By DYLAN LYSEN and JIM MCLEAN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-07-13/kansas-reportedly-landing-4-billion-factory-that-will-make-batteries-for-tesla">Kansas News Service</a>

TOPEKA&nbsp;— A subsidiary of Japanese industrial giant 
Panasonic Corp. will build a $4 billion plant to make batteries for 
Tesla electric vehicles in Kansas, a Japanese news outlet is reporting.

<a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Panasonic-to-build-EV-battery-plant-for-Tesla-in-U.S.-state-of-Kansas" target="_blank">Neikki reported Wednesday</a>
 that Kansas had beat out Oklahoma for the Panasonic Holdings plant, 
which would supply batteries to a large electric vehicle plant in Texas.

That could mean some 4,000 jobs at the battery-making facility and more jobs for businesses supplying that plant.

“The
 Japanese company picked the site of the new facility based on factors 
including its proximity to Texas and favorable tax treatment,” Neikki 
reported. The news outlet covers markets and the economy.

The deal
 would come after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly enlisted the help of the 
Republicans who control the Legislature to promise up to $1.3 billion in
 <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-02-01/kansas-gov-kelly-wants-to-spend-1-billion-to-land-a-big-mystery-manufacturer" target="_blank">tax breaks and other incentives</a> to land the massive economic development project.

The
 Kansas State Finance Council is scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon 
and could potentially give official approval of the various taxpayer 
incentives that would seal the bargain.

In the spring, the Legislature <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/sb347/" target="_blank">approved new rules</a> giving state officials the ability to promise larger giveaways to entice employers to Kansas.

Kelly’s
 administration and key Republican lawmakers were told what company the 
state was courting, but they signed non-disclosure agreements promising 
to keep the information confidential.

That meant Kansas 
dramatically increased the tax breaks it could offer a manufacturer even
 while keeping secret from the public the name of the company, where it 
wanted to build in the state and what it might produce. It wasn’t known 
publicly, for instance, that the record-setting tax breaks would go to a
 foreign company.

And Elon Musk, who runs the Tesla plant in Texas
 that will benefit from a huge battery maker in Kansas, has since become
 a figure of increasing controversy. Most recently, he's tried <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/12/1111032233/elon-musk-twitter-lawsuit-deal" target="_blank">to back out</a> of his $40-plus billion purchase of Twitter.

In
 promoting the effort to land the company in Kansas, state officials 
projected an additional 4,000 jobs working for suppliers to supply the 
factory in addition to those directly working at the manufacturing 
plant.

Kelly made David Toland, her lieutenant governor and 
commerce secretary, the point person on the campaign to bring the 
Japanese manufacturer to the state. He argued that whether Kansas landed
 this company or not, changing the rules on tax incentives could put 
Kansas in play to seduce other “megaprojects.”

The
 incentives included in the legislation can only be used to recruit 
companies willing to invest at least $1 billion. They include:

Companies
 must agree to repay benefits if the performance metrics aren’t met. In 
addition, the state can claw back a percentage of the benefits if a 
company relocates to another state within 15 years of entering its 
agreement.

“These incentives must be earned,” Toland said before 
the deal to land the battery plant came together. “The company gets the 
investment tax credit after they invest. The company gets the payroll 
rebate after they’ve hired and paid people.”

The
 new plant could conceivably help some everyday Kansans by purchasing 
significant amounts of electricity from its energy provider, Evergy.

Ashok
 Gupta, an energy economist with the Natural Resource Defense Council, 
said Evergy would sell electricity to the plant to produce the 
batteries. The more energy the plant purchases for its manufacturing, 
the less Kansas homeowners may need to pay to cover Evergy’s operating 
costs.

“That can in theory help all other customers lower their costs,” Gupta said. “This is a good economic development play.”

It
 could also be a boon to Evergy stockholders. Utilities prefer customers
 that demand large amounts of electricity at a steady rate because it 
makes it easier for them to build their capacity to match demand.

In
 April, Oklahoma lawmakers, at the urging of Republican Gov. Kevin 
Stitt, approved an incentive package aimed at keeping that state in the 
running for the plant. Targeted at projects of at least $3.6 billion, it
 authorized a rebate for 3.4% of a company’s investment in the year that
 it is made for up to five successive years. A summary of the bill put 
the value of the incentive at $700 million.

Stitt said the incentive package was aimed at making Oklahoma a destination for companies in the electric vehicle industry.

“Tens
 of billions of dollars are going to be invested over the next five to 
seven years in this space and we want Oklahoma to be the spot that these
 folks land,” Stitt said.

In March, Bloomberg News reported that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-14/panasonic-is-scouting-u-s-sites-for-new-battery-factory-by-2024" target="_blank">Panasonic was in talks with both Kansas and Oklahoma officials</a> about a site to manufacture lithium-ion batteries for Tesla and other electric vehicle makers.

The Bloomberg report cited unnamed sources saying the company had plans for bigger battery cells, what the company calls its <a href="https://www.autoblog.com/2022/02/28/tesla-panasonic-4680-cells/" target="_blank">4680 model</a>,
 to meet the demand to increase the range of electric vehicles. 
Bloomberg’s sources also said other kinds of batteries might be made at 
the plant. Panasonic is on pace to start making the 4680 batteries in 
Japan in the next year.

Japanese broadcaster NHK also reported 
earlier this year that Panasonic was eyeing Oklahoma and Kansas as 
possible locations, partly because they sit relatively close to the new “<a href="https://www.tesla.com/gigafactory" target="_blank">gigafactory</a>” that Tesla is ramping up in Texas.

Both
 Kansas and Oklahoma are so-called right-to-work states where it’s 
easier for employers to keep out unions. Kazuo Tadanobu, chief executive
 officer of Panasonic’s energy business, told Bloomberg News that any 
new plant locations would turn on existing partnerships with the company
 and the economics of a region.

The world market for lithium-ion 
batteries is projected by the industry to grow from $30 billion in 2017 
to $100 billion in 2025.

When
 Kansas legislators debated whether to OK the bigger tax breaks Kelly 
wanted, some lawmakers questioned the wisdom of clearing the way for a 
company that could already be profitable and that might bring 
environmental problems to the state. And some critics said the 
large-scale incentives put smaller businesses at a disadvantage.

Sen.
 Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican, said one small business owner who 
urged her to oppose the incentive package said the title of the bill 
should be changed to “crony capitalism kicks existing Kansas businesses 
in the face.”

Dave Trabert, president of the Kansas Policy 
Institute, a conservative think-tank that lobbies for reduced government
 spending, said a better recruitment strategy would be to lower taxes 
for all companies operating in the state.

“We could give one big 
lollipop to one company, or we could wipe out the income tax liability 
of all the corporations in Kansas,” Trabert said when testifying against
 the incentive legislation.

