Three Tennessee lawmakers who became Democratic heroes for facing expulsion after participating in gun control protests visited the White House on Monday, describing themselves as “representatives of a movement" that is demanding greater restrictions on firearms to save lives.
“Courage is something that can be contagious,” said Rep. Justin Jones after an Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Although Biden and Harris have sought stronger gun control, including a renewed assault weapons ban, Jones suggested that he prodded the administration to take firmer action during their private conversation. He described seeing busts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez in the Oval Office, describing them as people who “acted outside of the political paradigm of what was possible, and they changed political realities."
Jones said “sometimes we have to do something out of the ordinary.”
During brief public remarks as they began their meeting, Biden thanked the lawmakers who have become known as the “Tennessee three” for their advocacy.
“You’re standing up for our kids, you’re standing up for our communities,” Biden told Jones, Rep. Justin Pearson and Rep. Gloria Johnson.
Biden described the expulsion votes as “shocking” and “undemocratic.”
“Nothing is guaranteed about our democracy — every generation has to fight for it,” he said.
The statehouse protest took place days after the shooting at the Covenant School, a private Christian school where three children and three adults were killed. The three lawmakers — Rep. Justin Pearson, Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Gloria Johnson — approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn as protesters filled the galleries.
The Republicans who control the Tennessee legislature called for their expulsion because they disrupted House proceedings. Pearson and Jones, both Black, were expelled, while Johnson was not.
Pearson and Jones were later reinstated on an interim basis by local officials, and they plan to run in a special election to finish their terms.
“You cannot expel hope and you can’t expel a movement," Pearson said outside the White House on Monday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week that Biden was “proud” and “appreciative” to see the three state representatives calling for stronger gun restrictions, particularly a ban on so-called assault weapons.
During a phone call earlier this month, Biden thanked them “for speaking out and for standing their ground, and being very clear about what’s needed to protect their communities,” Jean-Pierre said.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
