The US Supreme Court has dismissed a dispute over former President Donald Trump’s efforts to block critics from following his now-suspended Twitter account as moot.
On Monday, the court decided to throw out a lower court’s decision finding Mr Trump had violated constitutional free speech rights by blocking critics on Twitter.
It comes as a new poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos found that six in 10 GOP members would like to see the former US leader run again.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, has opened up about his experience with drug addiction during media interviews to promote his new book, Beautiful Things.
The younger Mr Biden joked during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning’s Tracy Smith that he has “probably smoked more parmesan cheese than anyone that you know”.
Mr Biden said he “spent more time on my hands and knees picking through rugs smoking anything that even remotely resembled crack cocaine”.
His comments come as his father faces an uphill battle from Republicans in his bid to push his administration’s ambitious $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan forward.
Jen Psaki says White House will not ‘hurt’ people of Florida over DeSantis vaccine accusations
The Florida governor has faced questions over the state’s vaccine deal with the Publix grocery store chain, which contributed $100,000 to his political action committee.
DeSantis has denied any wrong doing, but Ms Paski was asked about it at her daily press briefing on Monday.
She said that the Biden administration had found that while 17 per cent of the state is African-American, less than 7 per cent have been vaccinated.
“We are not going to hurt the people of Florida, just because of the steps or actions of leadership, and we will continue to take actions to ensure that the vaccine is equitably distributed,” she said.
Biden will not call for Masters boycott over Georgia voting law
The president’s White House press secretary told reporters that the administration was not going to wade into another boycott after MLB moved its all-star game.
Ms Psaki was asked if Mr Biden thought the PGA should step in and move the tournament, which begins on Thursday, out of Georgia.
“I am not here to call on anyone on behalf of the president or vice president or anyone, to take steps in reaction to the law in Georgia. The president was asked a direct question ( about MLB boycott) and he answered the question,” she said.
“Our focus is on doing what we can to advocate for making voting easier and more accessible around the country and that is where our efforts will be form the White House.”
Earlier she clarified that Mr Biden had been asked about MLB players discussing a boycott of the All Star game in Atlanta, and had offered his support to the players not called for the game to be moved.
Biden expected push back on corporate tax tare plan
Jen Psaki said Joe Biden settled on a $28 per cent corporate tax rate, but expected opposition to that figure from the left and right.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, has said he would not support a tax rate of more than 25 per cent.
“The president felt it was responsible to pay for his proposal, he knows some members think it is too big and some too small.,” said the White House press secretary.
“He knows some will come forward with different way to pay from this package, we fully expected that from senator Manchin.
“We are open to hearing ideas and proposals form members and encourage them to put them forward.”
Biden expected push back on corporate tax tare plan
Jen Psaki said Joe Biden settled on a $28 per cent corporate tax rate, but expected opposition to that figure from the left and right.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, has said he would not support a tax rate of more than 25 per cent.
“The president felt it was responsible to pay for his proposal, he knows some members think it is too big and some too small.,” said the White House press secretary.
“He knows some will come forward with different way to pay from this package, we fully expected that from senator Manchin.
“We are open to hearing ideas and proposals form members and encourage them to put them forward.”
US and UAE vow joint effort to finance decarbonisation
The US and the United Arab Emirates have issued a joint pledge to work together to finance the decarbonisation of the economy .
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, who is driving efforts to encourage other countries to ramp up their efforts to cut emissions, reportedly took part in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) climate discussions in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Following the talks, the US and UAE put out a join statement carried on state news agency WAM vowing to focus on the effort.
“We will particularly focus our joint efforts on renewable energy, hydrogen, industrial decarbonization, carbon capture and storage, nature-based solutions, and low-carbon urban design,” the statement said, according to Reuters.
The climate discussions also resulted in another statement signed by Iraq, Egypt, Sudan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and the US promising to push climate action forward.
US service sector sees record growth in March amid easing of Covid restrictions
The US services sector has reportedly seen record growth in March amid an easing of coronavirus restrictions.
The Institute for Supply Management, which represents purchasing managers, reported on Monday that its nonmanufacturing index rose to a high of 63.7 last month from 55.3 in February.
The old record of 60.9 had been set in October 2018, according to the Associated Press.
Anything above 50 represents growth, with the March reading suggesting the services sector could be on the rebound from the economic impact of the pandemic.
Mitch McConnell hits out at corporations against curbing voting access
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has issued a statement hitting out at US corporations speaking out in opposition against a GOP-sponsored law curbing voting access in Georgia.
In his statement, Mr McConnell accuses companies of using “economic blackmail to spread disinformation”.
“This disinformation has a purpose. Washington Democrats want to pass a sweeping bill that would let them rewrite all 50 states’ election laws and turn the Federal Election Commission into a Democrat-run partisan body. This power grab is impossible to defend, so the left wants to deflect. Instead of winning the debate, they want to silence debate by bullying citizens and entire states into submission,” he said. “It’s jaw-dropping to see powerful American institutions not just permit themselves to be bullied, but join in the bullying themselves.”
“Wealthy corporations have no problem operating in New York, for example, which has fewer days of early voting than Georgia, requires excuses for absentee ballots, and restricts electioneering via refreshments,” he said, claiming that “there is no consistent or factual standard being applied here. It’s just a fake narrative gaining speed by its own momentum.”
“Our private sector must stop taking cues from the Outrage-Industrial Complex. Americans do not need or want big business to amplify disinformation or react to every manufactured controversy with frantic left-wing signaling,” Mr McConnell said.
The Senate minority leader’s comments came after a number of corporation heads, including the CEO of Coca-Cola spoke out against the law.
Now, some Georgia lawmakers have demanded that Coke products be removed from their offices, while activists against the law had also vowed to boycott companies that didn’t speak out against the bid.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calls for minimum global corporate income tax
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday called for the adoption of a minimum global corporate income tax.
Asserting that countries had entered a “thirty-year race to the bottom” cutting corporate tax rates to draw in multinational businesses, Ms Yellen said the Biden administration would work with other economies in the G20 to set a minimum standard.
“Competitiveness is about more than how U.S.-headquartered companies fare against other companies in global merger and acquisition bids,” Ms Yellen said in a virtual speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, according to the Associated Press.
“It is about making sure that governments have stable tax systems that raise sufficient revenue to invest in essential public goods,” she said.
Her comments came as the Biden administration seeks to push forward its $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, which includes a proposed increase to the US corporate tax rate.
Fauci says federal government unlikely to enforce Covid vaccine passports
Dr Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, has said the US government is unlikely to mandate the use of vaccine passports for travelers or businesses post-pandemic.
Dr Fauci made the assertion during an appearance on the Politico Dispatch podcast today.
“I doubt that the federal government will be the main mover on the vaccine passport concept,” he said.
“I do believe that there will be individual entities that will do that,” he said, using theatres and colleges as examples. “But it’s not going to be mandated from the federal government,” he said.
Asked whether the government should be taking a harder line on the bid to curb the spread of coronavirus, Dr Fauci suggested it would be difficult to do so.
He said it was important was for the White House to use its platform to urge Americans to follow coronavirus restrictions and get vaccinated.
