparative advantage: Unlike the mature trees scheduled to be cut, these plantations store little carbon, meaning there is far less climate cost to cutting them in comparison to large trees on federal land. 

Fire-resistant giants: The organizations warned that without specific guidelines to protect mature trees, these largest fire-resistant trees risk being cut down. 

These cuts often happen in the name of fire-reducing forest-thinning campaigns aimed at protecting forest stands. 

Young trees are also far more vulnerable to fire than large old trees, according to a study by the U.S. Forest Service. 

To read the full story, please click here.

Foundations fail to act on climate change: report

Philanthropic leaders overwhelmingly perceive climate change as an urgent problem, but their foundations are only taking minimal steps to address the issue on the ground, a new report has found. 

Urgent, but not the top priority: About 60 percent of foundation and nonprofit administrators surveyed said they believe climate change is an “extremely urgent problem,” according to a survey conducted by the Massachusetts-based Center for Effective Philanthropy.   

But only about 10 percent considered this the most important problem to address right now and just 11 percent rated their own foundation’s approach to combatting climate change as “very effective,” the report found.

Gaps between beliefs and actions: The Center for Effective Philanthropy identified this stark gap between beliefs and actions on climate change by surveying CEOs and administrators of U.S.-based foundations and nonprofits between January and March of 2022.

Foundation executives: Among the 188 foundation leaders that responded to the survey, 61 percent said that their organizations help finance efforts to address climate change.  

Of those foundations funding climate change initiatives:  

• 22 percent said they were “explicitly” funding initiatives to combat climate change. 
• 45 percent fund “environmental efforts” that address climate change. 
• 33 percent said they fund both climate and environmental initiatives.  

Thirty-six percent of the foundation leaders said that their organizations do not finance efforts to address climate change, according to the report. 

Nonprofit leaders: Among the 120 nonprofit leaders that responded to the survey, 25 percent affirmed that climate change is “a core focus” of their operations.  

Of the nonprofits for which climate change is a core focus: 

• 20 percent said their organizations explicitly focus on addressing climate change. 
• 57 percent said they focus on environmental efforts that address climate change. 
• 23 percent said they concentrate on both climate and environmental initiatives.  

Seventy-three percent of nonprofit leaders responded that climate change is not a central concern of their work, according to the survey.  

Out of scope: “Despite their concerns about climate change, most non-climate funders tend to see this issue as outside the scope of their mission,” the report authors stated. 

To read the full story, please click here.

Tuesday Troubles

Climate change threatens Turkey’s wine industry, Norse descendants hunt dolphins in the North Atlantic and unexpected winds pull a fighter jet off an aircraft carrier. 

Climate change endangering Turkish winemaking 

• Climate change is threatening Turkey’s ancient winemaking sector, leading vintners to wonder how their grapes will survive amid rising temperatures, NPR reported. One winery owner, who depends on cool evenings to grow cabernet sauvignon grapes, said she hopes that the industry can persist by switching to more heat-resistant varieties.

Faroe Islands restricting dolphin killing during disputed whale hunt 

• The government of the Faroe Islands — a self-governing Danish territory in between Iceland and Scotland — is setting a catch limit of 500 dolphins during its annual whale hunt this year, CNN reported. The hunt, which also includes the killing of dolphins, dates back to 800 CE and claims to provide food to local communities, according to CNN. 

Mediterranean winds sweep fighter jet off US aircraft carrier 

• An unexpected bout of heavy winds — possibly caused by atmospheric instability as an ongoing Mediterranean heat wave broke up — blew a 32,000 pound fighter jet off the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman, The Washington Post reported.

Please visit The Hill’s Sustainability section online for the web version of this newsletter and more stories. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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Defense & National Security — Senior ISIS leader killed in US airstrike

The U.S. military announced Tuesday that a top ISIS leader was killed by an airstrike in northwest Syria.  

We’ll talk about the airstrike. Plus, we’ll recap the standout movements from the hearing of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.  

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Jordan Williams. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

US airstrike kills top ISIS leader

A top ISIS leader was killed by a U.S. air strike in northwest Syria on Tuesday, the military announced. 

The strike outside of Jindayris killed Maher al-Agal, the leader of ISIS in Syria and one of the top five leaders of the terrorist group, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. 

In addition, a senior ISIS official “closely associated” with al-Agal was seriously injured during the strike, the statement said without identifying the individual. An initial review of the strike indicated that there were no civilian casualties, according to the military. 

