Politics

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate is poised on Thursday for a vote to advance a bipartisan gun control bill that supporters hope will help curb the mass shootings that have rocked the country, in what could be the first new federal gun legislation in decades.

The 80-page Bipartisan Safer Communities Act would encourage states to keep guns out of the hands of those deemed to be dangerous and tighten background checks for would-be gun purchasers convicted of domestic violence or significant crimes as juveniles.

It does not include more sweeping gun control measure favored by Democrats including President Joe Biden such as a ban on assault-style rifles or high-capacity magazines. Biden renewed calls for action following a pair of high-profile shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.

The legislation will need support from 60 of the Senate’s 100 lawmakers in Thursday’s procedural vote, which is expected around midday. If the vote succeeds, lawmakers could vote on passage as early as Thursday afternoon but no later than Friday.

With the chamber split 50-50, it will need the support of at least 10 Republicans to advance. Democrats were optimistic after 14 Republicans supported an initial step forward on Tuesday.

Senator Chris Murphy, the lead Democratic negotiator on the bill, predicted that “close to 20 Republicans” would vote to move toward passage on Thursday, and described the legislation as a potential watershed for further action.

“Once Republicans start voting for gun safety bills, they will find out that there is enormous political benefit and there’s just not that much political downside,” Murphy told CNN. “I think you will see the opportunity for compromise in the future.”

But Republicans have tried to dissuade Democrats from making such predictions, saying the success of the current legislation would be unlikely to change their party’s attitude toward guns.

Republicans who back the bill insist that it does not erode the rights of law-abiding gun owners, are among their most ardent constituents.

“It does not so much as touch the rights of the overwhelming majority of American gun owners, who are law-abiding citizens of sound mind,” said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who backs the legislation.

But Republican supporters have faced criticism over the legislation, which is opposed by the National Rifle Association, the nation’s biggest gun lobby.

The bill provides funding to help states adopt “red flag” laws to keep firearms out of the hands of those deemed a danger to themselves or others. It would also fund alternative intervention measures in state where red flag laws are opposed and provide for enhanced school security.

It closes the “boyfriend loophole” by denying gun purchases to those convicted of abusing intimate partners in dating relationships, and allows states to add juvenile criminal and mental health records to national background check databases.

Senator John Cornyn, the lead Republican negotiator on the bill, was booed last week as he discussed its contents during a speech before a Republican Party convention in his home state of Texas.

Senator Richard Durbin, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, said the bill would provide $4.5 billion in funding to the Justice Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education. A Republican aide estimated the measure’s overall price tag at $13.3 billion, saying the cost was fully offset by funds from elsewhere in the federal budget.

(Reporting by David Morgan, additional reporting by Katharine Jackson, Moira Warburton and Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell and Jonathan Oatis)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court gave Republican legislative leaders in North Carolina a win Thursday in an ongoing fight over the state’s latest photo identification voting law.

The 8-1 decision doesn’t end the more than three-year dispute over the voter ID law, which is not currently in effect and has been challenged in both state and federal court. The decision just means that Republican legislative leaders can intervene in the federal lawsuit to defend the law. A lower court had ruled the lawmakers’ interests were already being adequately represented by the state’s attorney general, Democrat Josh Stein.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that: “Through the General Assembly, the people of North Carolina have authorized the leaders of their legislature to defend duly enacted state statutes against constitutional challenge. Ordinarily, a federal court must respect that kind of sovereign choice, not assemble presumptions against it.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented.

North Carolina voters amended the state constitution in 2018 to include a voter ID mandate. Lawmakers then passed the law at issue in the case to implement the change. The law requires voters to show a photo ID to vote — whether it’s a driver’s license, a passport or certain student and local government identifications.

North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the measure, but lawmakers overrode his veto to pass the law. The state NAACP and several local chapters immediately sued in federal court to halt enforcement of the law, arguing that it discriminates against Black and Latino voters in violation of the Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act.

House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger, both Republican, wanted to intervene in the federal court case to defend the law alongside lawyers for the state, saying Stein wouldn’t adequately fight for the law. But a federal judge said no, that lawmakers’ interests were being adequately defended by lawyers in Stein’s agency. A three-judge federal appeals court panel ruled for the lawmakers before the full federal appeals court reversed the decision, ruling 9-6 that lawmakers should not be allowed to intervene.

