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House Democrats stage gun control sit-in for second day – live
Obama: court deadlock 'takes us further from the country we aspire to be' – live
(35 minutes later)
5.14pm BST
17:14
“I don’t anticipate that there are additional executive actions that we can take,” on immigration, Obama says. “We can implement what we’ve already put in place that is not affected by this decision.”
He returns to his criticism of Republicans for not holding hearings on his supreme court nominee and not confirming other judicial appointees:
If you keep on blocking judges from getting on the bench, then courts can’t issue decisions. And what it means is you’re going to have the status quo frozen.. it’s not a sustainable strategy.
5.09pm BST
17:09
Obama: 'I have pushed to the limits of my executive authority'
Obama says that while the supreme court deadlock “does not substantially change what has been the status quo,” congressional action on immigration is now the only way forward:
I have pushed to the limits of my executive authority. We now have to have congress act.
5.06pm BST
17:06
“Now we’ve got a choice about who we’ll be as a country,” Obama says, wading into talk of the election:
“We’re going to have to make a decision where we’re a people who tolerate the hypocrisy of the system.. we’re going to have to decide whether we’re a people who accept the cruelty of ripping children from their parents’ arms, or whether we value family.”
That’s a stark characterization of the choice facing voters in November.
These are all the questions that voters now are going to have to ask themselves... the issues that will be debated... by congressional candidates as well as presidential candidates.
I promise you this though: sooner or later, immigration reform will get done.
Updated
at 5.08pm BST
5.03pm BST
17:03
Obama: Trump immigration policy is 'fantasy'
Obama does not mention Trump by name, but he criticizes Trump’s main immigration proposals:
Pretending we can deport 11m people, or that we can build a wall without spending tens of billions of taxpayers money... is a fantasy that does nothing to help the middle class...
Obama says the “fantasy” is a disservice to the country’s legacy of immigration and assimilation.
5.02pm BST
17:02
Obama: immigration result 'heartbreaking' for families
Obama clarifies that the court deadlock does not affect so-called Dreamers but those who have been in the United States for more than five years with children who have legal status and no criminal record.
“The supreme court was unable to reach a decision. This was part of a consequence of the Republican party failure to give a fair hearing so far” to Merrick Garland, his court nominee.
“The deferred action policy” affecting Dreamers is not changed by the court deadlock, Obama says. And enforcement priorities are not affected. He says that the estimated 4m family members of young immigrants he had sought to protect with the action blocked today “will remain low priorities for enforcement.”
But “today’s decision is frustrating to those who seek to grow our economy and to bring a rationality to our immigration system”.
“I think it is heartbreaking for the thousands of families” affected, he says.
Keep in mind that millions of us, myself included, go back generations in this country... and we don’t like the notion that anyone will get a free pass to American citizenship... [but] leaving the broken system the way it is, that’s” the real amnesty.
4.56pm BST
16:56
Obama: court deadlock 'takes us further from the country we aspire to be'
Obama says he was “pleased” by the Supreme Court decision upholding an affirmative action program at the University of Texas.
Obama says the country is diverse because it’s a nation of immigrants.
“The fact that the supreme court wasn’t able to issue a decision today... takes us further from the country we aspire to be”.
He points out that illegal border crossings are at their lower levels since the 1970s. And that the Senate passed an immigration reform bill. “Unfortunately, Republicans in the House refused to allow a simply yes-or-no vote.”
Obama says that as a result he was “forced to take steps within his authority” to address the issue.
4.53pm BST
16:53
Obama address Supreme Court deadlock
Here’s a live feed of the Brady briefing room where the president will address the Supreme Court deadlock that on immigration:
4.52pm BST
16:52
Ryan:
I don’t think this should be a very proud moment for democracy, or the people who stage these stunts.
Speaker Ryan to @LukeRussert on Dems taking over the House floor to try to force vote: "Yea, I think it sets a very dangerous precedent."
