The Latest: Democrats introduce bill to protect free speech following Kimmel suspension

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AYLESBURY, England (AP) — After ABC suspended comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show following a threat from the head of the Federal Communications Commission, congressional Democrats have denounced the Trump administration’s threats against political critics and unveiled a bill that would bolster free speech protections against government officials.

While the bill is unlikely to gain traction in a Republican-controlled Congress, Democrats harshly criticized the Trump administration for pressuring ABC toward the suspension of Kimmel’s show following his comments on how Republicans were responding to the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel said earlier this week that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on” the assassination and that President Donald Trump’s political supporters were trying to characterize the man charged in the attack “as anything other than one of them.”

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr subsequently called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” and said his agency has a strong case for holding Kimmel network parent Walt Disney Co. accountable for spreading misinformation. Disney is seeking approval from the FCC for ESPN’s acquisition of the NFL Network.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Carr should be fired.

The Latest:

Former Vice President Kamala Harris accused the Trump administration of silencing critics through fear tactics. Her comments came following ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show because of comments he made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Harris said television networks and newspapers “are capitulating to these threats.”

“This administration is attacking critics and using fear as a weapon to silence anyone who would speak out,” she posted on X.

Trump defeated Harris, a Democrat, in the presidential election last November.

Trump is asserting on social media that Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, want to see the government shut down and that his fellow Republicans want to keep it operating.

The Republican-controlled House could vote as soon as Friday on a temporary government funding bill to give lawmakers several weeks to work through policy disputes and keep the government from shutting down when the budget year expires on Sept. 30.

“Every House Republican should UNIFY, and VOTE YES!” Trump wrote.

A veteran water expert from Arizona says the Trump administration withdrew his nomination to lead the federal agency that oversees water management in the western U.S. That leaves the Bureau of Reclamation without permanent leadership this year.

Ted Cooke told the AP that he was preparing for a Senate confirmation hearing early this month but his name was removed from the agenda. He wasn’t told until this week that there was an unspecified issue with his background check. Cooke said the White House didn’t offer any details and asked only that he withdraw himself from consideration.

“The real story here is that I’ve been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency because of party politics and maybe Colorado River basin intrigues,” Cooke said, adding that he believes he was given a fabricated excuse “to avoid having any discussion on what the real issue is.”

Cooke said he didn’t know what the issue was.

▶ Read more about his nomination being pulled

The Senate has confirmed 48 of the president’s nominees. Republicans acted for the first time under new rules to clear a backlog of executive branch positions that had been delayed by Democrats.

Frustrated by the stalling tactics, Senate Republicans moved last week to make it easier to confirm large groups of lower-level, non-judicial nominations.

Democrats had forced multiple votes on almost every one of Trump’s picks, infuriating the president and tying up the Senate floor. The new rules allow Senate Republicans to move multiple nominees with a simple majority vote.

The rules don’t apply to judicial nominations or high-level Cabinet posts.

D.C. Council member Robert White announced his intention to run for Congress, placing pressure on Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s long-standing representative.

White, an at-large councilmember, worked in Norton’s office prior to being elected to the D.C. Council in 2016. In 2022, he unsuccessfully challenged Mayor Muriel Bowser.

In a video on X announcing his candidacy, White said the Trump administration’s decision to temporarily take over to city’s police department and flood the capital with federal agents and National Guard troops helped persuade him to change his focus.

“I have never seen my city more vulnerable than right now,” he said. “We need our strongest fighters.”

Norton, 88, has so far resisted growing calls for her to retire.

The D.C. delegate has no vote in congress but can introduce bill and serve on committees.

The top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee says Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is jeopardizing national security by politicizing intelligence work and forcing out skilled, experienced officers.

In a floor speech Thursday, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia cited Gabbard’s recent moves to slash positions, fire spy agency veterans and revoke security clearances of 37 current and former officials. He also accused Gabbard of allowing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer to dictateintelligence decisions.

“Why is this administration going to war against the very professionals sworn to keep our country safe?” Warner said.

Gabbard’s office declined to respond publicly when asked about Warner’s speech, but Gabbard has said she wants to take politics out of intelligence work and refocus the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies on their core missions.

Asked if there was a vast terrorist movement in the U.S. responsible for killing Kirk and even past attempts on Trump’s life , the president said, “You never know.”

“And we’ll find out, maybe,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News Channel.

The president said that, in the meantime, his administration is “going to do a big thing in respect to antifa, which is a sick group.”