As for the law itself, it was initially blocked by the judge in the case, who said it was “impermissibly motivated, at least in part, by discriminatory intent.” But the three-judge appeals panel reversed her decision and sent it back to U.S. District Court, where a trial has yet to start.

In litigation in state court, judges struck down the law as tainted by racial bias. North Carolina’s Supreme Court has said it will take up the case, but no date has been set for oral arguments.

Separately, North Carolina’s highest court has also already heard arguments in a lawsuit over whether the constitutional amendment mandating voter ID should have been allowed on the November 2018 ballot in the first place. A state judge had ruled that the GOP-controlled legislature lacked authority to put the amendment and one other on the ballot because lawmakers had been elected from racially biased districts two years earlier. That decision was later overturned on appeal before going to the state’s highest court.

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Associated Press reporter Gary D. Robertson contributed to this report from Raleigh, N.C.

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By Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Congress to pass a three-month suspension of the federal gasoline tax to help combat record pump prices, but opposition from lawmakers within his own party suggests the request is unlikely to be met.

In announcing his support for the suspension, Biden also echoed some of the concerns about its effectiveness, but said American families paying much more for gasoline, caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, deserve some financial relief.

“I fully understand that a gas tax holiday alone is not going to fix the problem but it will provide families some immediate relief, just a little bit of breathing room, as we continue working on bringing down prices for the long haul,” Biden said.

The president also urged states to temporarily suspend state fuel taxes, which are often higher than federal rates. He is asking major oil companies to suggest ideas on how to bring back idled refining capacity when they meet with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Thursday.

Biden and his advisers have been discussing the issue for months amid increasing pressure to act as record-high gas prices weigh down the president’s opinion poll ratings and cast doubt on Democrats’ chances of retaining congressional power in November’s elections.

A suspension of the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gasoline tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax would require congressional approval, likely making Biden’s pitch largely symbolic.

LAWMAKERS OPPOSED

Lawmakers in both parties have expressed resistance to suspending the tax, with some Democrats, including House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, worried the move could have limited effect on prices if oil companies and retailers pocket much of the savings.

Peter DeFazio, a Democrat and the chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said on Wednesday a federal gas tax holiday would provide “miniscule relief” while blowing a budget hole in a Highway Trust Fund needed to fix crumbling bridges and build a modern infrastructure system.”

Biden asked Congress to suspend the fuel tax through September, a move that will cost the Highway Trust Fund roughly $10 billion in forgone revenue but could be made up from other areas of a budget that is seeing revenue grow and deficits shrink as the United States emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some states, such as New York and Connecticut, have already paused state fuel taxes, while others have floated ideas such as consumer rebates and direct relief.

Refiners are struggling to meet global demand for diesel and gasoline, exacerbating high prices and aggravating shortages.

“Pausing the federal gas tax will certainly provide near-term relief for U.S. drivers, but it won’t solve the root of the issue – the imbalance in supply and demand for petroleum products,” a spokesperson for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers industry group said.

Longer-term policies are still needed to boost U.S. energy production, it said.

U.S. pump prices are averaging near $5 a gallon as soaring demand for motor fuels coincides with the loss of about 1 million barrels per day of processing capacity. In the last three years many plants were closed when fuel demand cratered at the height of the pandemic.

Biden said he understands the politics around Republicans seizing on high gas prices ahead of the elections, but he asked his rivals whether they instead would’ve chosen not to support Ukraine.

“So for all those Republicans in Congress criticizing me today for high gas prices in America: Are you now saying we were wrong to support Ukraine? Are you saying we were wrong to stand up to Putin? Are you saying that we would rather have lower gas prices in America and Putin’s iron fist in Europe? I don’t believe that,” Biden said.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Susan Heavey, Nick Zieminski and Grant McCool)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection heard from election workers and state officials on Tuesday as they described President Donald Trump’s pressure to overturn his 2020 election defeat. On Thursday, the nine-member panel will hear from former Justice Department officials who refused Trump’s entreaties to declare the election “corrupt.”

