What to Know in Washington: Biden Ups Abortion Fight in Florida
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President Joe Biden is putting the spotlight on one of the country’s most restrictive abortion laws.
In a speech today in Tampa, Fla., Biden will assail a six-week abortion ban set to take effect in the state, laying blame for it and similar restrictions across the country on Donald Trump, according to the campaign.
The split-screen image of Biden on the trail while his opponent sits in a Manhattan court fighting charges over alleged hush money payments is one that the president’s campaign is eager to highlight.
Republicans have struggled to hone their message on abortion. The party’s evangelical base favors tougher restrictions, with some even pushing for a federal ban, but polls show broad support for reproductive rights. Democrats see abortion rights as critical to mobilizing suburban women, young voters, and progressives.
Florida’s Supreme Court this month set the stage for the six-week ban to take effect May 1 and also approved holding a referendum on a measure to protect abortion rights, putting the issue directly before voters in November. Read More from Skylar Woodhouse.
BIDEN’S AGENDA
- The president will leave the White House around noon for Tampa, Fla., where he’ll participate in campaign events around 3 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.
- He’ll leave Tampa shortly after 5 p.m. and return to the White House around 7:30 p.m.
CONGRESS’ SCHEDULE
- The House is out.
- Senators meet at 10 a.m. to consider foreign aid legislation.
- For more details read BGOV’s Congress Tracker.
Happening on the Hill
Senators will take the first vote today on a FOREIGN-AID BILL that includes $60.8 billion in aid to Ukraine, $26.4 billion for Israel, and $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific.
- The package also includes measures to seize Russian assets, impose sanctions on Iran, and require TikTok’s Chinese owner to divest the app. Read More from Jack Fitzpatrick in today’s Budget Brief.
TIKTOK’s parent BYTEDANCE spent $2.7 million for federal LOBBYING in the first quarter of this year compared to $1.6 million for the same period in 2023, according to the latest congressional filings.
- The company shelled out a record $8.7 million on federal lobbying last year, which included its biggest quarter to date of $3.8 million in the third quarter of 2023. Read More
TRUMP sought to blame BIDEN for legislation that would force TikTok’s sale, even though the former president attempted to ban the company himself while in office. Read More
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION reauthorization faces a May 10 deadline — leaving lawmakers about two weeks of crunch time for anyone pushing for their provisions to make it into the sweeping aviation law. Read More
The CANNABIS INDUSTRY is bracing for future federal TAXATION while at the same time warning that some proposals in Congress could make the illicit market even stronger. Read More
As Congressional STABLECOIN LEGISLATION designed to legitimize and clarify many aspects of the mostly fiat-backed coins moves along, it’s drawing cheers from the crypto industry — and criticism from the traditional finance world. Read More
People, Power, and Politics
Prosecutors launched Trump’s HUSH MONEY TRIAL with new details about how they seek to prove the former president corrupted the 2016 election to bury a sex scandal. The defense countered that the payment was meant only to protect Trump’s reputation. Read More
Former JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER Taro Aso is set to meet Trump this evening in the US. The visit by the deputy head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is the most public sign yet that Tokyo is positioning for a possible Trump return to the White House. Read More
The US is examining allegations of human rights and international law violations in GAZA — by both Israel and Hamas — and will not apply a double standard, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters yesterday. Read More
- Demonstrations on college campuses, including Columbia and Yale, mark a new flashpoint in the uproar that has roiled US universities since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the subsequent retaliatory bombardment of Gaza by Israel. Read More
What Else We’re Watching
Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM features prominently as a chief seller of Biden’s climate and economic agenda this election year, crisscrossing the US promising CEOs and workers alike that a clean energy transition can create good-paying union jobs and revitalize manufacturing towns. Read More
- The first batch of job listings for the Biden administration’s American Climate Corps went live yesterday. The positions include restoring coastal ecosystems in Florida, protecting forests from wildfires in California, and maintaining Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor National Memorial. Read More
Drugmakers’ latest legal fight against MEDICARE’S DRUG PRICE NEGOTIATION program leans on a recent Supreme Court ruling on landowner property fees, as the pharmaceutical industry seeks out additional defense against the negotiation scheme. Read More
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeannie Baumann in Washington at jbaumann@bloombergindustry.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kayla Sharpe at ksharpe@bloombergindustry.com
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