But legislative leaders in both 
parties helped push the bill through after they signed non-disclosure 
agreements and learned the identity of what was then a mystery company.

“A
 project of this magnitude is something that can change the state for 
generations,” Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, said
 in the spring.

Mark Williams heads a South Carolina-based firm 
that negotiates deals for companies looking for locations to expand. He 
said states that don’t have competitive incentives stand little chance 
of success.

“It’s a very important factor,” Williams said.

Not only financially, he said, but psychologically.

Companies
 looking to make big investments, Williams said, “like it when they feel
 a state is embracing them and taking some risk with them.”

“From a decision-making perspective, that’s an important factor that I think is often overlooked,” he said.

Dylan
 Lysen reports on politics for the Kansas News Service. Jim McLean is the senior correspondent for the Kansas News Service.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1657736625703.png" alt="Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By DYLAN LYSEN and JIM MCLEAN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-07-13/kansas-reportedly-landing-4-billion-factory-that-will-make-batteries-for-tesla">Kansas News Service</a>TOPEKA&nbsp;— A subsidiary of Japanese industrial giant 
Panasonic Corp. will build a $4 billion plant to make batteries for 
Tesla electric vehicles in Kansas, a Japanese news outlet is reporting.<a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Panasonic-to-build-EV-battery-plant-for-Tesla-in-U.S.-state-of-Kansas" target="_blank">Neikki reported Wednesday</a>
 that Kansas had beat out Oklahoma for the Panasonic Holdings plant, 
which would supply batteries to a large electric vehicle plant in Texas.That could mean some 4,000 jobs at the battery-making facility and more jobs for businesses supplying that plant.“The
 Japanese company picked the site of the new facility based on factors 
including its proximity to Texas and favorable tax treatment,” Neikki 
reported. The news outlet covers markets and the economy.The deal
 would come after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly enlisted the help of the 
Republicans who control the Legislature to promise up to $1.3 billion in
 <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-02-01/kansas-gov-kelly-wants-to-spend-1-billion-to-land-a-big-mystery-manufacturer" target="_blank">tax breaks and other incentives</a> to land the massive economic development project.The
 Kansas State Finance Council is scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon 
and could potentially give official approval of the various taxpayer 
incentives that would seal the bargain.In the spring, the Legislature <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/sb347/" target="_blank">approved new rules</a> giving state officials the ability to promise larger giveaways to entice employers to Kansas.Kelly’s
 administration and key Republican lawmakers were told what company the 
state was courting, but they signed non-disclosure agreements promising 
to keep the information confidential.That meant Kansas 
dramatically increased the tax breaks it could offer a manufacturer even
 while keeping secret from the public the name of the company, where it 
wanted to build in the state and what it might produce. It wasn’t known 
publicly, for instance, that the record-setting tax breaks would go to a
 foreign company.And Elon Musk, who runs the Tesla plant in Texas
 that will benefit from a huge battery maker in Kansas, has since become
 a figure of increasing controversy. Most recently, he's tried <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/12/1111032233/elon-musk-twitter-lawsuit-deal" target="_blank">to back out</a> of his $40-plus billion purchase of Twitter.In
 promoting the effort to land the company in Kansas, state officials 
projected an additional 4,000 jobs working for suppliers to supply the 
factory in addition to those directly working at the manufacturing 
plant.Kelly made David Toland, her lieutenant governor and 
commerce secretary, the point person on the campaign to bring the 
Japanese manufacturer to the state. He argued that whether Kansas landed
 this company or not, changing the rules on tax incentives could put 
Kansas in play to seduce other “megaprojects.”<h2>Tax breaks</h2>The
 incentives included in the legislation can only be used to recruit 
companies willing to invest at least $1 billion. They include:<ul>
 <li>A refundable tax credit for up to 15% of a company’s investment paid out over 10 years.&nbsp;</li><li>A
 one-time 0.5% cut in the corporate income tax rate each time a 
qualifying project comes to Kansas. The bill limits the use of the 
enhanced incentives to one project per calendar year.&nbsp;</li><li>A payroll tax refund of 7.5 percent for 10 years, which the State Finance Council can increase to 10%.&nbsp;</li><li>Up to $5 million annually to offset workforce training costs.&nbsp;</li><li>$10 million to help relocate employees to Kansas paid out in $1 million increments for 10 years.&nbsp;</li><li>Suppliers
 of the primary company that establish facilities in Kansas would be 
eligible for a refundable tax credit of 5% on their initial investment 
of $50 million. They could then receive an additional percentage point 
for every $10 million invested up to $100 million. Suppliers would also 
be eligible for $250,000 a year for workforce training.&nbsp;</li>
 </ul>Companies
 must agree to repay benefits if the performance metrics aren’t met. In 
addition, the state can claw back a percentage of the benefits if a 
company relocates to another state within 15 years of entering its 
agreement.“These incentives must be earned,” Toland said before 
the deal to land the battery plant came together. “The company gets the 
investment tax credit after they invest. The company gets the payroll 
rebate after they’ve hired and paid people.”<h2>Charging up</h2>The
 new plant could conceivably help some everyday Kansans by purchasing 
significant amounts of electricity from its energy provider, Evergy.Ashok
 Gupta, an energy economist with the Natural Resource Defense Council, 
said Evergy would sell electricity to the plant to produce the 
batteries. The more energy the plant purchases for its manufacturing, 
the less Kansas homeowners may need to pay to cover Evergy’s operating 
costs.“That can in theory help all other customers lower their costs,” Gupta said. “This is a good economic development play.”It
 could also be a boon to Evergy stockholders. Utilities prefer customers
 that demand large amounts of electricity at a steady rate because it 
makes it easier for them to build their capacity to match demand.<h2>Competing for Panasonic</h2>In
 April, Oklahoma lawmakers, at the urging of Republican Gov. Kevin 
Stitt, approved an incentive package aimed at keeping that state in the 
running for the plant. Targeted at projects of at least $3.6 billion, it
 authorized a rebate for 3.4% of a company’s investment in the year that
 it is made for up to five successive years. A summary of the bill put 
the value of the incentive at $700 million.Stitt said the incentive package was aimed at making Oklahoma a destination for companies in the electric vehicle industry.“Tens
 of billions of dollars are going to be invested over the next five to 
seven years in this space and we want Oklahoma to be the spot that these
 folks land,” Stitt said.In March, Bloomberg News reported that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-14/panasonic-is-scouting-u-s-sites-for-new-battery-factory-by-2024" target="_blank">Panasonic was in talks with both Kansas and Oklahoma officials</a> about a site to manufacture lithium-ion batteries for Tesla and other electric vehicle makers.The Bloomberg report cited unnamed sources saying the company had plans for bigger battery cells, what the company calls its <a href="https://www.autoblog.com/2022/02/28/tesla-panasonic-4680-cells/" target="_blank">4680 model</a>,
 to meet the demand to increase the range of electric vehicles. 
Bloomberg’s sources also said other kinds of batteries might be made at 
the plant. Panasonic is on pace to start making the 4680 batteries in 
Japan in the next year.Japanese broadcaster NHK also reported 
earlier this year that Panasonic was eyeing Oklahoma and Kansas as 
possible locations, partly because they sit relatively close to the new “<a href="https://www.tesla.com/gigafactory" target="_blank">gigafactory</a>” that Tesla is ramping up in Texas.Both
 Kansas and Oklahoma are so-called right-to-work states where it’s 
easier for employers to keep out unions. Kazuo Tadanobu, chief executive
 officer of Panasonic’s energy business, told Bloomberg News that any 
new plant locations would turn on existing partnerships with the company
 and the economics of a region.The world market for lithium-ion 
batteries is projected by the industry to grow from $30 billion in 2017 
to $100 billion in 2025.<h2>Debated incentives</h2>When
 Kansas legislators debated whether to OK the bigger tax breaks Kelly 
wanted, some lawmakers questioned the wisdom of clearing the way for a 
company that could already be profitable and that might bring 
environmental problems to the state. And some critics said the 
large-scale incentives put smaller businesses at a disadvantage.Sen.
 Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican, said one small business owner who 
urged her to oppose the incentive package said the title of the bill 
should be changed to “crony capitalism kicks existing Kansas businesses 
in the face.”Dave Trabert, president of the Kansas Policy 
Institute, a conservative think-tank that lobbies for reduced government
 spending, said a better recruitment strategy would be to lower taxes 
for all companies operating in the state.“We could give one big 
lollipop to one company, or we could wipe out the income tax liability 
of all the corporations in Kansas,” Trabert said when testifying against
 the incentive legislation.But legislative leaders in both 
parties helped push the bill through after they signed non-disclosure 
agreements and learned the identity of what was then a mystery company.“A
 project of this magnitude is something that can change the state for 
generations,” Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, said
 in the spring.Mark Williams heads a South Carolina-based firm 
that negotiates deals for companies looking for locations to expand. He 
said states that don’t have competitive incentives stand little chance 
of success.“It’s a very important factor,” Williams said.Not only financially, he said, but psychologically.Companies
 looking to make big investments, Williams said, “like it when they feel
 a state is embracing them and taking some risk with them.”“From a decision-making perspective, that’s an important factor that I think is often overlooked,” he said.Dylan
 Lysen reports on politics for the Kansas News Service. Jim McLean is the senior correspondent for the Kansas News Service.&nbsp;