The Trump administration says it plans to designate antifa as a “major terrorist organization.”

Short for “anti-fascists,” antifa is an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant groups and is not a singular entity.

Trump said his efforts means, “We’re going in and we’re saying they incite riots, and therefore you go to jail for one year.”

As the House prepared to vote on a resolution honoring Charlie Kirk, Speaker Mike Johnson urged members to support it unanimously, emphasizing the need for Congress to send a clear message condemning political violence.

“I can’t imagine that anyone would vote against it,” said Johnson.

The resolution is expected to come to a vote on Friday, following a week of heightened tensions in Congress after Kirk’s assassination. Lawmakers have sharply criticized one another, and a recent attempt to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar for her remarks after Kirk’s death narrowly failed yesterday.

The United States once again vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution Thursday that had demanded an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages after saying that the effort did not go far enough in condemning Hamas.

All 14 other members of the United Nations’ most powerful body voted in favor of the resolution, which described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “catastrophic” and called on Israel to lift all restrictions on the delivery of aid to the 2.1 million Palestinians in the territory.

The outcome further highlights U.S. and Israeli isolation on the world stage regarding the nearly two-year war in Gaza.

The vote came just days ahead of the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, where Gaza will be a major topic and where major U.S. allies are expected to recognize an independent Palestinian state.

It is a largely symbolic move that is vehemently opposed by Israel and the U.S.

The U.S. president again criticized European nations that continue to rely on Russian energy.

“You can’t have Europe buying oil from Russia and then have me getting upset with China because they’re buying oil from Russia,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News before he departed the United Kingdom.

He stressed that he remained “unhappy” with nations that still purchased Russian oil.

Trump now says he ‘can’t comment’ on whether the Russian drones that invaded NATO airspace last week might have been a “mistake.”

“I can’t comment on whether it was a mistake,” Trump told Fox News Channel in an interview on Thursday. He added of the drones, “They shouldn’t have been there.”

The president declining to comment came six days after Trump said, it “could have been a mistake,” a suggestion rejected by Polish leaders.

The hosts of “The View” on ABC often talk about the hot-button issues of the day, but on Thursday were silent on the elephant in the room — the suspension of their network colleague Jimmy Kimmel.

The co-hosts typically weigh in on major headlines and were outspoken about the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s CBS program “The Late Show” in July.

Thursday was Haines’ birthday but the Instagram post celebrating her 48th year milestone was swamped by angry fans threatening to stop tuning in.

“Please, please please stand up and be counted,” wrote one user. “This is who you are: brave, topical, forthright, honest and true.”

“Anybody can replace him. The guy had no talent,” he said when a reporter asked who he’d like to see replace Jimmy Kimmel.

ABC announced Wednesday that the comedian’s late-night show would be taken off the air because of comments he made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

“I didn’t want him there. I asked that he not be there,” Trump told reporters during a question-and-answer session as he flew back to the United States.

Trump and Mayor Sadiq Khan have a contentious relationship.

But with the state dinner held at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, there was no expectation that Khan would have been invited.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says that’s why Trump’s helicopter, Marine One, was a tad delayed arriving back at Stansted Airport.

Pilots set Marine One down at a local airfield after leaving the prime minister’s country home due to the hydraulic problem. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, then switched to a backup helicopter, which continued on to the airport.

The Trumps safely boarded Air Force One for the flight back to the U.S.

No injuries were reported.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg rallied Democrats against redistricting in his home state of Indiana Thursday as pressure mounts on Republican state lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional districts.

Indiana lawmakers have been far more hesitant to redistrict than Republicans elsewhere. But if they choose to do so, state Democrats have little power to stop redistricting.

“Indiana Republicans are being pressured by Washington Republicans to do something that they know in their hearts is wrong,” said Buttigieg, who was the mayor of South Bend, Indiana before he ran for president in 2020, while speaking at the statehouse in Indianapolis.

The Senate has quickly passed a bipartisan bill to renew authorization for federal programs to address opioid addiction that were started under a 2018 law, sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature.

“Since the advent of the opioid crisis, we have a much better sense of what works to prevent and treat addiction, the resources that we need to do and the light that exists on the other end of this terrible tunnel, but we can only get there if we keep up the fight,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat who took to the Senate floor to pass the legislation with unanimous consent.

The bill previously passed the House on a 366-57 bipartisan vote.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One that “97%” of some network coverage was negative toward him.

