US says hold on weapons delivery won’t be a one-off if Israel presses ahead with Rafah city offensive – live

Aftermath of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah.

LIVE – Updated at 21:12

US officials suggest already approved arms deliveries could be delayed and new shipments could face obstacles.

US says hold on weapons delivery not a one-off if Israel presses ahead with Rafah city offensive

21:12Julian Borger

US officials are making clear today that the hold put on a delivery of US-made bombs last week would not be a one-off if Israel presses ahead with an offensive on Rafah city but would be the start of a major pivot in the US-Israel relationship.

Arms deliveries that have already been approved could be delayed, and shipments waiting for approval could also face obstacles.

The Biden administration refuses to use the phrase “red line”, but it is making clear that the US president was serious when he told Benjamin Netanyahu in a call on 4 April that an attack on Rafah would lead to a major re-evaluation of the relationship.

Although the paused shipment included huge 2000lb bombs, administration officials insist that they were not selected because of legal concerns about their use in a densely populated area (as Israel has done frequently over the course of this war) could constitute a war crime. This was a policy decision, they say, not a legal one.

Summary

21:02

Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:

The Republican House judiciary committee has referred Michael Cohen to the Department of Justice for prosecution. In a letter to Merrick Garland, the US attorney general, Jim Jordan and James Comer, chairs of the judiciary committee as well as the oversight and accountability committee, wrote: “Cohen’s testimony is now the basis for a politically motivated prosecution of a former president and current declared candidate for that office.”

The US state department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, has confirmed that the US has paused a shipment of weapons to Israel and is “reviewing others”. Miller, at briefing today, cited “the way Israel has conducted its operations in the past” as well as concerns about Israel’s actions in Rafah, Channel 4 News’s Siobhan Kennedy reported.

US officials are making clear today that the hold put on a delivery of US-made bombs last week would not be a one-off if Israel presses ahead with an offensive on Rafah, but would be the start of a major pivot in the US-Israel relationship. Arms deliveries that have already been approved could be delayed, and shipments waiting for approval could also face obstacles.

Following the Biden administration’s decision to pause a weapons shipment to Israel over its plans for a Rafah invasion, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont said: “Given the unprecedented humanitarian disaster that Netanyahu’s war has created in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of children face starvation, President Biden is absolutely right to halt bomb delivery to this extreme, rightwing Israeli government. But this must be a first step.”

Georgia’s state court of appeals has granted Donald Trump’s request to consider the disqualification of Fani Willis, the district attorney who brought the 2020 election interference charges against Trump. According to a notice, the court said that it had granted the appeal request and ordered Trump’s legal team to file a notice of appeal in the next 10 days, NBC reports.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell refused to comment on Donald Trump’s ongoing criminal trial surrounding his hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, McConnell said: “I’m not going to be commenting on the presidential election … I’m going to concentrate on trying to turn this job over to the next majority leader of the Senate.”

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the third-party presidential candidate, said a health problem he experienced in 2010 “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died”, according to a report. In a divorce case deposition from 2012 the New York Times said it obtained, Kennedy said he experienced “memory loss and mental fogginess so severe that a friend grew concerned he might have a brain tumor”.

That’s it as we wrap up the blog for today. Thank you for following along.

20:46

Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and California’s Democratic representative Ro Khanna have revealed a bill aimed at cancelling all medical debt.

The Guardian’s Joan Greve reports:

The bill, introduced with Oregon senator Jeff Merkley and Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, would create a federal grant program to cancel all existing patient debt and amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to block creditors from collecting past medical bills.

The legislation would also update billing requirements for medical providers and alter the Consumer Credit Reporting Act to prevent credit agencies from reporting information related to unpaid medical bills, alleviating the risk of such debt damaging patients’ credit histories.

Sanders and Khanna described the legislation as vital for many families’ financial security, as millions of Americans struggle with the burden of medical debt. According to a 2022 investigation by NPR and KFF Health News, more than 100 million Americans, including 41% of adults, hold some kind of healthcare debt. A KFF analysis of the Census Bureau’s survey of income and program participation suggests that Americans owe at least $220bn in medical debt.