‘A powerful message:’ In a written statement issued by the White House, President Biden thanked the U.S. military officials involved in the strike against Maher al-Agal, the leader of ISIS in Syria, and said that the U.S. and its allies would be safer as a result.   

• “His death in Syria takes a key terrorist off the field and significantly degrades the ability of ISIS to plan, resource, and conduct their operations in the region,” Biden said.   
• “This airstrike represents the culmination of determined and meticulous intelligence work and stands as testament to the bravery and skill of our armed forces,” he continued. “It also demonstrates that the United States does not require thousands of troops in combat missions to identify and eliminate threats to our country.”

The latest strike: The strike is the latest the U.S. has carried out in northwest Syria targeting leaders of terrorist groups.   

In late June, Abu Hamzah al Yemeni, a senior leader of the al Qaeda-linked group Hurras al-Din, was killed by a strike in the northwestern province of Idlib. 

Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, a senior leader of ISIS, was killed after he blew himself up during a U.S. air raid targeting him.

Panel focuses on Trump tweet, extremist groups

Tuesday’s hearing of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol focused on the link between a December tweet from former President Trump and extremist groups.  

Who testified? The committee heard testimony from Stepen Ayres, who illegally entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, and Jason Van Tatenhove, former spokesperson for the far-right militia group Oath Keepers. 

• Van Tatenhove told the panel “we need to quit mincing words and talk about truths.” 
• “What it was going to be was an armed revolution. People died that day … there was a gallows set up. … This could have been the spark that started a new civil war,” he said.   

Shifting strategies: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said individuals around Trump have recently changed their strategy when dealing with the Jan. 6 select committee, opting to blame the “crazies” in Trump’s orbit for his actions. 

During her opening statement at Tuesday’s public hearing, Cheney said witnesses and lawyers connected to Trump have gone from denying arguments and delaying proceedings to blaming outside advisers for Trump’s conduct — a plan that she labeled “nonsense.” 

The December meeting: Former White House lawyers and Trump allies recalled a heated Dec. 18, 2020, meeting in which they fought over whether there was an avenue to proceed with election challenges. 

• In recorded testimony shown as part of the hearing, former White House counsel Pat Cipollone recalled pressing Sidney Powell, Michael Flynn and Rudy Giuliani for evidence of their claims of election fraud but getting none in response.
• Eric Herschmann, another former White House lawyer, told the committee, “What they were proposing, I thought was nuts.” 

Trump tried to call witness: At the conclusion of the hearing, Cheney said Trump tried to call a witness expected to appear at a future hearing, raising further questions about potential witness tampering. 

“After our last hearing, President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation, a witness you have not yet seen in these hearings,” she said. “That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump’s call and instead alerted their lawyer to the call. Their lawyer alerted us, and this committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice.” 

JUDGE DISMISSES SEAN SPICER’S NAVAL ACADEMY BOARD LAWSUIT

A Washington, D.C., federal judge tossed out former White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s lawsuit against President Biden over his dismissal from the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors last year. 

In a six-page order filed Monday, U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich found that federal law “did not insulate” Spicer from removal from his position. Therefore, the plaintiffs failed to state a claim for relief. 

The back-and-forth began in September, when Biden sought the resignations of Spicer and former Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought from the Naval Academy Board. 

Former President Trump appointed them to the board in the final weeks of his presidency as he looked to stock advisory boards with loyalists. Spicer’s term was slated to end in December, and Vought’s at the end of next year. 

Read more here.

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

• The Middle East Institute will host a discussion on “Resolving the Detainee Dilemma II: What Next for the Men, Women & Children of Islamic State” at 9 a.m. 
• The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee will hold a full committee markup at 10 a.m. 
• The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a full committee hearing on nominations at 10 a.m. 
• The Hudson Institute will hold a virtual event on “Middle East Missile Defense” at 12 p.m. 
• The Center for Strategic and International Studies will hold a discussion on “Security Assistance to Ukraine: The State Department’s Role” at 1:30 p.m. 
• The House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on National Security will hold a hearing on “Protecting Military Servicemembers and Veterans from Financial Scams and Fraud” at 2 p.m. 
• The Center for Strategic and International Studies will host an event, “Maritime Security Dialogue: Naval Aviation Update” at 3 p.m. 
• The Foundation for Defense of Democracy will host a discussion on “Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State, From Barack Obama to Donald Trump” at 3:15 p.m.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Abortion services still accessible to detained migrants after Supreme Court ruling, ICE memo says 
• Senate confirms Steve Dettelbach to head ATF 
• Experts say US must not let EU lead on cybersecurity

That’s it for today! Check out The Hill’s Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you tomorrow!

