Trump news: White House celebrates ‘big win’ in Supreme Court birth control ruling as US hits 3m coronavirus cases
Administration pushes for schools to reopen in fall despite surging infection rates
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White House officials boasted a "big win" in the US Supreme Court's birth control ruling, which stated employers were not required to provide employees with contraceptives in their health coverage if it went against their religious beliefs.
The administration – which rolled back an Affordable Care Act policy that aimed to expand women's healthcare – marks a significant blow to the landmark Obama-era legislation as Donald Trump seeks the court's ruling to overturn the entire law.
Meanwhile, the president has threatened to cut school funding for areas that refuse to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, adding he disagrees with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “very tough” and “expensive” guidelines.
The White House coronavirus task force – without Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert – announced that the agency would release revised guidelines following the president's threats.
Total coronavirus infections in the US have surged past 3 million, with 1 million cases identified within the last month alone.
Hospitals in states like Florida and Texas are reporting limited capacity in their hospital intensive care units, and rising infection rates have signalled to health officials that the virus is spreading. In Arizona, as many as one in four tests are returning positive.
Meanwhile, key impeachment witness Alexander Vindman has announced his retirement from the army by citing “intimidation” led by Mr Trump.
”The president of the United States attempted to force Lieutenant Colonel Vindman to choose: Between adhering to the law or pleasing a president,” said Lt Col Vindman’s lawayer, accusing the president of a "campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation".
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Trump says the United States' relationship with Mexico has never been better
Donald Trump welcomed Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to the White House for the first time on Wednesday.
White House denies Trump pressured health officials to change school reopening guidelines
The White House on Wednesday denied pressuring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into scrapping and revising guidelines for reopening schools in the fall even after Donald Trump made clear his opposition to the suggested rules in a morning tweet.
"No, not at all," Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told a reporter when asked if pressure to change them was applied. "We're all on the same page."
John T Bennett with the breaking news:
Trump did not ask Mexican president about paying for border wall
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked if the discussion of the border wall was brought up when President Donald Trump met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday.
"That discussion did not come up when I was in the room," Ms McEnany said.
One of Mr Trump's key 2016 campaign items included the promise to the American people that it would be Mexico, not US residents, that would pay for the wall. But thus far the building of the wall has been funded by US taxpayers.
AOC-led 'climate unity' taskforce calls on Biden to cut carbon from power sector by 2035 and install half a billion solar panels
The "climate unity" taskforce, led by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Secretary of State John Kerry, published their recommendations for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Wednesday.
After two months of meetings, the action plan to tackle the climate crisis included eliminating carbon pollution from power plants by 2035; achieving net-zero emissions for all new buildings by 2030 and vast expansions of solar and wind energy, including installing 500 million solar panels and 60,000 onshore and offshore wind turbines.
Louise Boyle reports:
Police funding, environment and more: Biden and Sanders meet halfway on policy recommendations for DNC
The task forces created by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders earlier this year to help unify the party against Donald Trump have unveiled their policy recommendations for the official party platform.
The Democratic National Committee will release that platform later this year.
The 110-page document uploaded to Mr Biden’s campaign website on Wednesday is his latest attempt to reach out to progressive voters who propelled Mr Sanders into frontrunner status for a brief period during the Democratic primary season and who have been reluctant to fully back the former vice president heading into the home stretch before Election Day.
The six task forces — on the economy, climate change, health care, education, immigration, and criminal justice reform — included several members of Congress aligned with either Mr Biden or Mr Sanders as well as campaign surrogates, activists, and state and local politicians.
Our report:
Schiff to Vindman: 'You left an indelible mark on this country'
Following his, Adam Schiff – one of Donald Trump's impeachment foes – wrote to top witness Lt Col Alexander Vindman after he announced his retirement following a "campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation" led by the president, his attorneys said.
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