Read the full story here:

20:19

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has refused to comment on Donald Trump’s ongoing criminal trial surrounding his hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in response to whether Trump’s ongoing trial would give him pause over his support for Trump as president, McConnell said:

I’m not going to be commenting on the presidential election … I’m going to concentrate on trying to turn this job over to the next majority leader of the Senate.”

20:08

Here are further details on the US signaling to Israel potential future pauses in arms shipments over Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah:

US officials have signalled to Israel that more arms shipments could be delayed if the Israeli military pushes ahead with an offensive in Rafah, Gaza, in what would mark the start of a major pivot in relations between the two countries.

Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, confirmed on Wednesday that the Biden administration had paused the supply of thousands of large bombs to Israel, in opposition to apparent moves by the Israelis to invade the city.

“We’ve been very clear … from the very beginning that Israel shouldn’t launch a major attack into Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battle space,” Austin told a Senate hearing.

“And again, as we have assessed the situation, we have paused one shipment of high payload munitions,” he said, adding: “We’ve not made a final determination on how to proceed with that shipment.”

Read the full story here:

House judiciary committee refers Michael Cohen to justice department for prosecution

19:46

The Republican House judiciary committee has referred Michael Cohen to the Department of Justice for prosecution.

In a letter to the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, Jim Jordan and James Comer, chairs of the judiciary committee as well as the oversight and accountability committee, wrote:

Cohen’s testimony is now the basis for a politically motivated prosecution of a former president and current declared candidate for that office.

In light of the reliance on the testimony from this repeated liar, we reiterate our concerns and ask what the justice department has done to hold Cohen accountable for his false statements to Congress.

The referral comes as Cohen, once a personal lawyer and fixer for Donald Trump, is expected to testify in the former president’s hush money criminal trial in New York as the prosecutors’ star witness.

State department says US reviewing other weapons shipments to Israel

19:04

The US state department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, has confirmed that the US has paused a shipment of weapons to Israel and is “reviewing others”.

Miller, at briefing today, cited “the way Israel has conducted its operations in the past” as well as concerns about Israel’s actions in Rafah, Channel 4 News’ Siobhan Kennedy reported.

Even though Israel has said the Rafah operation is limited in scope, “intent is one thing, results are another”, Miller told reporters, adding:

The results have been far too many innocent civilians dying … That’s why we have such grave concerns.

Miller also said the state department will not be delivering its report to Congress on whether Israel has violated international humanitarian law during its war in Gaza, CNN reported. He added:

We expect to deliver it in the very near future, in the coming days.

18:46

Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley won more than 20% of the votes in Indiana’s Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, months after she dropped out of the race.

Haley announced she was suspending her presidential campaign in March after being soundly defeated by Donald Trump on Super Tuesday, but her continued support shows persistent discontent among GOP voters with the former president. Haley has not endorsed Trump.

Haley’s support was largest in Indiana’s urban and suburban counties, AP reported. She won 35% of the vote in Indianapolis’s Marion county and more than one-third of the vote in suburban Hamilton county.

18:32Martin Pengelly

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the third-party presidential candidate, said a health problem he experienced in 2010 “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died”, according to a report.

In a divorce case deposition from 2012 the New York Times said it obtained, Kennedy said he experienced “memory loss and mental fogginess so severe that a friend grew concerned he might have a brain tumour”.

Neurologists who treated Kennedy’s uncle, the Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy, before his death aged 77 from brain cancer in 2009, told the younger man he had a dark spot on his brain scans, and concluded he too had a tumor. But, Kennedy reportedly said, a doctor at New York-Presbyterian hospital posited another explanation: a parasite in Kennedy’s brain. In the 2012 deposition, Kennedy reportedly said:

I have cognitive problems, clearly. I have short-term memory loss, and I have longer-term memory loss that affects me.