4.50pm BST
16:50
More on the Supreme Court decision from Clinton:
Today's heartbreaking #SCOTUS immigration ruling could tear apart 5 million families facing deportation. We must do better. -H
4.49pm BST
16:49
Ryan again calls the sit-in “a publicity stunt, a fundraising stunt”.
What our members ask for is an open process but a functioning process... Democrats are trying to stop Congress from doing anything.
4.47pm BST
16:47
Ryan:
I’m really not sure what their plan or end game is here, but the bottom line is that despite these distractions, we did our job.”
Ryan turns to the Supreme Court deadlock:
This is a win for the constitution, it’s a win for congress, and it’s a win in our fight to restore the separation of powers. The president doesn’t write our laws. Congress writes our laws.
I bet @SpeakerRyan is thankful that he'll be getting Qs about something other than Trump, tbh https://t.co/CwBz7kuMsw
Updated
at 4.48pm BST
4.45pm BST
16:45
Ryan: we won't allow 'stunts' to derail process
Here’s Paul Ryan. “Couple more of you today,” he remarks to the press.
Ryan is not backing off from his attack on the Democratic sit-in.
“One of the things that makes our country strong is our institutions...we have a basic structure that ensures a functioning democracy... I’m not going to dwell” on the sit-in, he begins. But:
We are not going to allow stunts like this to stop us from carrying out the people’s business. Why do I call this a stunt? Well, because it is one.”
Ryan says the Democrats could have moved a bill to a vote using normal procedures and that the legislation they “claim to want” already was defeated in committee.
“They’re trying to get on TV. They are sending out fundraising solicitations”
Ryan holds up a fundraising email sent by Democrats.
“If this is not a political stunt then why are they trying to raise money off of this? Off of a tragedy. What they are calling for failed in a committee in the house... This bill couldn’t even get 50 votes in the US senate, let alone 60.”
4.30pm BST
4.30pm BST
16:30
16:30
Obama to speak on immigration non-decision
Obama to speak on immigration non-decision
The president will hold a news conference shortly on the Supreme Court deadlock over his executive actions on immigration, the White House has announced.
The president will hold a news conference shortly on the Supreme Court deadlock over his executive actions on immigration, the White House has announced.
4.28pm BST
4.28pm BST
16:28
16:28
Ryan to address media
Ryan to address media
As the Democratic sit-in on the House floor continues, speaker Paul Ryan is preparing to address the media. Here’s a live video stream:
As the Democratic sit-in on the House floor continues, speaker Paul Ryan is preparing to address the media. Here’s a live video stream:
4.16pm BST
4.16pm BST
16:16
16:16
Clinton: court deadlock a 'reminder of harm Trump would do'
Clinton: court deadlock a 'reminder of harm Trump would do'
Here’s Hillary Clinton’s statement on the court’s non-decision that blocks the president’s executive actions to defer deportations for up to 4m parents and family members of young immigrants.
Here’s Hillary Clinton’s statement on the court’s non-decision that blocks the president’s executive actions to defer deportations for up to 4m parents and family members of young immigrants.
Clinton says that the decision is “unacceptable” and a “stark reminder of the harm Donald Trump would do to our families”:
Clinton says that the decision is “unacceptable” and a “stark reminder of the harm Donald Trump would do to our families”:
Today’s deadlocked decision from the Supreme Court is unacceptable, and show [sic] us all just how high the stakes are in this election. … in addition to throwing millions of families across our country into a state of uncertainty, this decision reminds us how much damage Senate Republicans are doing by refusing to consider President Obama’s nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court…
Today’s deadlocked decision from the Supreme Court is unacceptable, and show [sic] us all just how high the stakes are in this election. … in addition to throwing millions of families across our country into a state of uncertainty, this decision reminds us how much damage Senate Republicans are doing by refusing to consider President Obama’s nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court…
This decision is also a stark reminder of the harm Donald Trump would do to our families, our communities, and our country. Trump has pledged to repeal President Obama’s executive actions on his first day in office. He has called Mexican immigrants ‘rapists’ and ‘murderers’. He has called for creating a deportation force to tear 11 million people from their families and their homes.
