The Hill's Morning Report — Biden giving negotiators room on guns
The debate over gun violence legislation took multiple turns on Tuesday as President Biden waded into the Senate’s continued talks and multiple outside figures made emotional pleas calling for changes to laws concerning firearms and domestic terrorism. Biden, who has allowed senators to work among themselves on a gun proposal in recent days, met with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) at the White House, marking his first major involvement in private discussions since they kicked off. The White House indicated that Biden is likely to accept the ult
Read MoreBoth parties identify risks, rewards in Jan. 6 hearing
Republicans and Democrats alike are bracing for the upcoming House hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, seeking out tea leaves for what the proceedings could mean for two crucial election cycles. The House select committee’s hearings, set to start in prime time on Thursday, have Republicans both skeptical of and aligned with Donald Trump bullish the former president — barring an unforeseen bombshell — gets bailed out by the public’s focus on inflation and other frustrations with the Biden administration. Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping the prime-tim
Read MoreBusiness lobby presses Biden to nix China tariffs
Business groups are aggressively lobbying President Biden to undo tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese imports, arguing that doing so would help ease inflation. They say that lifting those tariffs would lower the costs Americans pay for an array of common products, including clothing items, sunscreen, soap, furniture, appliances, bicycles and consumer electronics. Biden administration officials are divided over the issue, with some disputing the notion that tariff relief would significantly impact inflation, and labor unions with close
Read MoreStates consider nixing antiquated slavery language from founding documents
Voters in five states will consider rewriting their constitutions this year to remove outdated language that allows for involuntary servitude, putting a spotlight on rarely or never-used punishments that have roots in America’s legacy of slavery.The Louisiana state Senate voted last week to add a measure to this year’s ballot that would modernize the state constitution to explicitly prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude. The unanimous Senate vote came about a week after the House voted 96 to 0 in favor of placing the measure before voters this November.The current const
Read MoreWhy Mike Pence will be a key figure at Thursday’s Jan. 6 panel hearing
Former Vice President Mike Pence will not be present when the House Jan. 6 committee holds a prime-time hearing on Thursday, but he will be a central figure as the panel makes its first presentation to the public of what unfolded before and during the riot at the Capitol. Pence has not directly cooperated with the committee, but some of his former aides have. In recent months, a steady stream of new details has come out about Pence’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, and he has publicly rebuked former President Trump for saying the election was stolen. “I anticipate t
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