Vice President Kamala Harris unveils her economic plan, and a Senate panel releases their report on the Pennsylvania assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.
Harris tells Pittsburgh crowd lowering costs is the primary pillar of her economic plan
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris laid out more specifics of her "opportunity economy" plan for the United States should she win the election this fall.
During a speech to the Economic Club of Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University, the vice president said November’s election is the chance for voters to make the middle class the engine of the country’s prosperity and make the U.S. economy work for everyone.
“Over the past several decades, our economy has grown better and better for those at the very top and increasingly difficult for those trying to attain, build and hold on to a middle-class life,” Harris said. “In many ways, this is what this election is all about. The American people face a choice between two fundamentally different paths for our economy.”
Harris on Wednesday unveiled her "America Forward" proposal, an agenda that aims to make $100 billion in new investments in manufacturing and calls for tax credits to boost investment and job creation in industries key to national security and economic growth, like artificial intelligence, clean energy, domestic semiconductor production and aerospace and other forms of transportation.
And the plan would be paid for, she said, "by a portion of the proceeds of international tax reform, which seeks to prevent a global race to the bottom and to discourage inversions."
Seeking to draw a sharp and specific contrast with former President Donald Trump, Harris laid out her three pillars for American economic success: lowering costs to restore economic security for middle class families, investing in American innovation and entrepreneurship and leading the world in the industries of the future to ensure the U.S. remains dominant instead of China.
Secret Service failures before Trump rally shooting were 'preventable,' Senate panel finds
Multiple Secret Service failures ahead of the July rally for former President Donald Trump where a gunman opened fire were "foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt that day," according to a bipartisan Senate investigation released Wednesday.
Similar to the agency's own internal investigation and an ongoing bipartisan House probe, the interim report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee found multiple failures on almost every level ahead of the Butler, Pa., shooting, including in planning, communications, security and allocation of resources.
"The consequences of those failures were dire," said Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the Democratic chairman of the Homeland panel.
Investigators found that there was no clear chain of command among the Secret Service and other security agencies and no plan for coverage of the building where the shooter climbed up to fire the shots. Officials were operating on multiple, separate radio channels, leading to missed communications, and an inexperienced drone operator was stuck on a help line after his equipment wasn't working correctly.
Communications among security officials were a "multi-step game of telephone," Peters said.
The report found the Secret Service was notified about an individual on the roof of the building approximately two minutes before shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire, firing eight rounds in Trump's direction less than 150 yards from where the former president was speaking. Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, was struck in the ear by a bullet or a bullet fragment in the assassination attempt, one rallygoer was killed and two others were injured before the gunman was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.
Approximately 22 seconds before Crooks fired, the report found that a local officer sent a radio alert that there was an armed individual on the building. But that information was not relayed to key Secret Service personnel who were interviewed by Senate investigators.
The panel also interviewed a Secret Service counter-sniper who reported seeing officers with their guns drawn running toward the building where the shooter was perched, but the person said they did not think to notify anyone to get Trump off the stage.
The Senate report comes just days after the Secret Service released a five-page document summarizing the key conclusions of a yet-to-be finalized Secret Service report on what went wrong, and ahead of a Thursday hearing that will be held by a bipartisan House task force investigating the shooting. The House panel is also investigating a second assassination attempt on Trump earlier this month when Secret Service agents arrested a man with a rifle hiding on the golf course at Trump's Florida club.
Each investigation has found new details that reflect a massive breakdown in the former president's security, and lawmakers say there is much more they want to find out as they try to prevent it from happening again.
Congress passes temporary bill to avoid shutdown, sends measure to Biden's desk
Congress on Wednesday passed a temporary measure that keeps government agencies funded into December, avoiding a shutdown for now while punting final spending decisions until after the Nov. 5 election.
The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 78-18 shortly after the House easily approved it. The bill generally funds agencies at current levels through Dec. 20. But an additional $231 million was included to bolster the Secret Service after the two assassination attempts against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Money was also added to aid with the presidential transition, among other things.
The bill now goes to President Joe Biden's desk to be signed into law.
"This bipartisanship is a good outcome for America," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said moments before the vote. "I hope it sets the tone for more constructive, bipartisan work when we return in the fall."
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., billed the measure as doing "only what's absolutely necessary," a statement directed at members of his own conference concerned about spending levels.
Still, it was a no-go for some Republicans, which forced House GOP leadership to rely on Democratic votes to pass the bill through a process that requires at least two-thirds support from voting members. Johnson said the only alternative to the continuing resolution at this stage would have been a government shutdown.
"It would be political malpractice to shut the government down," Johnson said. "I think everyone understands that."
The House floor was largely empty during debate on the measure. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, was the lone critic speaking out, saying, "We end up in a vicious circle every year, the same vicious circle."
Lawmakers in both chambers are anxious to return to their home states and districts to campaign, smoothing the path for passage of a temporary funding fix. But more arduous fiscal negotiations await them at the end of the year.
Under terms of a previous deal to avoid a federal default and allow the government to continue paying its bills, spending for defense and nondefense programs would rise 1% next year.
The Senate has been charting a course to go above that level, while House Republicans have been voting for steep cuts to many nondefense programs, and they have attached policy mandates to the spending bills that Democrats overwhelmingly oppose. So a final agreement will be difficult to reach.
In the meantime, the temporary bill will mostly fund the government at current levels, with a few exceptions like the funding infusion for the Secret Service.
The $231 million for the Secret Service does come with strings attached. It's contingent upon the agency complying with congressional oversight. The bill also allows the Secret Service to spend its allocations faster if needed.
"Everybody understands that's critically important right now," Johnson said of the Secret Service money.
Trump thanked lawmakers for the extra Secret Service funding at a campaign event Wednesday. He had earlier called on Republicans not to move forward on a spending bill without also including a requirement that people provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. That legislation failed in the House last week.
In a recent letter, the Secret Service told lawmakers that a funding shortfall was not the reason for lapses in Trump's security when a gunman climbed onto an unsecured roof on July 13 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and opened fire. But acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr., also made clear the agency had "immediate needs" and that he's talking to Congress.
"The Secret Service has asked for this additional funding. It's absolutely essential as they deal with the increased threat environment," said Sen. Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The continuing resolution is needed because Congress is nowhere close to completing work on the dozen annual appropriations bills that fund much of the federal government. The House has passed five of the 12 bills, mostly along party lines. The Senate has passed zero.