Kansas reportedly lands $4B factory that will make Tesla batteries

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/12/flood-sworn-in-as-nebraskas-newest-u-s-congressional-representative/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Former State Sen. Mike Flood of 
Norfolk was sworn in Tuesday evening as the 24th representative of 
Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District in Washington, D.C.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi 
administered the oath of office at the U.S. Capitol in a brief ceremony 
with Flood and his family members.

There were no speeches or statements, but in
 a video feed, Pelosi could be heard congratulating the newest 
congressman and his family.

Later, Flood issued a statement that he was “honored to represent” the eastern Nebraska district and “excited to get to work.”

“Our team is already hitting the ground 
running,” he said. “In everything we do, we will be tireless advocates 
for the interests and conservative values of the district.”

Flood, a 47-year-old Republican, was elected
 in a special election June 28 to finish out the term of U.S. Rep. Jeff 
Fortenberry, who resigned after he was found guilty in March of lying to
 federal investigators probing illegal campaign contributions from a 
Nigerian-Lebanese billionaire.

Fortenberry, of Lincoln, had served in 
Congress since 2005, replacing U.S. Rep. Doug Bereuter, who didn’t seek 
re-election after serving 26 years.

Among those who have served in the 1st 
District post are William Jennings Bryan, the great orator who ran 
unsuccessfully for president three times; Charles Thone, who also served
 a term as Nebraska governo;, and Carl Curtis, who served 15 years in 
the House and 24 years as a U.S. senator.

Flood defeated State Sen. Patty Pansing 
Brooks of Lincoln, a Democrat, in the special election. The pair will 
square off again in November to determine who will serve a two-year term
 in Congress.

Shortly after being sworn in, Flood gave his
 first floor speech, noting that Tuesday would have been the 79th 
birthday of his mother, Ann, who died in January.

&nbsp;“And although she’s a Democrat, I know she is smiling from Heaven as I took my oath tonight,” the congressman said.

&nbsp;“I look forward to working with 
all of you to find solutions to America’s toughest problems,” he added. 
“I pledge to be honest, work for the betterment of our country, and 
conduct myself in such a way that I honor this institution, the People’s
 House.”

Flood, who runs a chain of radio and 
television outlets called News Channel Nebraska, was first elected to 
the Nebraska Legislature in 2004 and was re-elected in 2008. During that
 time, he served as the Legislature’s top leader, Speaker of the 
Legislature.