The committee’s fourth and fifth hearings, held this week, are part of an effort to show how Trump’s pressure eventually shifted to Congress, where his false declarations of widespread election fraud led directly to the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, when hundreds of his supporters violently breached the Capitol and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory.

In July, the panel will hold at least two more hearings that are expected to focus on the far-right domestic extremists who attacked the Capitol and what Trump was doing inside the White House as the violence unfolded.

TRUMP’S PRESSURE ON STATES

State officials testified at Tuesday’s hearing about the extraordinary pressure they faced from Trump after the election to try and invalidate Biden’s win.

Arizona’s House speaker, Rusty Bowers, testified about phone calls from Trump and his allies asking him to decertify Arizona’s legitimate electors and replace them. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told of the now-infamous phone call when Trump asked officials there to “find 11,780” votes.

The officials did not give in.

“You are asking me to do something against my oath, and I will not break my oath,” Bowers said he told Trump and his allies. He recalled lawyer John Eastman, a chief architect of Trump’s plan to create slates of fake electors, telling him to “just do it and let the courts sort it out.”

Bowers said he repeatedly asked Trump’s team for evidence of the widespread fraud they were claiming, but they never provided it.

Raffensperger said his team investigated all of Trump’s claims and went down down every “rabbit hole,” finding nothing. But Trump wouldn’t accept it.

TRUMP’S PRESSURE ON PENCE

The committee’s third hearing last week featured testimony from former aides to Vice President Mike Pence. The aides described the then-president’s efforts to persuade Pence to veer from his ceremonial role and object as Congress counted the electoral votes on Jan. 6.

Pence concluded from the start, his former counsel Greg Jacob told the committee, that “there is no justifiable basis to conclude that the vice president has that kind of authority.”

Trump did not let up, even after his supporters were breaking into the Capitol and Pence was hiding in an undisclosed location – at one point just 40 feet from the rioters, the committee said. Trump sent a tweet that afternoon saying that Pence did not have the “courage” to do what was necessary.

The committee played video of the rioters outside the Capitol calling for Pence’s death.

“Donald Trump turned the mob on him,” said Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the panel.

PUSHBACK FROM TRUMP’S AIDES

The hearings have repeatedly showed how Trump moved forward with his baseless claims of fraud even as his top advisors told them they weren’t true.

The committee played video testimony from several aides who said they disagreed with the plan or tried to talk Trump out of it — even though few of them spoke out publicly at the time. Even his daughter, Ivanka Trump, said she “accepted” the conclusion of former Attorney General Bill Barr, who resigned after telling the president there was no evidence of widespread fraud.

The efforts to persuade Trump started on election night, when the race was still too close to call. Lawyer Rudy Giuliani told Trump to just go ahead and declare victory. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said in one interview clip that he told Trump it was “way too early” for such a pronouncement. But Trump did it anyway.

“Frankly, we did win this election,” Trump said before the cameras.

The committee used video clips of testimony from Barr, who told Trump he had looked into the allegations and found no evidence that any of them were true. He said he tried convince Trump, but felt that the president was becoming “detached from reality” and had no “interest in what the actual facts were.”

THE VIOLENCE, AND REAL LIVES UPENDED

The committee has also used the hearings to tell the stories of the people who have been hurt, either in the violence of Jan. 6 or through harassment from those who believe the election was stolen.

Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards testified about the traumatic brain injury she suffered after being pushed to he concrete when the first rioters breached the makeshift barriers around the Capitol. She described a “war scene” out of the movies and hours of hand-to-hand combat.

“They were throwing up — I saw friends with blood all over their faces,” said Edwards, who still has not returned to the unit where she worked. “It was carnage. It was chaos.”

On Tuesday, two election workers from Georgia who became the center of false conspiracy theories tearfully testified about how it has upended their lives.

The Justice Department has debunked claims that Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, introduced suitcases of illegal ballots and committed other acts of election fraud to try to alter the outcome — a conspiracy theory pushed by Giuliani and Trump. But Moss says she no longer leaves her house and it has affected her life “in every way” after receiving violent and racist threats from Trump’s supporters.

In video testimony, Freeman said she no longer advertises her local business with her name on it: “Lady Ruby.”

