- National security adviser holds talks with Russian counterpart
- Secretary of state Tony Blinken to travel to Middle East this week
- Republicans scramble to derail Capitol riot commission creation
4.38pm BST
Hugo Lowell reports for the Guardian:
Top Senate Republicans are making a concerted effort to quash the creation of a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol attack, deeply endangering the bill’s passage amid fears about what a high-profile inquiry into the events of 6 January might uncover.
Related: Senate Republicans scramble to derail creation of Capitol riot commission
4.21pm BST
New York City schools will fully return to in-person instruction this fall, with no option for remote learning, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this morning.
The Democratic mayor outlined the plan for bringing all students back to the classroom in an interview with MSNBC this morning.
New York City public schools will FULLY reopen this September. That means welcoming all our students and staff back to school buildings.
Vaccinations are working, we’re beating back COVID, and our city is coming back strong. pic.twitter.com/jamWEzFXHN
4.04pm BST
National security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke to Russian security council secretary Nikolay Patrushev about a potential US-Russian summit.
“The meeting was an important step in the preparation for a planned U.S.-Russia summit, the date and location of which will be announced later,” the White House said in a readout of the discussion.
3.59pm BST
Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd, the Black man who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer.
Joe Biden will meet with Floyd’s family tomorrow to commemorate the anniversary.
Asked about status of police reform, @WhipClyburn says he checks in with @RepKarenBass almost daily and she’s pleased w/ progress.
“It’s not going to get done on the anniversary date (of George Floyd’s death, May 25), but I think more important is that it get done.” #scpol pic.twitter.com/k2Jc6FOvBx
3.34pm BST
Beto O’Rourke is considering a run for governor in Texas, but the former presidential candidate is keeping pretty quiet about his plans for the moment.
The AP reports:
He says he hasn’t ruled out anything, but isn’t saying much else. And Texas Democrats are itching for an answer.
‘Impatience is not the word for it,’ Texas Democratic Party chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said. ‘But anxious is.’
3.07pm BST
The Republican pariah Liz Cheney has repeatedly refused to admit a link between Donald Trump’s lies about voter fraud and restrictive voting laws being introduced in Republican states, telling an interviewer on Sunday night she will “never understand the resistance to voter ID”.
“There’s a big difference between that and a president of the United States who loses an election after he tried to steal the election and refuses to concede,” said the Wyoming representative ejected from party leadership for opposing the former president.
Related: Liz Cheney won’t link Trump’s election lies to restrictive Republican voting laws
2.47pm BST
Gordon Sondland, the former US ambassador to the EU who became a key witness during the first impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump, is suing Mike Pompeo and the US government for $1.8 million in legal fees.
The Washington Post reports:
The suit, filed Monday in federal court in the District of Columbia, alleges that Pompeo reneged on his promise that the State Department would cover the fees after Sondland delivered bombshell testimony accusing Trump and his aides of pressuring the government of Ukraine to investigate then presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter in exchange for military aid. …
The complaint alleges that Pompeo told Sondland that government lawyers would not be made available to represent him but that if he hired his own counsel, his attorney fees would be covered by the U.S. government. Top aides to Pompeo also acknowledged this commitment, the suit alleges, but ‘everything changed’ after Sondland delivered his testimony alleging a ‘quid pro quo’ and then refused to resign despite a request from one of Pompeo’s most trusted aides, Ulrich Brechbuhl.
2.23pm BST
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has pledged the Biden administration will deal with “the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza” and will seek “equal measures of security” for Israelis and Palestinians as a ceasefire after 11 days of conflict held throughout the weekend.
More than 240 people in Gaza, including at least 66 children, and a dozen in Israel were killed during the violence, marking the first major diplomatic crisis for the Biden administration.
Related: Blinken pledges US will deal with ‘grave humanitarian situation in Gaza’
2.05pm BST
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
Secretary of state Antony Blinken will visit the Middle East this week as the ceasefire holds in Gaza, after 11 days of attacks between Israeli forces and Hamas.