“They give me only bad publicity or press,” Trump said. “They’re getting a license, I think maybe their license should be taken away. It’s up to Brendan Carr.”

Carr is the FCC chairman whose threats against ABC came before the network suspended comedian Jimmy Kimmel after his joke about Trump and Charlie Kirk. Trump called Carr “a patriot.”

“He loves our country and he’s a tough guy,” Trump said of Carr.

Free speech experts said Kimmel could have a strong legal case against Carr, especially after the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in May that public officials can’t use their power to punish speech.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote then that “the First Amendment prohibits government officials from wielding their power selectively to punish or suppress speech, directly or...through private intermediaries.”

In comments Wednesday before Kimmel’s suspension, Carr said, “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Alex Abdo of Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, said Carr’s comments read like “the definition of unconstitutional coercion.”

But Kimmel may not want to sue for “all kinds of business and even contractual reasons,” said Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor.

Even so, Volokh said, “This just isn’t something the chair of the FCC ought to be doing, policing comedy shows.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is calling for the resignation or firing of Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr following his threats that may have led to ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel.

“What Brendan Carr is doing is despicable,” Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a social media video. “What he did to Jimmy Kimmel he is doing to person after person, to network after network — intimidating them and threatening them.”

Schumer called on President Donald Trump to fire Carr if he doesn’t resign.

The resolution pushes the United States to join a growing list of countries recognizing a Palestinian state as Israel steps up its offensive in Gaza.

“The goal of a Palestinian state can’t be put off any longer if we want the next generation to avoid suffering from the same insecurity and affliction,” wrote Sen. Jeff Merkley, the resolution’s sponsor.

Six other Democrats cosponsored the resolution, in addition to Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who represents Vermont. Sanders on Wednesday declared that a “genocide” was taking place in Gaza.

The resolution is unlikely to advance in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Congressional Democrats are denouncing the Trump administration’s threats against political critics in the strongest terms, saying that it strikes at the fundamental right to free speech.

A group of House members and senators unveiled a bill Thursday that would bolster free speech protections against government officials. Though the legislation is unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-controlled Congress, Democrats at the news conference harshly criticized the Trump administration for pressuring ABC towards the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s show after his comments on the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.

“It’s repulsive, repulsive that the Trump administration is perversely using this awful death to supercharge their long-standing campaign against political opponents,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Trump and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, boarded just before 6 p.m. local time in London.

Before stepping inside the plane, Trump pointed at the group of reporters that traveled with him and pumped a fist in the air.

North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer told reporters that he wasn’t concerned that a “veiled threat” from the FCC may have led to ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel.

“If that’s what scares off ABC, maybe they need a little bit of a scare,” Cramer said Thursday.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal called on networks “to be standing up and showing some backbone.” Blumenthal called Kimmel’s suspension a censorship that could “spread like cancer.”

“It’s the blunt gagging of somebody expressing views in the public square,” Blumenthal said. “And if it’s not halted now, it will just continue to mount and spread, and ultimately we will be the losers.”

Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, will serve as the next leader of his Turning Point organization.

The group’s board announced Thursday that Erika Kirk has been unanimously elected to be the group’s new CEO and board chair.

“In prior discussions, Charlie expressed to multiple executives that this is what he wanted in the event of his death,” The group said in a social media post announcing the decision.

The Republican administration turned to the high court after an appeals court refused to go along with ousting Cook, part of Trump’s effort to reshape the Federal Reserve’s seven-member governing board and strike a blow at its independence.

The White House campaign to unseat Cook from the board of governors marks an unprecedented bid to reshape the Fed board, which was designed to be largely independent from day-to-day politics. No president has fired a sitting Fed governor in the agency’s 112-year history.

Cook, who was appointed to the Fed’s board by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has said she won’t leave her post and won’t be “bullied” by Trump. One of her lawyers, Abbe Lowell, has said she “will continue to carry out her sworn duties as a Senate-confirmed Board Governor.”

▶ Read more about Trump’s effort to fire Lisa Cook

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine advisory committee has kicked off a two-day session focused on shots against COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox.

In his opening remarks, committee Chairman Martin Kulldorff defended the group against critics who say it leans toward anti-vaccine views. He said panel members “are committed to reassuring the public and restoring public confidence by removing unnecessary risks and harms whenever possible.”

Votes are expected Thursday afternoon on hepatitis B and a combined shot for measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox.

Some experts are concerned about revisiting these recommendations without new safety data.

The committee will make COVID-19 vaccine recommendations Friday.