This decision is also a stark reminder of the harm Donald Trump would do to our families, our communities, and our country. Trump has pledged to repeal President Obama’s executive actions on his first day in office. He has called Mexican immigrants ‘rapists’ and ‘murderers’. He has called for creating a deportation force to tear 11 million people from their families and their homes.
Hillary Clinton statement Texas v. United States, which was also delivered in Spanish. pic.twitter.com/GT22oNuZP7
Hillary Clinton statement Texas v. United States, which was also delivered in Spanish. pic.twitter.com/GT22oNuZP7
No statement yet from Trump.
No statement yet from Trump.
Updated
Updated
at 4.39pm BST
at 4.39pm BST
4.13pm BST
4.13pm BST
16:13
16:13
Video: Democrats use Periscope to broadcast sit-in after cameras turned off
Video: Democrats use Periscope to broadcast sit-in after cameras turned off
4.07pm BST
16:07
Supreme Court deadlock preserves block on Obama immigration program
David Smith
Barack Obama’s immigration program to protect some families from deportation relief remains blocked by a court order, after the supreme court deadlocked in a 4-4 tie, Guardian Washington correspondent David Smith reports:
The opinion represents a significant blow to Obama during his final months in office. It will allow Republicans to claim victory in their argument that he overreached presidential powers and failed to protect America’s borders.
It comes in an election year in which immigration has proven a bitterly divisive issue in the battle to succeed him.
The court had heard arguments in April over whether to revive Obama’s plan to spare roughly 4 million undocumented immigrants – those who have lived illegally in the US at least since 2010, have no criminal record and have children who are US citizens or lawful permanent residents – from mass deportations that would rip many families apart.
Entire immigration policy remains in in limbo. 11m undocumented, one candidate wants to deport all, one let them stay, Congress gridlocked.
House speaker Paul Ryan proclaims vindication for the legislature over the power of the executive:
BREAKING: President Obama's use of executive action to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants is now null and void: pic.twitter.com/hsDrVSS93a
Separately, the Supreme Court upheld an affirmative action program at the University of Texas:
Related: US supreme court upholds affirmative action at University of Texas
The winner of the presidential race is likely to have the opportunity to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by Antonin Scalia and to make additional appointments, shaping the court and the direction of national policy for a generation.
Updated
at 4.11pm BST
3.52pm BST
15:52
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi’s planned news conference has been bumped to this afternoon, around 2pm ET, provisionally. Speaker Paul Ryan is still on for around 11.30am.
Huffington Post reporter Matt Fuller is at the scene:
Steve Israel announces floor plans. Sounds like Dems are going to squeeze in as many people as possible until 12:30, then maybe end sit-in.
3.47pm BST
15:47
Trump to visit Scotland to re-open golf course
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is scheduled to appear Friday morning at Trump Turnberry, a golf club in southwestern Scotland he bought two years ago, to officially mark its reopening after an extensive renovation.
“I paid all cash. I then spent a tremendous amount of money on renovating the hotel and the golf courses,” Trump told Reuters in a telephone interview. “It’s incredible.”
It’s unclear how Trump may don the hat of statesman during his business trip. The results of the Brexit vote are expected to be announced – barring recounts in what appears to be a very tight fight – around the time that Trump pops up at Turnberry.
On Saturday, Trump is scheduled to visit a golf investment outside Aberdeen, in the northeast, where some locals have prepared a special welcome:
Related: Mexican flags raised in view of Donald Trump's Scotland golf course
Trump appears to be under some pressure with his golf investments (he owns twelve courses). A Reuters examination of them “shows that Trump has likely lost millions of dollars on his golf projects”:
The analysis shows high costs and modest current valuations. Using conservative estimates of the amount Trump has spent, he may be breaking even or making modest gains; on higher estimates – based on what Trump has said he is spending – he’s losing money.