After being term-limited, Flood returned to 
the Legislature in 2020 and took an active role in passing tax-cut 
legislation and in arguing for a ban on abortion, which failed to pass. 
He is an advocate for the death penalty and for economic development in 
Nebraska’s rural communities, including his hometown, Norfolk.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1657729122019.png" alt="New U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., was sworn in Tuesday evening by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to fill out the 1st Congressional District term of Jeff Fortenberry, who resigned after being convicted of lying to federal agents. Flanking Flood are his sons, Brendan and Blake, and wife, Mandy. (Screen shot of video feed from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office)" />
 <figcaption>New U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., was sworn in Tuesday evening by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to fill out the 1st Congressional District term of Jeff Fortenberry, who resigned after being convicted of lying to federal agents. Flanking Flood are his sons, Brendan and Blake, and wife, Mandy. (Screen shot of video feed from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office)</figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/12/flood-sworn-in-as-nebraskas-newest-u-s-congressional-representative/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Former State Sen. Mike Flood of 
Norfolk was sworn in Tuesday evening as the 24th representative of 
Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District in Washington, D.C.Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi 
administered the oath of office at the U.S. Capitol in a brief ceremony 
with Flood and his family members.There were no speeches or statements, but in
 a video feed, Pelosi could be heard congratulating the newest 
congressman and his family.Later, Flood issued a statement that he was “honored to represent” the eastern Nebraska district and “excited to get to work.”“Our team is already hitting the ground 
running,” he said. “In everything we do, we will be tireless advocates 
for the interests and conservative values of the district.”<h2>Won special election</h2>Flood, a 47-year-old Republican, was elected
 in a special election June 28 to finish out the term of U.S. Rep. Jeff 
Fortenberry, who resigned after he was found guilty in March of lying to
 federal investigators probing illegal campaign contributions from a 
Nigerian-Lebanese billionaire.Fortenberry, of Lincoln, had served in 
Congress since 2005, replacing U.S. Rep. Doug Bereuter, who didn’t seek 
re-election after serving 26 years.<h2>Bryan was former congressman</h2>Among those who have served in the 1st 
District post are William Jennings Bryan, the great orator who ran 
unsuccessfully for president three times; Charles Thone, who also served
 a term as Nebraska governo;, and Carl Curtis, who served 15 years in 
the House and 24 years as a U.S. senator.Flood defeated State Sen. Patty Pansing 
Brooks of Lincoln, a Democrat, in the special election. The pair will 
square off again in November to determine who will serve a two-year term
 in Congress.<h2>Mentions mom</h2>Shortly after being sworn in, Flood gave his
 first floor speech, noting that Tuesday would have been the 79th 
birthday of his mother, Ann, who died in January.&nbsp;“And although she’s a Democrat, I know she is smiling from Heaven as I took my oath tonight,” the congressman said.&nbsp;“I look forward to working with 
all of you to find solutions to America’s toughest problems,” he added. 
“I pledge to be honest, work for the betterment of our country, and 
conduct myself in such a way that I honor this institution, the People’s
 House.”<h2>A broadcaster</h2>Flood, who runs a chain of radio and 
television outlets called News Channel Nebraska, was first elected to 
the Nebraska Legislature in 2004 and was re-elected in 2008. During that
 time, he served as the Legislature’s top leader, Speaker of the 
Legislature.After being term-limited, Flood returned to 
the Legislature in 2020 and took an active role in passing tax-cut 
legislation and in arguing for a ban on abortion, which failed to pass. 
He is an advocate for the death penalty and for economic development in 
Nebraska’s rural communities, including his hometown, Norfolk.

Flood sworn in as Nebraska’s newest U.S. congressman

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is calling on people to exercise renewed caution about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">COVID-19,</a>&nbsp;emphasizing the importance of getting booster shots for those who are eligible and wearing masks indoors as two new highly transmissible variants are spreading rapidly across the country.

(Click the video to watch the White House COVID briefing)

The new variants, labeled BA.4 and BA.5, are offshoots of the omicron strain that has been been responsible for nearly all of the virus spread in the U.S. and are even more contagious than their predecessors. White House doctors stressed the importance of getting booster doses, even if you have recently been infected.

“Currently, many Americans are under-vaccinated, meaning they are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Staying up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines provides the best protection against severe outcomes.”

Walensky said the U.S. has seen a doubling in the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 since April, reflecting the spread of the new subvariants, though deaths remain steady around 300 per day.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said while the new variants are concerning, with boosters, indoor masking and treatments the country has the tools to keep them from being disruptive.

“We should not let it disrupt our lives," he said, "but we cannot deny that it is a reality that we need to deal with."

He added that even if someone recently had COVID-19, they should get a booster.

“Immunity wanes, so it is critical to stay up to date with COVID 19 vaccines,” he said.

All Americans age 5 and over should get a booster five months after their initial primary series, according to the CDC, and those age 50 and over — or those who are immunocompromised — should get a second booster four months after their first. According to CDC, tens of millions of eligible Americans haven't received their first booster, and of those over 50 who got their first booster, only 28% have received their second.

“If you’re over 50 and you haven’t gotten the shot this year, you should go get a shot," said White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. "It’s going to save your life.”

Jha and Fauci said the U.S. is regularly discussing expanding eligibility for a second booster shot to all adults, but that no decision has been made yet.

“It’s a regulatory decision on the part of the FDA," Fauci said.

Jha said people who are eligible for a booster but haven't received one shouldn't wait for forthcoming vaccines targeted at the omicron strain in addition to the original form of the coronavirus. The U.S. has ordered 105 million of those updated shots, which studies show provide better protection against omicron variants, but they won't be available until the fall.

“Let me be clear, if you get vaccinated today, you’re not going to be ineligible to get the variants specific vaccine, as we get into the later part of fall and winter," Jha said. “So, this is not a tradeoff, we’ve got plenty. It’s a great way to protect yourself.”

Added Fauci, “The threat to you is now.”

Walensky noted that CDC data shows that about a third of Americans are living in areas the agency classifies as experiencing a high level of COVID spread, where the agency recommends people wear masks in public indoor spaces. Another 41% live in the CDC's “medium” level, where it recommends that people consider their own individual risk and consider masking.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is calling on people to exercise renewed caution about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">COVID-19,</a>&nbsp;emphasizing the importance of getting booster shots for those who are eligible and wearing masks indoors as two new highly transmissible variants are spreading rapidly across the country.(Click the video to watch the White House COVID briefing)<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A0OF_MbQUng?start=14" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>The new variants, labeled BA.4 and BA.5, are offshoots of the omicron strain that has been been responsible for nearly all of the virus spread in the U.S. and are even more contagious than their predecessors. White House doctors stressed the importance of getting booster doses, even if you have recently been infected.“Currently, many Americans are under-vaccinated, meaning they are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Staying up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines provides the best protection against severe outcomes.”Walensky said the U.S. has seen a doubling in the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 since April, reflecting the spread of the new subvariants, though deaths remain steady around 300 per day.Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said while the new variants are concerning, with boosters, indoor masking and treatments the country has the tools to keep them from being disruptive.“We should not let it disrupt our lives," he said, "but we cannot deny that it is a reality that we need to deal with."He added that even if someone recently had COVID-19, they should get a booster.“Immunity wanes, so it is critical to stay up to date with COVID 19 vaccines,” he said.All Americans age 5 and over should get a booster five months after their initial primary series, according to the CDC, and those age 50 and over — or those who are immunocompromised — should get a second booster four months after their first. According to CDC, tens of millions of eligible Americans haven't received their first booster, and of those over 50 who got their first booster, only 28% have received their second.“If you’re over 50 and you haven’t gotten the shot this year, you should go get a shot," said White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. "It’s going to save your life.”Jha and Fauci said the U.S. is regularly discussing expanding eligibility for a second booster shot to all adults, but that no decision has been made yet.“It’s a regulatory decision on the part of the FDA," Fauci said.Jha said people who are eligible for a booster but haven't received one shouldn't wait for forthcoming vaccines targeted at the omicron strain in addition to the original form of the coronavirus. The U.S. has ordered 105 million of those updated shots, which studies show provide better protection against omicron variants, but they won't be available until the fall.“Let me be clear, if you get vaccinated today, you’re not going to be ineligible to get the variants specific vaccine, as we get into the later part of fall and winter," Jha said. “So, this is not a tradeoff, we’ve got plenty. It’s a great way to protect yourself.”Added Fauci, “The threat to you is now.”Walensky noted that CDC data shows that about a third of Americans are living in areas the agency classifies as experiencing a high level of COVID spread, where the agency recommends people wear masks in public indoor spaces. Another 41% live in the CDC's “medium” level, where it recommends that people consider their own individual risk and consider masking.