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NotedDC — Biden's Saudi trip sparks backlash at home

President Biden will walk a diplomatic tightrope during his trip to Saudi Arabia, with the president facing pressure to publicly hold the nation accountable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

What’s haunting Biden is his previous promise during his presidential campaign to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” state, or international outcast, over the 2018 killing of the U.S. resident and Washington Post contributor in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

“The world had every reason to think he meant it,” Fred Ryan, publisher of The Post, wrote in a rare column Monday about Biden’s promise.

Biden will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman later this week. Ryan said a “staged handshake” between the two would “belong in an album of American shame” and urged Biden to meet “face-to-face” with political dissidents.

Dennis Ross, a former ambassador to the Middle East, said the sticky situation Biden finds himself in is not an anomaly among previous presidents he’s advised, including former Presidents Obama, Clinton and H.W. Bush.

“During the heat of political campaigns, candidates say all sorts of things,” Ross told NotedDC. “It’s something else what you do in practice when you’re suddenly faced with dilemmas.” 

Biden justified his trip as necessary to create a more “stable and secure” region and to find allies against Russia and China. But the domestic pressure to lower gas prices underscores the purpose of the trip, as Saudi Arabia holds the keys to the oil market.

Diane Foley, the mother of ISIS-captured and later slain American journalist James Foley, agreed Biden has a tricky line to toe: to create an open and constructive dialogue while upholding democratic values and moral standards.

“It’s important to hold our enemies close,” she told us. “But Biden has to be very wary and shrewd of these leaders because I don’t think they can be trusted at all.”

Welcome to NotedDC: Your guide to politics, policy & people of consequence in D.C.

In today’s issue: Senate Democrats post major fundraising hauls and the Jan. 6 committee looks at a new area of its probe.

Plus: Which candidates are drawing young voters’ attention and a free way to see the Hubble “telescope” in person in the District.

💰 Senate Dems posting big cash numbers

Democratic Senate candidates are drawing in big numbers ahead of the next campaign finance deadline, as the party seeks to keep control of the upper chamber.

Rep. Val Demings (D) brought in $12.2 million in the latest fundraising period as she battles incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio (R) in Florida.

• This brings Demings’s total fundraising efforts to date to more than $41 million. According to her campaign, its average donation was $30 this quarter.
• Rubio still leads Demings in most polls and Florida has seen some of its voters — including Hispanics — shift Republican, but Demings has created a national name for herself.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) has raked in $11 million in the latest fundraising period as he tries to flip a Senate seat in the Keystone State.

• It’s the largest sum any Pennsylvania candidate has ever raised in one fundraising quarter. The haul is $8 million more than Fetterman raised in the first quarter before suffering a stroke in May and being largely absent from the campaign trail.
• Fetterman held a 6-point lead over GOP Senate nominee Mehmet Oz in June, according to an AARP poll.

Read more from our colleague Julia Manchester on the massive haul.

DEMOCRATS’ ‘DOOMSDAY SCENARIO’

Despite record-breaking fundraising numbers, Democrats are increasingly worried that their chances of keeping the House and Senate are growing slimmer. 

• “The high prices of daily essentials, a gloomy appraisal of what’s happening around the country, and the prospect of more impending losses are leaving Democrats more concerned than ever about their odds in November,” our colleagues Julia Manchester and Mychael Schnell write.

Unexpected problems in the Senate, including Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) coming down with a case of COVID-19, are not helping Democrats’ agenda ahead of a two-week August recess.

But Schumer is still working remotely, as he’s in serious talks with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to revive a slimmed-down version of the “Build Back Better” bill.

Manchin is still expected to be Democrats’ biggest hurdle ahead of November:

• Republicans and special interests are already putting pressure on Manchin to reject any deal on a broad budget package that would focus on tax reform and energy, our colleague Alex Bolton reports.

Some good news for Dems: The Senate confirmed Steve Dettelbach on Tuesday to become the first permanent head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) since 2015, giving Biden another achievement to tout on gun safety.

🇺🇸 Young Dems buck their standard bearer

Young voters are particularly cool to the possibility of President Biden making another White House run in 2024, a warning sign as he weighs another bid.

Biden’s prospects in his party are seemingly bleak heading into the midterms, as he faces low approval ratings, constant questions about his older age and high inflation.

But new polls reveal another challenge: Winning over Gen Z and Millennial voters.