“I’ve lost my name, and I’ve lost my reputation. I’ve lost my sense of security,” Freeman said.

WHAT’S NEXT

On Thursday, the hearing will move to another pressure campaign — Trump’s efforts to have Justice Department officials declare the election corrupt, and a scheme within the department to go after states to change the results. Former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who took over after Barr resigned, and his deputy, Richard Donoghue, will testify about how they successfully resisted that pressure.

The two hearings after that, expected to cover domestic extremism and Trump’s actions inside the White House, will be held in July. And they may not be the last before the panel issues final reports later this year.

“We are picking up new evidence on a daily basis with enormous velocity,” said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the committee. “And so we’re constantly incorporating and including the new information that’s coming out.”

Another panel member suggested they could still subpoena Pence — it’s “certainly a possibility,” said California Rep. Adam Schiff.

“We would still, I think, like to have several high-profile people come before our committee,” Schiff said.

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Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri and Kevin Freking contributed.

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For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Congress to pass a three-month suspension of the federal gasoline tax to help combat record pump prices and provide temporary relief for American families this summer.

“We can bring down the price of gas and give families just a little bit of relief,” Biden said in a White House address.

The president also urged states to temporarily suspend state fuel taxes, which are often higher than federal rates, the official said, and will challenge major oil companies to bring ideas on how to bring back idled refining capacity when they meet with his energy secretary on Thursday.

Biden and his advisers have been discussing the issue for months amid increasing pressure to act as record-high gas prices weigh down the president’s poll ratings and cast a dark cloud over Democrats’ chances of retaining congressional power in November’s elections.

A suspension of the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gasoline tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax would require congressional approval, likely making Biden’s pitch largely symbolic.

Lawmakers in both parties have expressed resistance to suspending the tax, with some Democrats, including House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, worried the move could have limited effect on prices if oil companies and retailers pocket much of the savings.

Biden asked Congress to suspend the fuel tax through September, a move that will cost the Highway Trust Fund roughly $10 billion in forgone revenue but could be made up from other areas of a budget that is seeing revenue grow and deficits shrink as the United States emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peter DeFazio, a Democrat and the chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, told reporters Wednesday a federal gas tax holiday would provide “miniscule relief” while blowing a budget hole in a Highway Trust Fund needed to fix crumbling bridges and build a modern infrastructure system.”

Some states, such as New York and Connecticut, have already paused state fuel taxes, while others have floated ideas such as consumer rebates and direct relief.

Refiners are struggling to meet global demand for diesel and gasoline, exacerbating high prices and aggravating shortages.

“Pausing the federal gas tax will certainly provide near-term relief for U.S. drivers, but it won’t solve the root of the issue – the imbalance in supply and demand for petroleum products,” a spokesperson for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers industry group said.

Longer-term policies are still needed to boost U.S. energy production, it said.

U.S. pump prices are averaging near $5 a gallon as soaring demand for motor fuels coincides with the loss of about 1 million barrels per day of processing capacity. In the last three years many plants were closed when fuel demand cratered at the height of the pandemic.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Susan Heavey, Nick Zieminski and Grant McCool)

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(Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Congress to pass a three-month suspension of the federal gasoline tax to help combat record pump prices and provide temporary relief for American families this summer.

The president also urged states to temporarily suspend state fuel taxes, which are often higher than federal rates, the official said, and will challenge major oil companies to bring ideas on how to bring back idled refining capacity when they meet with his energy secretary later this week.

Biden and his advisers have been discussing the issue for months amid increasing pressure to act as record-high gas prices weigh down the president’s poll ratings and cast a dark cloud over Democrats’ chances of retaining congressional power in November’s elections.

A suspension of the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gasoline tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax would require congressional approval, likely making Biden’s pitch largely symbolic.

Lawmakers in both parties have expressed resistance to suspending the tax, with some Democrats, including House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, worried the move could have limited effect on prices if oil companies and retailers pocket much of the savings.

“A gas tax holiday alone will not, on its own, relieve the run up in costs that we’ve seen,” the White House said in a statement. “This unique moment when the war in Ukraine is imposing costs on American families, Congress should do what it can to provide working families breathing room.”

