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WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol plans to vote to subpoena former President Donald Trump, sources familiar with the committee's plans told NBC News Thursday. On his way to the hearing, Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters the panel had not yet ruled out a subpoena for Trump. He said at the start of the hearing that the committee would take a vote "based on new evidence." Thursday's hearing would once again place Trump at the center of plans to overturn the election, ultimately leading to the violence on Jan. 6, committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in her opening statement. Several sitting and former presidents and vice presidents have also testified before congressional committees, including Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and Gerald R. Ford.

☆ Biden says Supreme Court is 'more of an advocacy group' than 'evenhanded'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday issued his most pointed criticism of the Supreme Court yet, describing the high court as "more of an advocacy group these days" than "evenhanded." "The Supreme Court is more of an advocacy group these days than it is ... evenhanded about it," Biden said when speaking about the upcoming midterm elections on Nov. 8. Biden's comments come several months after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 decision that made abortions legal nationwide. Republican leaders changed the Senate rules in 2017, lowering the threshold to confirm Supreme Court nominees from 60 votes to 51 and allowing then-President Donald Trump to put three justices on the high court. Biden this year nominated his first Supreme Court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson — the first Black woman on the court.

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii announced Tuesday that she's leaving the Democratic Party because she said it's "now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness." Gabbard said that the Democratic Party stands for a government of, by and for the "powerful elite" and called on her fellow "independent-minded Democrats" to leave the party as well. Though Gabbard ran for the Democratic nomination for president in the 2020 cycle, she has often questioned where the party has stood on various issues and has criticized Democratic leaders. She served in the House from 2013 to 2021 and as the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 to 2016. Since her White House run, Gabbard has frequently appeared as a political commentator on Fox News, where she has mostly railed against Democrats.

☆ NAACP denounces 'flat out racist' remarks by GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville at Trump rally
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Leaders of major civil rights organizations on Monday condemned Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., for suggesting at a Trump rally over the weekend that descendants of Black slaves are criminals in remarks about reparations. "Senator Tuberville’s comments are flat out racist, ignorant and utterly sickening," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. As a speaker at former President Donald Trump's rally Saturday in Minden, Nevada, Tuberville called Democrats "soft on crime" and "pro-crime." National Urban League President Marc H. Morial on Monday called Tuberville's comments "bigoted" and "stunning." A request for comment was not immediately returned by Tuberville’s Senate office.

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump filed an emergency request Tuesday asking the Supreme Court to intervene in the case involving classified records he kept at Mar-a-Lago after he left office. In their request, Trump's attorneys asked the court to vacate part of a ruling issued Sept. 21 by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the Justice Department could resume using classified documents taken from Mar-a-Lago in its criminal investigation and barred the special master from reviewing them. The latter part of the appeals court decision "impairs substantially the ongoing, time-sensitive work of the special master,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the filing Tuesday. Justice Clarence Thomas, who handles emergency applications from the 11th Circuit, asked the Justice Department on Tuesday to file a response to Trump's request by Oct. 11 at 5 p.m.

☆ Biden’s student loan cancellation plan to cost $400B, Congressional Budget Office estimates
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden's plan to forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for most borrowers will cost the government about $400 billion over 10 years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in an estimate released Monday. The report also noted that the administration plan to extend a pause on federal student loans will also cost about $20 billion. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that advocates for lower deficits, said the CBO's predictions confirm "the outrageous cost" of Biden's student loan plan. "The Biden Administration’s student debt bailout is even more expensive than we initially thought," tweeted Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. "The current bailout will cost Americans $420 BILLION, according to the CBO. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, tweeted, "President Biden isn’t forgiving student loans—he’s charging hardworking Americans $400 billion."

☆ Judge says Jan. 6 committee can get Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward's phone records
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Arizona ruled Thursday that the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol can see the phone records of Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward and her husband. U.S. District Court Judge Diane J. Humetewa rejected the Wards' arguments in a February lawsuit that the congressional panel should be prevented from getting the phone records of the couple, who are doctors, because it would violate medical privacy laws. "That three-month period is plainly relevant to its investigation into the causes of the January 6th attack," she wrote. "The court therefore has little doubt concluding these records may aid the select committee’s valid legislative purpose." Humetewa also dismissed the Wards' arguments that the subpoena seeking their phone records violate their First and 14th Amendment rights and that releasing the records would risk that those the couple had contacted during the period could be "implicated in the largest criminal investigation in U.S.

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump promoted several posts on his social media platform early Friday about the QAnon conspiracy theory. Many of those arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol were QAnon followers. Two other posts he promoted on Truth Social included explicit religious connotations — including one that stated: "I believe God can do it through him." Trump has posted and reposted QAnon-related material before, but it's now becoming a consistent embrace for him. The QAnon conspiracy theory was built around Q, an anonymous account that posts periodically on 8kun, often with vague or symbolic language that is then interpreted by followers.

WASHINGTON — A new poll commissioned by a super PAC aligned with President Joe Biden shows the president's overall approval has improved in three battleground states, but voters say he isn't handling certain issues like the economy and jobs well. The favorability rating in those states for former President Donald Trump declined from 44% in May to 39% in September. At least 60% of people in the three battleground states said they disliked how Biden has handled immigration, inflation and the national debt. It said the PAC will "continue to educate voters in swing states about the successes of the Biden administration." The poll surveyed 500 likely voters in each battleground state between Sept. 14 to 19 with a margin of error of 2.5% at the 95% confidence interval.

☆ Stacey Abrams calls Georgia 'essential' to Democrats keeping control of Congress in midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

More of Alexander’s interview with Abrams will air tonight on “NBC Nightly News” at 6:30 ET. During the interview, Abrams described Georgia as having "one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation," but didn't specify what she could do to change that if elected. Part of her campaign strategy, Abrams said, involves visiting voters in more rural areas that are typically known for supporting conservative candidates. Abrams said that 53 percent of the 1.6 million people she has helped register to vote in her state are Democratic-leaning. Much of that community, she said, is "often the most overlooked" and that's why she's reaching out to them directly.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will host South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office for a bilateral meeting Friday, where they're expected to discuss the war in Ukraine. In April, Biden and Ramaphosa had "a frank and open conversation about what was happening in Ukraine," a senior administration official said, previewing the meeting. Ramaphosa has refrained from condemning Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and his country has largely remained neutral during the conflict. Ramaphosa, 69, has served as the president of South Africa since 2018 and also is president of the African National Congress. He previously was the chairperson of the African Union and was the deputy president of South Africa.

☆ Biden signs bill to expand benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-10 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed legislation on Wednesday expanding health care benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. The bipartisan bill, known as the PACT Act, is the most significant expansion of veterans' health care and benefits in more than 30 years, a White House official said. Danielle Robinson was a guest of first lady Jill Biden during the president's first State of the Union address when he called on Congress to pass burn pits legislation. Biden has said he believes Beau’s cancer was linked to exposure to burn pits during his deployment. The legislation increases veterans' access to medical care and disability payments for exposure to burn pits.

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