Trump disputes the analysis. He said Reuters’ calculations overestimated what he had spent and underestimated the value of his investments. He declined to provide figures for his expenditure on courses or their current or future market values.
Read more here.
Updated
at 3.49pm BST
3.23pm BST
15:23
What could actually work to fix gun violence?
We’ve just published Part 4 of Lois Beckett’s investigation into gun control in the United States – where it went wrong and how to fix it. The latest installment of the series focuses on what policies might work to address gun violence and which might not.
“Many of most promising strategies are not the ones you’re most likely to hear about on the news – or the ones your member of Congress may be talking about right now,” Lois writes:
The first step is to move beyond some of the immediate, outraged proposals brought forward after each high-profile shooting. A ban on military-style assault weapons might save a small number of lives, but is unlikely to make a larger difference. America’s gun violence problem is so much bigger than mass shootings, whose victims represent only a tiny percentage of the overall toll of gun murders each year.
What can be done to address this much larger toll of gun violence, which leaves nearly 100,000 Americans killed or wounded each year?
The problem here, for the most part, isn’t faulty guns or insufficient training. It’s dangerous people using guns effectively. The best approach to violence prevention is to zero in on that small number of high-risk people who are using guns to harm themselves or other people, and look at what might be done to prevent them.
Many of most promising strategies are not the ones you’re most likely to hear about on the news – or the ones your member of Congress may be talking about right now.
Read the full piece here:
Related: What could actually work to fix gun violence in America – and what doesn't
3.13pm BST
15:13
How’s your electoral map shaping up? Larry Sabato over at the University of Virginia Center for Politics has Ohio for Clinton... and Florida... and Virginia, and North Carolina and Colorado and Nevada and New Mexico and Iowa and New Hampshire too:
New ratings from @kkondik and @LarrySabato project Dem electoral college wipeout of 347-191: https://t.co/HTPx1XeooP
Now take that list of states and give them all to Trump, with the exception of Florida. Clinton still wins, if she can hold on to the 18 states that have gone Democratic since 1992 plus Washington, DC (which awards three electoral votes):
It’s of interest that Sabato’s most recent map bears certain changes from his last version. Pennsylvania has actually crept toward the Republicans with Donald Trump as the presumptive nominee, based on the state’s preponderance of white, blue-collar voters and general drift rightward in recent election cycles.
On the other hand three states – Arizona, Georgia and Utah – move toward the Democrats in Sabato’s latest analysis of the current election. Read all about it here.
GOP, 2015: “We have a great opportunity next year. We need to expand the party.”GOP, 2016: “Gee, I hope we can be competitive in Utah.”
Updated
at 3.26pm BST
2.55pm BST
14:55
Pelosi and Ryan to hold news conferences
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to hold a news conference in
about an hour
(update: that’s been bounced to this afternoon). Speaker Paul Ryan has a regular weekly news conference scheduled afterwards.
Hello again.The sit-in continues. The chamber is cold. Sheila Jackson Lee is wrapped in a white blanket. Trump slouches toward Washington.
Updated
at 3.52pm BST
2.52pm BST
14:52
Rumsfeld endorses Trump: 'not a close call'
Unapologetic Iraq war architect Donald Rumsfeld has endorsed his namesake presidential candidate, saying it was “not a close call”.
“I’m a Republican, and there’s not any doubt in my mind how I’ll vote,” Rumsfeld told the Daily Mail. “I don’t believe Hillary Clinton is qualified to be President of the United States.”
Rumsfeld was secretary of defense under president Ford and president George W Bush, who has said he will sit out the presidential race this year, although he has gotten involved in down-ballot races, campaigning on behalf of senator John McCain.
Thank you to Donald Rumsfeld for the endorsement. Very much appreciated. Clinton's conduct has been "disqualifying."