🎥White House urges caution on COVID variants, pushes boosters

By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/12/new-nebraska-gop-leaders-and-ricketts-look-to-move-forward-after-shake-up/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

HASTINGS, Nebraska — New leadership has taken possession of the Nebraska Republican Party’s Lincoln headquarters.&nbsp;

New state GOP Chairman Eric Underwood and his team spent Monday on the basics, including figuring out how to access the GOP’s email accounts, bank accounts and voter contact lists.

Underwood said he is focused on ensuring the continuity of the state party’s operations. He told KFAB’s Ian Swanson he wants to heal divisions and help “conservative Republicans” win.

“If there is an ultimate … vision of electing Republicans that believe in our values, then why would you want to do it any other way?” he told KFAB. “Move forward.”

Underwood said he and his group pressed for change this weekend because they didn’t want to wait for the regular elections for state GOP chair in December, after this fall’s general election.&nbsp;

Underwood, the former chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Party, said he understood that&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/09/old-guard-conservatives-and-trump-populists-take-nebraska-gop-from-ricketts/">what happened Saturday in Kearney</a>&nbsp;caused some hard feelings within the party.

A majority of state GOP convention delegates at Saturday’s state party convention ousted Chairman Dan Welch and chose Underwood to replace him. Several said they wanted to loosen Gov. Pete Ricketts’ grip on the Nebraska GOP.

Ricketts, during his monthly call-in show Monday on KFOR, took questions from callers who asked whether he would support the new party leadership and ensure a smooth transition.

“Yes,” Ricketts said. “I’m looking forward to seeing (Underwood’s) plan on how to elect Republicans.”

One caller, Joe from West Point, said things didn’t seem to be going smoothly. Ricketts disagreed and said he had urged the party’s former leaders to help with the transition.

“I expect that Eric is going to have to do some work to put together his team,” Ricketts said. “But he’ll have all the tools to do that.”

Ricketts said he felt “everyone followed the rules” in Kearney and that the change in leadership was done appropriately. One caller, Lincoln GOP activist Fanchon Blythe, disagreed.&nbsp;

Blythe was one of six delegates who had their convention credentials rejected initially, and she criticized the former state party apparatus for acting as “judge and jury” about them.

People who voted for change Saturday gave a variety of reasons. Some said they wanted state party leaders to pay more attention to county parties in rural parts of the state.&nbsp;

Some said they wanted the GOP to fully embrace former President Donald Trump’s unproven allegations about the 2020 presidential election that he lost to President Joe Biden.&nbsp;

Some said they were frustrated about the Nebraska GOP and governor taking sides in races with more than one Republican candidate. They mentioned a 2020 legislative race between Republicans Julie Slama and Janet Palmtag. The party, under Ricketts’ leadership, campaigned against Palmtag, who lost and has since re-registered as a Democrat.

But Ricketts’ actions in this spring’s GOP gubernatorial primary drew the most ire from delegates, including many who said they were attending their first convention.

Ricketts acknowledged the split over his decision to go negative with third-party ads against other GOP candidates. He told News Channel Nebraska on Monday that he understood that some Republicans disagreed with him.&nbsp;

Ricketts spent millions of dollars during the primary campaign attacking Republican candidates Charles Herbster and Brett Lindstrom. Ricketts favored Jim Pillen, who won the primary.&nbsp;

Herbster declined to comment Monday on the change in state party leadership, saying he was haying on Saturday and wasn’t at the convention. Lindstrom attended the convention but said he did not seek to oust Welch.

“It was a contentious race,” Lindstrom said. “I don’t take things personal. I just want to make sure Republicans win in November. I know Eric Underwood. I know he’ll do a great job.”

Underwood is reaching out to Republican candidates campaigning in the fall election. He&nbsp; has said he will help Pillen and Republicans running for U.S. House seats, including 2nd District Rep. Don Bacon.

Bacon said Welch had helped him and other GOP candidates win with coordinated campaigns in the district. He said he would work with Underwood to do the same.

Political observers said Monday it was too soon to tell what the change in GOP leadership might mean for the electoral future of the state GOP or the Nebraska Democratic Party.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln political scientist John Hibbing said the changes signal to him that the state GOP is likely to become more conservative.&nbsp;

Political parties in other states that have been taken over in a similar fashion sometimes seek to purge candidates and party leaders who aren’t considered conservative enough on the issues, Hibbing said.

“The Republican Party in a Republican-dominant state now appears to be shifting much more to the right than before, and it wasn’t like they were milquetoast before,” Hibbing said.&nbsp;

Political parties matter, Hibbing said, because they are a significant source of fundraising for some candidates. They also help candidates find campaign volunteers and help campaigns strategize.

Parties also work to register voters and make sure registered voters turn out.

“It’s pretty darn important,” Hibbing said.

Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, said Republicans risk going too far and becoming too extreme for most Nebraskans, which will give Democrats and Democratic candidates an opening in the state.

Lindstrom said he doesn’t expect much to change for candidates working with the state party. He expects changes to the party platform, he said, which could affect which candidates want to run in what races — and could influence donors.

“They’ll have a voice,” Lindstrom said of the state GOP. “It’ll come down to whether they will have the resources to get the message out.”

Political scientist Randall Adkins of the University of Nebraska at Omaha said political parties in other states change leadership more often than the Nebraska GOP has over the past 20 years.

Adkins said the decentralized nature of political parties makes them susceptible to abrupt changes in leadership or direction, following the mood of partisans who are willing to get involved.

Leaders like Trump and former President Barack Obama mobilize the people who follow them, Adkins said. Some of those folks eventually take over institutions like the Nebraska GOP.

“We went through a period where the party (GOP) was really stable … for 20 years, and that is not always the case,” Adkins said. “It is not always static.”&nbsp;

Former Republican Gov. Dave Heineman said most Nebraskans, and most Republican voters, in general, are not paying a lot of attention to an internal conflict within the state GOP.

“They’ve heard what happened over the weekend, but it doesn’t affect their daily life,” Heineman said. “At the end of the day, most voters look at the candidates who are running.”

Nebraska Examiner Senior Reporter Paul Hammel contributed to this report.