Biden is asking Congress to suspend the fuel tax through September, a move that will cost the Highway Trust Fund roughly $10 billion in forgone revenue but could be made up from other areas of a budget that is seeing revenue grow and deficits shrink as the United States emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, it added.

Some states, such as New York and Connecticut, have already paused state fuel taxes, while others have floated ideas such as consumer rebates and direct relief.

News of Biden’s announcement – which will come in an afternoon speech – first came on Tuesday night.

Refiners are struggling to meet global demand for diesel and gasoline, exacerbating high prices and aggravating shortages.

“Pausing the federal gas tax will certainly provide near-term relief for U.S. drivers, but it won’t solve the root of the issue – the imbalance in supply and demand for petroleum products,” a spokesperson for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers industry group said, adding longer-term policies are still needed to boost U.S. energy production.

U.S. pump prices are near $5 a gallon as soaring demand for motor fuels coincides with the loss of about 1 million barrels per day of processing capacity. In the last three years many plants were closed when fuel demand cratered at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Ross Colvin, Christopher Cushing, Susan Heavey and Nick Zieminski)

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By Jarrett Renshaw

(Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Congress to pass a three-month suspension of the federal gasoline tax to help combat record pump prices and provide temporary relief for American families this summer.

The president also urged states to temporarily suspend state fuel taxes, which are often higher than federal rates, the official said, and will challenge major oil companies to bring ideas on how to bring back idled refining capacity when they meet with his energy secretary later this week.

Biden and his advisers have been discussing the issue for months amid increasing pressure to act as record-high gas prices weigh down the president’s poll ratings and cast a dark cloud over Democrats’ chances of retaining congressional power in November’s elections.

A suspension of the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gasoline tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax would require congressional approval, likely making Biden’s pitch largely symbolic.

Lawmakers in both parties have expressed resistance to suspending the tax, with some Democrats, including House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, worried the move could have limited effect on prices if oil companies and retailers pocket much of the savings.

“A gas tax holiday alone will not, on its own, relieve the run up in costs that we’ve seen,” the White House said in a statement. “This unique moment when the war in Ukraine is imposing costs on American families, Congress should do what it can to provide working families breathing room.”

Biden is asking Congress to suspend the fuel tax through September, a move that will cost the Highway Trust Fund roughly $10 billion in forgone revenue but could be made up from other areas of a budget that is seeing revenue grow and deficits shrink as the United States emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, it added.

Some states, such as New York and Connecticut, have already paused state fuel taxes, while others have floated ideas such as consumer rebates and direct relief.

News of Biden’s announcement – which will come in an afternoon speech – first came on Tuesday night.

Refiners are struggling to meet global demand for diesel and gasoline, exacerbating high prices and aggravating shortages.

“Pausing the federal gas tax will certainly provide near-term relief for U.S. drivers, but it won’t solve the root of the issue – the imbalance in supply and demand for petroleum products,” a spokesperson for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers industry group said, adding longer-term policies are still needed to boost U.S. energy production.

U.S. pump prices are near $5 a gallon as soaring demand for motor fuels coincides with the loss of about 1 million barrels per day of processing capacity. In the last three years many plants were closed when fuel demand cratered at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Ross Colvin, Christopher Cushing, Susan Heavey and Nick Zieminski)

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By Jarrett Renshaw

(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday will call on Congress to pass a three-month suspension of the federal gasoline tax to help combat record pump prices, according to a senior administration official.

The president will also call on states to temporarily suspend state fuel taxes, which are often higher than federal rates, the official said, and he will challenge major oil companies to come to a meeting with his energy secretary later this week with ideas on how to bring back idled refining capacity.

Biden and his advisers have been discussing the issue for months amid increasing pressure to take action to address record-high gas prices that have weighed down the president’s poll ratings and cast a dark cloud over Democrats’ chances of retaining congressional power in November’s elections.

A suspension of the 18.4 cents a gallon federal gasoline tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax would require congressional approval, likely making Biden’s support behind the effort largely symbolic.

Lawmakers of both parties have expressed resistance to suspending the tax, with some Democrats, including House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, worried that the move would have limited effect on prices and oil companies and retailers would pocket much of the savings.