• Ninety-four percent of voters between the ages of 18-29 want someone else to be the nominee, according to a New York Times/Siena College survey. A plurality, 41 percent, pointed to his job performance; 14 percent cited his age.
• A majority of voters between the ages of 18-34, 56 percent, said they do not believe Biden should run again, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll published Tuesday. 

What’s underscoring this: Our colleagues Amie Parnes and Morgan Chalfant write that Democrats want Biden to “replicate their rage” over abortion rights and gun safety, two issues that rank as high-priority issues for younger voters.

Meanwhile, on the GOP side:

Former President Trump is still the most popular figure against other possible GOP candidates in 2024, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz have notable support among younger voters in a poll published this week.

• Forty-one percent of voters between the ages of 18-29 said they would vote for Trump, while 25 percent would support DeSantis and another 25 percent would support Cruz, according to a New York Times/Siena College survey.
• Trump holds a 24-point lead over DeSantis in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, while other alternatives are all polling in the single digits.

FIRST IN THE HILL: Biden draws pushback over floated judicial pick

Two progressive groups are running ads putting pressure on the White House over its consideration of nominating an anti-abortion judge to the federal bench, our colleague Brett Samuels first reported.

Between the lines: Progressives have been angry after it was reported that Biden apparently struck a deal with Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to nominate anti-abortion attorney Chad Meredith to a federal judgeship in Kentucky to facilitate future nominees, as first reported by the Louisville Courier-Journal.

However: Biden named a round of federal judicial nominees Tuesday, and Meredith wasn’t on the list. The White House hasn’t offered comment on the saga amid criticism from progressives that it isn’t doing enough to protect abortion access following the Supreme Court’s decision striking down Roe v. Wade.

🔥 Takeaways from latest Jan. 6 hearing

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot held its seventh hearing Tuesday. Here are five takeaways from the latest hearing:

1. Trump aides wanted to seize voting machines

During a Dec. 18, 2020 meeting, White House officials said outside advisers to the president yelled at aides who opposed a plan to seize voting machines to overturn the election. The next day Trump tweeted about a “wild” Jan. 6 protest over the election.

2. Oath Keepers see fault 

Members of the far-right Oath Keepers group have spoken out after taking part in the Capitol attack.

“I was swept up too,” Jason Van Tatenhove, a former Oath Keepers spokesman, told the Jan. 6 House panel.

• Why he broke from the group: Van Tatenhove said he overheard a public conversation between members talking about the Holocaust not being real.
• “I’ve gotta walk away at this point… I just no longer continue,” he said of his thinking at the time. 

Another Oath Keepers member, Stephen Ayres, an Ohio resident who has pleaded guilty to his involvement in Jan. 6., said he followed Trump on Twitter and saw his tweet about a “wild” rally as a clarion call.

• “I felt like I needed to be down here,” he told the committee. “The president got everyone riled up.”
• Ayres said he believed Trump would join them: “He said so in his speech.”
• He also said Trump’s tweet that told protestors to go home was what sparked the retreat from the Capitol. “Everybody started talking about it,” Ayres said.

3. Bannon said ‘all hell’ would break loose

Trump spoke on the phone with former White House adviser and political strategist Steve Bannon at least twice on the day before the Capitol attack. 

• Bannon spoke to Trump on Jan. 5 for 11 minutes, according to White House call logs. He then went on a right-wing talk show and predicted the next day would be eventful.
• “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow,” Bannon said in video the committee aired. “It’s all converging and now we’re on, as they say, the point of attack.” 

4. Parscale blames Trump 

Former Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale thought that Trump’s rhetoric in his Ellipse speech incited the Capitol riot, according to text messages presented at the hearing.

• “A sitting president asking for a civil war,” Parscale wrote in a separate message. “This week I feel guilty for helping him win.”
• He also blamed the insurrection for the death of rioter Ashli Babbitt: “Yeah. But a woman is dead,” he wrote. “You do realize this was going to happen.” 

5. Unsent Trump draft tweet urged a march to Capitol

The Jan. 6 panel shared a tweet that was drafted in Trump’s voice but never actually sent. The panel said it obtained the tweet from the National Archives.

“I will be making a Bid Speech at 10AM on January 6th at the Ellipse (South of the White House).Please arrive early, massive crowds expected. March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal!!” the tweet read.

🔭 Go see the Hubble telescope in person

If you’re catching a train at Union Station this week, stop by the Main Hall to see an exhibit celebrating the James Webb Space Telescope, which promises to deliver new discoveries about the universe.

• While the real telescope is parked some 930,000 miles from Earth, the exhibit will include two kiosks to generate a virtual reality version showcasing a life-sized telescope.