<a href="https://northplattepost.com/posts/2ddcec21-000f-4ace-b19e-4250120d6629">&nbsp;&nbsp;Download The Post app for iOs or Android</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1657720577547.jpeg" alt="New leadership took over the Nebraska Republican Party’s Lincoln headquarters this week. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>New leadership took over the Nebraska Republican Party’s Lincoln headquarters this week. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/12/new-nebraska-gop-leaders-and-ricketts-look-to-move-forward-after-shake-up/">Nebraska Examiner</a>HASTINGS, Nebraska — New leadership has taken possession of the Nebraska Republican Party’s Lincoln headquarters.&nbsp;New state GOP Chairman Eric Underwood and his team spent Monday on the basics, including figuring out how to access the GOP’s email accounts, bank accounts and voter contact lists.<figure>
 <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IMG_3143-225x300.jpeg" alt="New Nebraska Republican Party Chairman Eric Underwood speaks to delegates at the state GOP convention in Kearney, Neb. (Courtesy of the Nebraska Republican Party)" />
 <figcaption>New Nebraska Republican Party Chairman Eric Underwood speaks to delegates at the state GOP convention in Kearney, Neb. (Courtesy of the Nebraska Republican Party)</figcaption>
 </figure>Underwood said he is focused on ensuring the continuity of the state party’s operations. He told KFAB’s Ian Swanson he wants to heal divisions and help “conservative Republicans” win.“If there is an ultimate … vision of electing Republicans that believe in our values, then why would you want to do it any other way?” he told KFAB. “Move forward.”<h2>Timing questions</h2>Underwood said he and his group pressed for change this weekend because they didn’t want to wait for the regular elections for state GOP chair in December, after this fall’s general election.&nbsp;Underwood, the former chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Party, said he understood that&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/07/09/old-guard-conservatives-and-trump-populists-take-nebraska-gop-from-ricketts/">what happened Saturday in Kearney</a>&nbsp;caused some hard feelings within the party.A majority of state GOP convention delegates at Saturday’s state party convention ousted Chairman Dan Welch and chose Underwood to replace him. Several said they wanted to loosen Gov. Pete Ricketts’ grip on the Nebraska GOP.<h2>Ricketts’ response</h2>Ricketts, during his monthly call-in show Monday on KFOR, took questions from callers who asked whether he would support the new party leadership and ensure a smooth transition.“Yes,” Ricketts said. “I’m looking forward to seeing (Underwood’s) plan on how to elect Republicans.”One caller, Joe from West Point, said things didn’t seem to be going smoothly. Ricketts disagreed and said he had urged the party’s former leaders to help with the transition.“I expect that Eric is going to have to do some work to put together his team,” Ricketts said. “But he’ll have all the tools to do that.”Ricketts said he felt “everyone followed the rules” in Kearney and that the change in leadership was done appropriately. One caller, Lincoln GOP activist Fanchon Blythe, disagreed.&nbsp;Blythe was one of six delegates who had their convention credentials rejected initially, and she criticized the former state party apparatus for acting as “judge and jury” about them.<h2>Reasons for change</h2>People who voted for change Saturday gave a variety of reasons. Some said they wanted state party leaders to pay more attention to county parties in rural parts of the state.&nbsp;Some said they wanted the GOP to fully embrace former President Donald Trump’s unproven allegations about the 2020 presidential election that he lost to President Joe Biden.&nbsp;Some said they were frustrated about the Nebraska GOP and governor taking sides in races with more than one Republican candidate. They mentioned a 2020 legislative race between Republicans Julie Slama and Janet Palmtag. The party, under Ricketts’ leadership, campaigned against Palmtag, who lost and has since re-registered as a Democrat.<h2>GOP governor’s primary race</h2>But Ricketts’ actions in this spring’s GOP gubernatorial primary drew the most ire from delegates, including many who said they were attending their first convention.<figure>
 <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2188509E-0D25-419B-AA9E-F42249A419E9-300x225.jpeg" alt="Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts addresses the Nebraska Republican Party convention in Kearney, Neb. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts addresses the Nebraska Republican Party convention in Kearney, Neb. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Ricketts acknowledged the split over his decision to go negative with third-party ads against other GOP candidates. He told News Channel Nebraska on Monday that he understood that some Republicans disagreed with him.&nbsp;Ricketts spent millions of dollars during the primary campaign attacking Republican candidates Charles Herbster and Brett Lindstrom. Ricketts favored Jim Pillen, who won the primary.&nbsp;Herbster declined to comment Monday on the change in state party leadership, saying he was haying on Saturday and wasn’t at the convention. Lindstrom attended the convention but said he did not seek to oust Welch.“It was a contentious race,” Lindstrom said. “I don’t take things personal. I just want to make sure Republicans win in November. I know Eric Underwood. I know he’ll do a great job.”Underwood is reaching out to Republican candidates campaigning in the fall election. He&nbsp; has said he will help Pillen and Republicans running for U.S. House seats, including 2nd District Rep. Don Bacon.Bacon said Welch had helped him and other GOP candidates win with coordinated campaigns in the district. He said he would work with Underwood to do the same.<h2>A new party</h2>Political observers said Monday it was too soon to tell what the change in GOP leadership might mean for the electoral future of the state GOP or the Nebraska Democratic Party.University of Nebraska-Lincoln political scientist John Hibbing said the changes signal to him that the state GOP is likely to become more conservative.&nbsp;Political parties in other states that have been taken over in a similar fashion sometimes seek to purge candidates and party leaders who aren’t considered conservative enough on the issues, Hibbing said.“The Republican Party in a Republican-dominant state now appears to be shifting much more to the right than before, and it wasn’t like they were milquetoast before,” Hibbing said.&nbsp;Political parties matter, Hibbing said, because they are a significant source of fundraising for some candidates. They also help candidates find campaign volunteers and help campaigns strategize.Parties also work to register voters and make sure registered voters turn out.“It’s pretty darn important,” Hibbing said. Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, said Republicans risk going too far and becoming too extreme for most Nebraskans, which will give Democrats and Democratic candidates an opening in the state.Lindstrom said he doesn’t expect much to change for candidates working with the state party. He expects changes to the party platform, he said, which could affect which candidates want to run in what races — and could influence donors.“They’ll have a voice,” Lindstrom said of the state GOP. “It’ll come down to whether they will have the resources to get the message out.”<h2>Changes happen</h2>Political scientist Randall Adkins of the University of Nebraska at Omaha said political parties in other states change leadership more often than the Nebraska GOP has over the past 20 years.Adkins said the decentralized nature of political parties makes them susceptible to abrupt changes in leadership or direction, following the mood of partisans who are willing to get involved.Leaders like Trump and former President Barack Obama mobilize the people who follow them, Adkins said. Some of those folks eventually take over institutions like the Nebraska GOP.“We went through a period where the party (GOP) was really stable … for 20 years, and that is not always the case,” Adkins said. “It is not always static.”&nbsp;Former Republican Gov. Dave Heineman said most Nebraskans, and most Republican voters, in general, are not paying a lot of attention to an internal conflict within the state GOP.“They’ve heard what happened over the weekend, but it doesn’t affect their daily life,” Heineman said. “At the end of the day, most voters look at the candidates who are running.”Nebraska Examiner Senior Reporter Paul Hammel contributed to this report.<a href="https://northplattepost.com/posts/2ddcec21-000f-4ace-b19e-4250120d6629">&nbsp;&nbsp;Download The Post app for iOs or Android</a><figure>
 <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wNqBhbDjdQfiBw9ZsEupcsfxrfyLh9FL4Kgw9ywDgXNm0l8bAuha5N36fAHOhl8IKpAEM1_LB4eK7UEetK1tj4axOKYMM13WX43qwmUuqP5LNHnQHJ1yIPBr-49tSUinGgXDz1oTcPuZheaXZg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>

New Nebraska GOP leaders and Ricketts look to move forward after shake-up

WASHINGTON (AP) — Surging prices for gas, food and rent catapulted U.S. inflation to a new four-decade peak in June, further pressuring households and likely sealing the case for another large interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, with higher borrowing costs to follow.