Didn't you give a speech yesterday on how the Iraq War was the biggest disaster ever? https://t.co/cupNu8a4Ba
2.38pm BST
14:38
Ryan calls sit-in 'a publicity stunt'
House speaker Paul Ryan late Wednesday called the Democratic sit-in a “publicity stunt”.
“This is nothing more than a publicity stunt,” Ryan told CNN (click through for video), observing that parallel legislation had already been defeated in the senate.
“We are not going to take a citizen’s constitutional rights without due process, that was already defeated in the senate, and this is not the way to try to bring up legislation.
“This isn’t trying to come up with a solution to a problem. This is about trying to get attention.”
2.31pm BST
14:31
Spencer Ackerman
“Attorneys for people caught on the US’s sprawling terrorism watchlists are expressing concern that the latest tactic by gun control advocates is blessing the legitimacy of a process they say threatens civil rights,” writes Guardian US national security editor Spencer Ackerman:
As Democrats staged a sit-in on the House floor on Wednesday demanding a vote to prevent people placed on FBI watchlists from purchasing firearms, lawyers and American Muslim rights groups feared the effort tacitly endorsed a system that they have for years argued lacks transparency and basic due process and disproportionately affects US Muslims.
They fear that civil rights concerns over watchlisting are becoming a casualty of political expediency by gun control advocates in a debate supercharged by the massacre of 49 people at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando on 12 June.
“It’s ridiculous, the notion that somehow the watchlists are a reliable measuring stick for who should be deprived of an ability to purchase weapons,” said Ramzi Kassem, a law professor at the City University of New York and director of its Clear clinic, some of whose clients were wrongly watchlisted.
“The discussion on gun control vastly overstates the reliability of the watchlists. They lack transparency and any available process to get off the lists if people believe they’ve been wrongly listed,” Kassem said.
Read the full piece here:
Related: Gun control based on terror watchlists is a threat to civil rights, advocates say
1.08pm BST
13:08
Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House. We are taking an immediate detour from the campaign trail this Thursday morning to check in on an extraordinary and ongoing protest on Capitol Hill on behalf of gun control.
Democrats in the House of Representatives, joined periodically by sympathetic Senate colleagues, have staged an overnight sit-in in the House chamber, occupying it continuously now for about 20 hours. Minority leader Nancy Pelosi returned to the floor at about 7am this morning to declare that the Democrats would keep up the effort until the House speaker, Paul Ryan, agreed to schedule a vote on legislation that would make people on no-fly and terror watch lists ineligible to buy guns, and other gun control legislation.
The Republicans have indicated no intention of holding such a vote, accusing the Democrats of mounting a PR stunt.
The lawmakers inside the chamber were supported by protesters outside the chamber overnight:
1:58 am | Protestors are still going strong. pic.twitter.com/2IQJ1Hx4ts
Late last night, as Ryan attempted to restore “order” to the chamber, Democrats drowned him out with chants, sang the civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome and held up pictures of gun violence victims. Read our latest news story here:
Related: Democrats continue House sit-in demanding vote on gun control
The House is officially adjourned, as of 3.14am ET, until 5 July. The Democrats have a meeting planned for 10am. Other developments overnight included:
Pelosi says Democrats "will not stop" until the "no fly, no buy" legislation is passed."We're not taking a break from this effort."Well.
For more detail about what happened overnight, read our continuous live coverage here:
Related: Democrats hold all-night sit-in to fight for gun control vote in House – campaign live
Sanders to speak on future of campaign
In politics today, Bernie Sanders has a speech planned in New York City to address the future of his campaign, and Donald Trump departs later today for a two-day trip to Scotland. He arrives as the Brexit vote is completed and counted. He favors Brexit but has also advised, “I don’t think anybody should listen to me.”
Our live-blog coverage of the Brexit vote is here:
Related: EU referendum polling day: last opinion poll shows four-point remain lead - live
Thanks for reading and please join us in the comments.
