Bernie Sanders brings resolution to halt $735m US arms sale to Israel – live

House speaker Nancy Pelosi defended her refusal to alter the mask requirement for members, even though the CDC has said fully vaccinated individuals can go without masks in most settings.

The Democratic speaker said too many House members are unvaccinated to justify relaxing the mask guidance, an argument that the attending physician of the Capitol has echoed.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy introduced a resolution yesterday to allow members to go maskless on the House floor, but the measure failed.

“Until they are vaccinated, we cannot have meetings without masks,” Pelosi said. She said her unvaccinated colleagues were “selfishly an endangerment” to those around them.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi applauded the 35 Republicans who supported the bill to form a 9/11-style commission to study the Capitol insurrection, which passed the lower chamber yesterday.

“We’re very pleased with the number of Republicans who voted for truth and justice,” the Democratic speaker said.

However, most House Republicans voted against the bill, and many Republican senators have already signaled they will likely oppose the legislation as well.

Asked what yesterday’s vote says about the state of the Republican party, Pelosi said she has told her friends on the other side of the aisle to “take back your party”.

She argued there is “courage that needs to be recognized” among Republicans like Liz Cheney, who has denounced Donald Trump’s lies about fraud in the presidential election.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi is now holding her weekly press conference with reporters on Capitol Hill.

The Democratic speaker opened her remarks by applauding the House for passing the anti-Asian American hate crimes bill on Tuesday.

The bill will establish a point person at the department of justice to expedite the review of coronavirus-related hate crimes against members of the AAPI community.

Joe Biden will sign the bill later today. In a tweet this morning, the president said, “Hate has no place in America – and I look forward to making that clear this afternoon by signing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law.”

The House is currently debating a bill to invest $1.9 billion in bolstering Capitol security.

The bill is a direct response to the January 6 insurrection, when rioters were able to gain access to the Capitol as lawmakers certified Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential race.

The vote on the security proposal comes one day after the House passed a bill to form a bipartisan commission to study the Capitol insurrection.

Most House Republicans voted against that bill, and they are also expected to largely oppose the funding boost for Capitol security.

Congresswoman Kay Granger, the top Republican on the House appropriations committee, said during the floor debate, “The bill we are considering today implements permanent recommendations before ongoing security assessments are complete.”

House speaker Nancy Pelosi will soon hold her weekly press conference with reporters on Capitol Hill.

The Democratic speaker will likely be asked about yesterday’s passage of a bill to form a bipartisan commission to study the January 6 insurrection.

The bill passed with the support of every House Democrat and 35 of their Republican colleagues, but it faces major hurdles in the Senate, where minority leader Mitch McConnell has already said he will oppose it.

“It sounds like they are afraid of the truth, and that’s most unfortunate, but hopefully they’ll get used to the idea that the American people want us to find the truth,” Pelosi said yesterday.

The press conference is scheduled to begin in about 20 minutes, so stay tuned.

The Guardian’s Nina Lakhani reports:

Legislation to cancel utility debts for millions of low-income households and bail out struggling utility companies is to be introduced in the US Senate on Thursday.

Jeff Merkley, a Democratic senator from Oregon, will propose a $30bn low-interest loans program for electric, water and sewage and broadband providers as part of the Maintaining Access to Essential Services During the Covid Emergency Act of 2021.

The loans would allow utilities to recoup money in order to stay afloat without resorting to fines and shutoffs. Utilities have long justified using disconnections as a way to force people to keep up with bills.

“We cannot rebuild the strength and resilience of America from the ground up if millions of families lose electricity, water and broadband, we have to keep these essential services turned on if people are going to get back on their feet,” Merkley told the Guardian. “This is like PPE for utilities. If we can get the concept in place, we can later add more funds if needed.”

It’s unclear how much is owed to utility companies nationwide, though it is probably significantly more than the $30bn earmarked in the bill.

Senator Bernie Sanders has argued for the necessity of his resolution opposing a US sale of weapons to Israel, which he is expected to introduce today.

“I believe that the United States must help lead the way to a peaceful and prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians,” the progressive senator said on Twitter in response to a story about his planned resolution.

He added, “We need to take a hard look at whether the sale of these weapons is actually helping do that, or whether it is simply fueling conflict.”

Sanders’ language mirrors that of a separate resolution he introduced yesterday, which emphasized the importance of Israeli and Palestinian lives.

“Whereas every Palestinian life matters; and whereas every Israeli life matters: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate … urges an immediate cease-fire,” Sanders’ resolution said.

The resolution was in response to a separate measure from Republican senator Rick Scott affirming US support for Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet in a couple of hours to discuss a possible ceasefire in Gaza, according to a correspondent at Walla News.

Biden called on Netanyahu to work toward a ceasefire yesterday, but the prime minister then said Israeli is “determined” to continue the Gaza airstrikes until their aims are met.

However, Israeli military leaders have now signaled they believe the attacks have already achieved their “goals”.

The Guardian’s Oliver Holmes and Julian Borger report:

Israel and Palestinian militants halted their fire for several hours early on Thursday as efforts to reach a truce appeared to gather momentum, a day after Joe Biden called publicly for progress towards a ceasefire.

It was not immediately clear if the eight-hour quiet – the longest since the attacks began 11 days ago – was part of an agreement or a temporary lull in the violence.

The brief calm was broken later on Thursday when air-raid sirens sounded in Israel near the Gaza frontier, and Israel’s military said a fighter jet had struck a rocket launcher.

However, previous ceasefires have been preceded by similar hours-long halts in fighting, which are seen as a trust-building measure. A Hamas official had earlier said a ceasefire was in reach, and Israeli media reports suggested the military believed its “goals” had largely been met.

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Progressive senator Bernie Sanders plans to introduce a resolution today disapproving of the US selling $735 million of weapons to Israel, according to multiple reports.

The Washington Post reports:

The resolution aims to halt the planned sale to Israel by the Biden administration of JDAMs, or Joint Direct Attack Munitions, and Small Diameter Bombs, as the worst hostilities in years continue between Israel and Hamas. The resolution needs only a simple majority to pass the Senate; but if it were to be vetoed by President Joe Biden, it would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers to take effect.

Sanders told the Post: “At a moment when US-made bombs are devastating Gaza, and killing women and children, we cannot simply let another huge arms sale go through without even a congressional debate.”

The resolution comes a day after Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make immediate progress toward “de-escalation” in Gaza. A ceasefire appears to be within reach after days of violence that have killed hundreds of people, most of them Palestinian.

The blog will have more details on the resolution and the potential ceasefire coming up, so stay tuned.