Have some news, juicy gossip, insight or other insider info? Send us tips: Elizabeth Crisp and Kelsey Carolan. And encourage friends to sign up here: thehill.com/noted.

We’ll see you tomorrow!

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Another ‘big lie’: Brought to you by the Organization of American States

After the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the “big lie” of mass election fraud undermined faith in our democracy, wasted taxpayer funds in states across the country, sowed skepticism in the rule of law, and fueled violence and loss of life, most notably during the Jan. 6 riot. Over the past several weeks, the hearings of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack have cemented just how systemic and far-reaching the attempted coup really was. 

Remarkably, efforts to overturn presidential election results based on false claims of electoral fraud have not been unique to the United States in this era. Just a year prior, in Bolivia, unfounded claims of fraud following a national election were spread by an unlikely source: the leadership of the Organization of American States (OAS), which had been invited to observe the election. 

OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro and other senior officials at the organization falsely alleged fraud in the 2019 Bolivian national elections, lending fuel and legitimacy to deadly insurrectionary violence. Less than a month after the vote, a military-backed coup ejected the elected government and installed Sen. Jeanine Áñez as president. The unelected Áñez regime would go on to rule the country for a year — committing mass human rights violations and targeting indigenous communities, labor organizers, journalists, and any and all critics of state power. As in the Jan. 6 attack in the United States, white supremacist and other extremist far-right organizations were at the core of the violence that exploded in the weeks leading up to the coup in Bolivia — and in its aftermath. 

Just like in the U.S., the election fraud claims in Bolivia centered around changes in the reporting of election results. In Bolivia, early results showed the incumbent, Evo Morales, with a roughly eight percent lead over his nearest competitor — a clear victory, yet not above the 10 points needed to avoid a second-round runoff vote. By the next day, the trend had shifted, and Morales had surpassed the necessary threshold for a first-round victory. What happened?  

The answer is as simple as with the 2020 U.S. vote — in which Democratic voters across key battleground states overwhelmingly cast mail-in ballots, which were reported later than in-person votes. Bolivia’s rural areas, which voted overwhelmingly in favor of Morales, had their votes counted later, on average, than votes from urban centers, which favored his competitors. Once those rural votes were counted, the trend changed, and Morales secured victory.  

The OAS and Almagro decried this development as “inexplicable” and as having “drastically modifie[d] the fate of the election and generate[d] a loss of confidence in the electoral process.” Rather than fulfilling the OAS’ role as a neutral observer, organization officials fanned the flames of conflict — with attacks from the regime’s state security forces resulting in at least 30 deaths. 

As members of Congress, we have pushed to hold the OAS leadership accountable for its perpetuation of the big lie about the Bolivian election. Our colleagues agree. The omnibus budget we passed in March, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, requires Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a report within 120 days evaluating OAS officials’ false claims in light of overwhelming evidence to the contrary from independent experts.  

Congress was forced to take this unprecedented step because OAS officials refused to respond to or even acknowledge our repeated attempts to ask basic questions about their claims. The OAS’s lack of constructive engagement hasn’t been limited to members of Congress: After the New York Times and the Washington Post published articles relying on studies by scholars from MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Tulane to refute the OAS’s claims, Almagro simply moved on to other allegations of fraud in a 100-plus page “audit” of the election released a month after the coup. As the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the organization that first documented the flawed statistical analysis of the OAS, has noted, the audit’s claim that evidence existed of an “intentional manipulation” of the vote count is as unfounded as the initial big lie of an “inexplicable” change in trend.  

The language Congress passed requires the State Department to consult with independent experts and produce a report regarding the “legitimacy and transparency” of Bolivia’s 2019 elections and, specifically, the OAS’ role. It also requires reporting on the “progress in investigations of responsibility for violations of human rights that occurred” in the coup’s aftermath.  

As the Independent Group of International Experts (GIEI, by its Spanish initials) backed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has documented, extrajudicial executions and at least two massacres were perpetrated by security forces in the wake of the 2019 coup. The GIEI has offered important recommendations on steps that must be taken to achieve some measure of justice and reparations for the families of the victims of these abuses.  

Our message is simple: now is the time for truth and accountability. The State Department’s responsibility is clear: set aside political pressure, fairly evaluate the findings of credible outside experts, and ensure that the subversion of Bolivian democracy is not met with continued silence and impunity. 

Schakowsky represents the 9th District of Illinois. Susan Wild represents the 7th District of Pennsylvania and she is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

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