In his recent interview, the Times said, Kennedy said he had recovered from such problems. The paper also said Kennedy’s spokesperson, Stefanie Spear, responded to a question about whether the candidate’s health problems could compromise his fitness to be president by saying:

That is a hilarious suggestion, given the competition.

Bernie Sanders says US must use ‘all leverage’ to end Israel-Gaza war

18:29

Following the Biden administration’s decision to pause a weapons shipment to Israel over its plans for a Rafah invasion, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont said:

Given the unprecedented humanitarian disaster that Netanyahu’s war has created in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of children face starvation, President Biden is absolutely right to halt bomb delivery to this extreme, rightwing Israeli government. But this must be a first step.

The US must now use ALL its leverage to demand an immediate ceasefire, the end of the attacks on Rafah, and the immediate delivery of massive amounts of humanitarian aid to people living in desperation. Our leverage is clear. Over the years, the United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Israel. We can no longer be complicit in Netanyahu’s horrific war against the Palestinian people.

18:22

A growing number of Republican lawmakers are pushing to require a citizenship question on the questionnaire for the census, and exclude non-US citizens from the results that determine each state’s share of House seats and electoral college votes.

The GOP-led House is expected to vote today on the Equal Representation Act which calls for leaving out “individuals who are not citizens of the United States.” The bill is unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate and is opposed by the White House.

The proposal has set off alarms among redistricting experts, civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers, and comes as Republicans make immigration a key campaign issue ahead of the November elections.

“It’s taking it closer to reality than it has ever been,” a former census official told AP.

This is part of a cohesive strategy in the GOP … of getting every single possible advantage when the country is so closely divided.

The 14th amendment says the “whole number of persons in each state” should be counted during the apportionment process. Besides helping allocate congressional seats and electoral college votes, census figures guide the distribution of $2.8tn in federal money.

Wisconsin governor on Biden’s $3.3b AI center announcement: This will bring ‘countless opportunities’

16:48

In response to Joe Biden’s visit to Wisconsin later today, the state’s governor Tony Evers tweeted:

“Today, I am jazzed to be joining @POTUS to celebrate Microsoft’s $3.3 billion investment in southeastern Wisconsin.

This expansion will create jobs, including 2,300 union construction jobs, and open the door to countless opportunities for Wisconsin.”

16:46

Here are the full details on the latest decision by Georgia’s state appeals court surrounding Donald Trump by the Guardian’s Kira Lerner:

The Georgia state court of appeals on Wednesday said it will consider an appeal from Donald Trump of an order allowing Fani Willis, the district attorney, to continue prosecuting his election interference case in Fulton County.

In a one page order, the appeals court said it would allow Trump to challenge the decision not to disqualify Willis over her relationship with her deputy. Trump has ten days to file a notice of appeal, the court said.

Last month, prosecutors urged the appeals court not to hear the appeal. “The present application merely reflects the applicants’ dissatisfaction with the trial court’s proper application of well-established law to the facts,” prosecutors wrote in a 19-page filing.

For the full story, click here:

16:08

Elise Stefanik, New York Republican representative and staunch Donald Trump ally, responded to the latest decision of Georgia state’s appellate court, tweeting:

BREAKING: Another one of the Democrats’ illegal sham cases is CRUMBLING. President Trump will have his appeal HEARD in Georgia! The Far Left Democrats’ only strategy for the 2024 election has been blatant lawfare and election interference but that plan is failing.

Stefanik, who is widely considered to be a potential running mate for Trump, has thrown her support behind the former president on numerous occasions. In addition to echoing Trump’s descriptions of January 6 prisoners as “hostages”, Stefanik has also filed ethics complaints against two judges overseeing cases against Trump or his allies.

15:40

Here is the full text from the notice by the Georgia court of appeals on considering Donald Trump’s disqualification request of Fani Willis:

Upon consideration of the application for interlocutory appeal, it is ordered that it be hereby granted. The appellant may file a notice of appeal within 10 days of the date by this order. The clerk of superior court is directed to include a copy of this order in the record transmitted to the court of appeals.