Consumer prices soared 9.1% compared with a year earlier, the government said Wednesday, the biggest 12-month increase since 1981, and up from an 8.6% jump in May. On a monthly basis, prices rose 1.3% from May to June, another substantial increase, after prices had jumped 1% from April to May.

The ongoing price increases underscore the brutal impact that inflation has inflicted on many families, with the costs of necessities, in particular, rising much faster than average incomes. Lower-income and Black and Hispanic Americans have been hit especially hard, because a disproportionate share of their income goes toward such essentials as housing, transportation and food.

Some economists have held out hope that inflation might be reaching or nearing a short-term peak. Gas prices, for example, have fallen from the eye-watering $5 a gallon reached in mid-June to an average of $4.66 nationwide as of Tuesday — still far higher than a year ago but a drop that could help slow inflation for July and possibly August.

In addition, shipping costs and commodity prices have begun to fall. Pay increases have slowed. And surveys show that Americans' expectations for inflation over the long run have eased — a trend that often points to more moderate price increases over time.

Yet for now, the relentless spike in inflation has caused a steep drop in consumers’ confidence in the economy, sent President Joe Biden’s approval ratings tumbling and posed a major political threat to Democrats in the November congressional elections. Forty percent of adults said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-inflation-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-economy-8702782d77505f711272f5f9d988d73f">in a June AP-NORC poll</a>&nbsp;that they thought tackling inflation should be a top government priority this year, up from just 14% who said so in December.

In the immediate aftermath of the 2020 pandemic recession, as Americans focused their spending on items for the home, like furniture, appliances and exercise equipment,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-economy-prices-5ebdc188d7b2f6eaaedeff863c49ba67">supply chains became overwhelmed and prices for physical goods soared</a>. But as consumer spending has gradually shifted away from goods and toward services like vacation travel, restaurants meals, movies, concerts and sporting events, some of the highest price increases have occurred in services.

Housing, in particular, has been seized by some of the highest inflation rates in the economy, causing hardships for many. A shortage of houses for sale has sent home prices skyrocketing just as mortgage rates have also soared.

With many people priced out of the market for houses and looking instead to rent, demand for apartments has sent rental rates beyond affordable levels. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/economy-home-sales-prices-b9afc4e250784ddbfa7a8e125781badb">national median home price jumped 14.8% in May from a year earlier to $407,600</a>. That’s an all-time high according to data to 1999, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The persistence of high inflation has unnerved Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials, who are engaged in the fastest series of rate hikes since the late 1980s to try to slow the price spikes. The central bank is expected to raise its key short-term rate later this month by a hefty three-quarters of a point, as it did last month, with potentially more large rate hikes to follow.

Powell has stressed that the central bank wants to see “compelling evidence” that inflation is slowing before it would dial back its rate hikes. Such evidence would need to be a “series of declining monthly inflation readings,” Powell said at a news conference last month.

Many economists worry that the Fed’s drive to quell inflation will cause it to tighten credit too aggressively even while the economy, by some measures, is slowing. Much higher borrowing costs could trigger a recession, potentially by next year.

Consumers have started to pull back on spending, home sales are falling as mortgage rates rise and factory output slipped in May. Yet steadily robust job growth points to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-jobs-report-signs-of-economic-resilience-e83d996c4a6320b5785dde94d6c2f125">an economy that is still expanding</a>, with little sign of an imminent recession.

Though inflation is likely to slow later this year, it’s not clear by how much. Oil prices fell Tuesday to about $96 a barrel. And other commodities, including metals such as copper, have also become less expensive, mostly because of recession fears in both the United States and Europe.

With fewer ships stuck at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, America’s largest, shipping costs for international freight have fallen. Wholesale gas prices have fallen to about $3.40 a gallon, which suggests that retail prices could drop to as low as $4.20 by August, according to Omair Sharif, founder of Inflation Insights.

And wholesale used car prices are also falling, which point to declining used car prices in the coming months.

Yet plenty of items are still rising in price, notably apartment rents. The average cost of new leases has jumped 14% in the past year, according to real estate brokerage Redfin, to an average of $2,016 a month.

Rents as measured by the government’s inflation index have risen more slowly because they include all rents, including existing leases. But economists expect the rising expense of new leases to send the government’s inflation measure higher in coming months.

