Day 118: "Grave concern."
Today in one sentence: The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to a Mississippi law that prohibits nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy; the U.S. will send at least 20 million doses of the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson coronavirus vaccine abroad by the end of June; the Biden administration approved the sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel; about 39 million American families will start receiving monthly child tax credit payments starting July 15; and attorneys for Rudy Giuliani accused federal authorities of treating Trump's former personal attorney "as if he was the head of a drug cartel or a terrorist" after learning that investigators had obtained access to his iCloud account with an undisclosed 2019 search warrant.
1/ The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to a Mississippi law that prohibits nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization will be the first abortion case since Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation last October, who is an outspoken opponent of abortion. The case directly challenges Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide, and the court said it will specifically review the question of whether states can ban abortions before a fetus can survive outside the womb. The Mississippi law would ban almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with narrow exceptions made for medical emergencies or cases in which there is a “severe fetal abnormality,” but not for instances of rape or incest. (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / Associated Press / NBC News / CNN / Vox / CBS News)
2/ The U.S. will send at least 20 million doses of the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson coronavirus vaccine abroad by the end of June. The 20 million doses are in addition to Biden’s previous commitment to send 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to other countries once the vaccine is cleared for use by the FDA. It’s unclear which countries will receive the doses, but Biden promised to “not use our vaccines to secure favors from other countries.” (New York Times / Associated Press / NBC News / Bloomberg / CNN)
3/ The Biden administration approved the sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel. Congress was formally notified of the intended sale on May 5, and lawmakers have 15 days to object with a nonbinding resolution of disapproval. Lawmakers, however, are not expected to object to the deal despite violence between Israel and Palestinian militants, but more than 25 Democratic senators called for an immediate ceasefire to “prevent further loss of life and further escalation of violence.” Biden, meanwhile, “expressed his support” for a cease-fire in a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as fighting entered its eighth day, with more than 200 people dead, most of them Palestinians in Gaza. The U.S. also blocked a unanimous statement by the 15-nation U.N. Security Council expressing “grave concern” over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the loss of civilian lives. It was the third time the U.S. blocked the Security Council statement. (Washington Post / Associated Press /Reuters / CNN / New York Times / NPR / NBC News / Axios)
4/ About 39 million American families will start receiving monthly child tax credit payments starting July 15. The payments, which are part of the expanded child tax credit program in the American Rescue Plan, provide up to $300 a month for each child under 6, and up to $250 a month for each child 6 to 17 years old. The Biden administration estimates that more than 65 million children — or 88% of all U.S. kids nationwide — will receive the benefit. (Washington Post / NBC News / Politico)
5/ Attorneys for Rudy Giuliani accused federal authorities of treating Trump’s former personal attorney “as if he was the head of a drug cartel or a terrorist” after learning that investigators had obtained access to his iCloud account with an undisclosed 2019 search warrant. FBI agents also executed a search warrant in April and seized Giuliani’s electronic devices. Federal prosecutors asked the U.S. Southern District of New York to appoint a special master to review the evidence and filter out whatever information may be covered by attorney-client privilege. Lawyers for Giuliani said the material seized from covert 2019 search was illegal and suggested the search warrants executed in April were the “fruit of this poisoned tree.” In 2019, Giuliani and other trump allies sought damaging information on Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, which became a central part of Trump’s first impeachment proceeding. (Daily Beast / CNN / Washington Post / CNBC)
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