The appeals court’s latest notice comes after Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the election interference case involving Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants, ruled in March that Willis should not be disqualified from prosecuting the defendants.

The defendants are accusing Willis of misconduct and having a conflict of interest in the case – specifically alleged financial gain – due to her romantic relationship with her then deputy Nathan Wade.

In March, Wade submitted his resignation request to Willis, in turn allowing Willis to continue on as lead prosecutor in the case.

Georgia’s appeals court grants Donald Trump’s request to consider Fani Willis’s disqualification

15:18

Georgia’s state court of appeals has granted Donald Trump’s request to consider the disqualification of Fani Willis, the district attorney who brought the 2020 election interference charges against Trump.

According to a notice, the court said that it had granted the appeal request and ordered Trump’s legal team to file a notice of appeal in the next 10 days, NBC reports.

In a statement cited by the outlet, Trump’s lawyer Steve Sadow said:

President Trump looks forward to presenting interlocutory arguments to the Georgia court of appeals as to why the case should be dismissed and Fulton county DA Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct in this unjustified, unwarranted political persecution.

Biden to announce $3.3bn AI center in Wisconsin

15:08

Good morning,

Joe Biden will visit the battleground state of Wisconsin today, where he is expected to unveil a $3.3bn Microsoft AI center.

Biden’s trip to Racine will not only mark his fourth visit to Wisconsin this year but will also contrast the president from Donald Trump, who six years ago promised a Foxconn factory at the same location which never happened.

As Biden gears up for his upcoming trip, Trump’s lawyers appears to have scored a win after federal judge Aileen Cannon indefinitely suspended the former president’s Mar-a-Lago documents trial in Florida on Tuesday. Cannon’s ruling that the case is not yet ready to taken before a jury serves in the favor of Trump, who has been trying to delay his criminal cases in hopes of winning the presidential election and appointing a loyalist attorney general who could help drop the charges.

Here are other developments in US politics:

House Republicans are set to hold a hearing this morning over antisemitism accusations in K-12 schools.

Kamala Harris plans to travel to Philadelphia this afternoon for a campaign event.

The Biden administration has paused a weapons shipment to Israel amid concerns of Israel’s Rafah invasion.

14:57

Here are some more details on Joe Biden’s upcoming announcement in Racine, Wisconsin, later today:

The AI datacenter is set to construct 2,300 union construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs.

Microsoft also plans to provide “skilled opportunities for thousands more Wisconsinites in the digital economy”, the White House said.

Specifically, the tech giant will partner with Gateway Technical College to develop a datacenter academy that trains 1,000 Wisconsinites for datacenter and Stem roles by 2030, and will employ up to 2,000 people in permanent roles at its Racine facility, the White House added.

14:56

With Joe Biden’s upcoming visit, it is important to note that Donald Trump once touted the Foxconn location at Racine, Wisconsin, as the “eighth wonder of the world”.

In 2018, Trump spoke at a ceremonial groundbreaker for the factory which never happened, saying: “As Foxconn has discovered, there is no better place to build, hire and grow than right here in the United States.”

However, in 2021, Foxconn largely abandoned the promised $10bn factory. In an updated deal with Wisconsin reported by Reuters at the time, Foxconn said it was going to reduce its planned investments to $672m and had planned on reducing the jobs from 13,000 to 1,454.

14:05

In a statement released ahead of Joe Biden’s visit to Wisconsin later today, the White House took a jab at Donald Trump’s former administration and said:

Six years ago, the prior administration touted a $10 billion investment by Foxconn that never materialized – now Microsoft will build a new AI datacenter on the same land, powering industries of the future in Wisconsin.

Today, president Biden will travel to Racine, Wisconsin – the same location as the failed Foxconn investment that the prior administration visited six years ago – to showcase a community at the heart of his commitment to invest in places that have been historically overlooked or failed by the last administration’s policies.”