“A federal gas tax suspension alone won’t fix the problem we face, but it will provide families a little breathing room as we continue working to bring down prices for the long haul,” a second official said.

Biden will ask Congress to suspend the fuel tax through September, a move that will cost the Highway Trust Fund roughly $10 billion in forgone revenue, the official said. The White House believes it can make up the lost revenue from other areas of a budget that is seeing revenue grow and deficits shrink as the United States emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some states, such as New York and Connecticut, have already paused state fuel taxes, while others have entertained ideas like consumer rebates and direct relief.

News of Biden’s announcement – which will come in an afternoon speech – first came on Tuesday night.

Refiners are struggling to meet global demand for diesel and gasoline, exacerbating high prices and aggravating shortages.

U.S. pump prices are near $5 a gallon as soaring demand for motor fuels coincides with the loss of about 1 million barrels per day of processing capacity. In the last three years many plants were closed when fuel demand cratered at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Ross Colvin and Christopher Cushing)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators have moved to the brink of an agreement on a bipartisan gun violence bill, Democrats’ lead negotiator said Tuesday, potentially teeing up votes this week on an incremental but notable package that would stand as Congress’s response to mass shootings in Texas and New York that shook the nation.

Nine days after Senate bargainers agreed to a framework proposal — and 29 years after Congress last enacted a major measure curbing firearms — Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told reporters that a final agreement on the proposal’s details was at hand.

The legislation lawmakers have been working toward would toughen background checks for the youngest firearms buyers, require more sellers to conduct background checks and beef up penalties on gun traffickers. It also would disburse money to states and communities aimed at improving school safety and mental health initiatives.

“I think we’ve reached agreement,” Murphy said. “And just we’re dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s right now. I think we’re in good shape.”

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the chief Republican bargainer, spoke on the Senate floor moments later and said he, Murphy and the other two top Senate bargainers had “reached agreement.”

The senators did not initially say how they’d resolved the two major stumbling blocks that had delayed agreement on the plan’s legislative language.

One was how to make abusive romantic partners subject to the existing ban that violent spouses face to obtaining guns. The other was providing federal aid to states that have “red flag” laws that make it easier to temporarily take firearms away from people deemed dangerous or to states that have violence intervention programs.

If enacted, the election-year measure would spotlight a modest but telling shift in the politics of an issue that has defied compromise since Bill Clinton was president.

After 10 Black shoppers were killed last month in Buffalo, New York, and 19 children and two teachers died days later in Uvalde, Texas, Democrats and some Republicans decided that this time, measured steps were preferable to Congress’ usual reaction to such horrors — gridlock.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Supporters of a U.S. bill aimed at reining in Big Tech platforms like Amazon.com and Alphabet’s Google have flooded lawmakers with nearly 4,000 phone calls, while critics of the legislation sent a letter telling senators it would “harm consumers.”

Versions of the bill have progressed further than any previous Big Tech antitrust legislation, with strong bipartisan support in the House of Representatives and Senate. The legislation seeks to bar companies from favoring their own businesses in search results and other ways.

Both Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representative David Cicilline, lead sponsors in each chamber, have predicted that their bills have enough support to pass Congress, if they come to a vote.

But the Senate has other matters on the calendar. Negotiators are close to a deal on gun control, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised quick action on any bipartisan deal. That likely would take up much of this week’s Senate floor action once the bill is introduced.

To keep the pressure on, advocates for the Big Tech bill organized for small and medium-sized businesses and others to contact lawmakers via email – which 26,000 of them did, according to Evan Greer of the group Fight for the Future.

Fight for the Future and other advocacy groups also arranged for supporters to make 3,900 calls to lawmakers, Greer said.

Opponents have also kept up the pressure.

A long list of former antitrust enforcers who now teach economics, law, or business, sent a letter to senators Monday saying that the bill “is likely to reduce innovation and harm consumers.”

Signatories include Doug Melamed and Carl Shapiro, both of whom previously served in the Department of Justice’s antitrust division.

Since the beginning, the bills have been the subject of intense lobbying, with opponents warning of dire consequences such as an inability to protect consumers from hackers and privacy violations. Advocates say the legislation is needed to prevent stagnation in the technology market.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

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