Inflation has spiked overseas as well. It reached&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-prices-consumer-86c72bd6424d616ee32934e440b58aea">9.1% in the United Kingdom</a>&nbsp;in May, the highest level in four decades, driven mostly by higher gas and food prices. Annual&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-russia-ukraine-prices-977c2d02eb7b745542c970908ea72cd4">inflation in the eurozone’s 19 countries hit 8.6%</a>&nbsp;in June, surging past the 8.1% recorded in May. Inflation is now at its highest level since recordkeeping for the euro began in 1997.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1642689710083.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Surging prices for gas, food and rent catapulted U.S. inflation to a new four-decade peak in June, further pressuring households and likely sealing the case for another large interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, with higher borrowing costs to follow.Consumer prices soared 9.1% compared with a year earlier, the government said Wednesday, the biggest 12-month increase since 1981, and up from an 8.6% jump in May. On a monthly basis, prices rose 1.3% from May to June, another substantial increase, after prices had jumped 1% from April to May.The ongoing price increases underscore the brutal impact that inflation has inflicted on many families, with the costs of necessities, in particular, rising much faster than average incomes. Lower-income and Black and Hispanic Americans have been hit especially hard, because a disproportionate share of their income goes toward such essentials as housing, transportation and food.Some economists have held out hope that inflation might be reaching or nearing a short-term peak. Gas prices, for example, have fallen from the eye-watering $5 a gallon reached in mid-June to an average of $4.66 nationwide as of Tuesday — still far higher than a year ago but a drop that could help slow inflation for July and possibly August.In addition, shipping costs and commodity prices have begun to fall. Pay increases have slowed. And surveys show that Americans' expectations for inflation over the long run have eased — a trend that often points to more moderate price increases over time.Yet for now, the relentless spike in inflation has caused a steep drop in consumers’ confidence in the economy, sent President Joe Biden’s approval ratings tumbling and posed a major political threat to Democrats in the November congressional elections. Forty percent of adults said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-inflation-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-economy-8702782d77505f711272f5f9d988d73f">in a June AP-NORC poll</a>&nbsp;that they thought tackling inflation should be a top government priority this year, up from just 14% who said so in December.In the immediate aftermath of the 2020 pandemic recession, as Americans focused their spending on items for the home, like furniture, appliances and exercise equipment,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-economy-prices-5ebdc188d7b2f6eaaedeff863c49ba67">supply chains became overwhelmed and prices for physical goods soared</a>. But as consumer spending has gradually shifted away from goods and toward services like vacation travel, restaurants meals, movies, concerts and sporting events, some of the highest price increases have occurred in services.Housing, in particular, has been seized by some of the highest inflation rates in the economy, causing hardships for many. A shortage of houses for sale has sent home prices skyrocketing just as mortgage rates have also soared.With many people priced out of the market for houses and looking instead to rent, demand for apartments has sent rental rates beyond affordable levels. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/economy-home-sales-prices-b9afc4e250784ddbfa7a8e125781badb">national median home price jumped 14.8% in May from a year earlier to $407,600</a>. That’s an all-time high according to data to 1999, according to the National Association of Realtors.The persistence of high inflation has unnerved Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials, who are engaged in the fastest series of rate hikes since the late 1980s to try to slow the price spikes. The central bank is expected to raise its key short-term rate later this month by a hefty three-quarters of a point, as it did last month, with potentially more large rate hikes to follow.Powell has stressed that the central bank wants to see “compelling evidence” that inflation is slowing before it would dial back its rate hikes. Such evidence would need to be a “series of declining monthly inflation readings,” Powell said at a news conference last month.Many economists worry that the Fed’s drive to quell inflation will cause it to tighten credit too aggressively even while the economy, by some measures, is slowing. Much higher borrowing costs could trigger a recession, potentially by next year.Consumers have started to pull back on spending, home sales are falling as mortgage rates rise and factory output slipped in May. Yet steadily robust job growth points to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-jobs-report-signs-of-economic-resilience-e83d996c4a6320b5785dde94d6c2f125">an economy that is still expanding</a>, with little sign of an imminent recession.Though inflation is likely to slow later this year, it’s not clear by how much. Oil prices fell Tuesday to about $96 a barrel. And other commodities, including metals such as copper, have also become less expensive, mostly because of recession fears in both the United States and Europe.With fewer ships stuck at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, America’s largest, shipping costs for international freight have fallen. Wholesale gas prices have fallen to about $3.40 a gallon, which suggests that retail prices could drop to as low as $4.20 by August, according to Omair Sharif, founder of Inflation Insights.And wholesale used car prices are also falling, which point to declining used car prices in the coming months.Yet plenty of items are still rising in price, notably apartment rents. The average cost of new leases has jumped 14% in the past year, according to real estate brokerage Redfin, to an average of $2,016 a month.Rents as measured by the government’s inflation index have risen more slowly because they include all rents, including existing leases. But economists expect the rising expense of new leases to send the government’s inflation measure higher in coming months.Inflation has spiked overseas as well. It reached&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-prices-consumer-86c72bd6424d616ee32934e440b58aea">9.1% in the United Kingdom</a>&nbsp;in May, the highest level in four decades, driven mostly by higher gas and food prices. Annual&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-russia-ukraine-prices-977c2d02eb7b745542c970908ea72cd4">inflation in the eurozone’s 19 countries hit 8.6%</a>&nbsp;in June, surging past the 8.1% recorded in May. Inflation is now at its highest level since recordkeeping for the euro began in 1997.

US inflation rose more than expected; new 40-year high 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine is getting an additional $1.7 billion in assistance from the U.S. government and the World Bank to pay the salaries of its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-health-doctors-without-borders-government-and-politics-b87823403f6dc148a8d728e73ad2cbae">beleaguered health care workers</a>&nbsp;and provide other essential services.

The money coming Tuesday from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-agency-for-international-development">the U.S. Agency for International Development</a>, the Treasury Department and the World Bank is meant to alleviate the acute budget deficit caused by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">“brutal war of aggression,”</a>&nbsp;USAID said in a statement.

While many medical staffers have left Ukraine, some hospitals have shut down and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-maternity-hospital-pregnant-woman-dead-c0f2f859296f9f02be24fc9edfca1085">other hospitals have been bombed</a>. The health workers who remain in Ukraine do their jobs under&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-crimes-tracker-b39137c3a96eef06f4ba1793fd694542">dire circumstances</a>.

Viktor Liashko, Ukraine’s minister of health, said paying health workers’ salaries is becoming more difficult each month “due to the overwhelming burden of war.”

“$1.7 billion is not just yet another financial support; it is an investment that makes us a step closer to victory,” Liashko said in a statement.

To date, USAID has given $4 billion in budgetary support to the Ukrainian government. These funds have been used for keeping gas and electricity flowing to hospitals and schools, getting humanitarian supplies to citizens and paying the salaries of civil servants and teachers, the organization said.

USAID Administrator&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-biden-cabinet-samantha-power-foreign-policy-development-aid-0d4ef3c6c977129b0bbe59e9e726578d">Samantha Power</a>&nbsp;said that as Putin’s “assault on Ukraine’s public services continues, the United States is rushing in with financial support to help the government keep the lights on, provide essential services to innocent citizens and pay the health care workers who are providing lifesaving support on the frontlines.”

Last week, the Biden administration said it will send&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-moscow-government-and-politics-4bff4beeecc6067b6f4e3aa8584de108">another $400 million in military equipment</a>&nbsp;to Ukraine, the 15th package of military weapons and equipment transferred to Ukraine from Defense Department stocks since last August.

This new set of funds will be used for humanitarian purposes.

“This aid will help Ukraine’s democratic government provide essential services for the people of Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/janet-yellen">Janet Yellen</a>&nbsp;said in a written statement.

Yellen said the money would “reach those who need it most at the front lines of Putin’s brutal and illegal war.”

Overall, the U.S. has sent about $7.3 billion in aid to Ukraine since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-moscow-kyiv-626a8c5ec22217bacb24ece60fac4fe1">the war began</a>&nbsp;in late February.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1657659622515.png" alt="USAID Administrator&nbsp;Samantha Power&nbsp;said that as Putin’s “assault on Ukraine’s public services continues, the United States is rushing in with financial support to help the government keep the lights on, provide essential services to innocent citizens and pay the health care workers who are providing lifesaving support on the frontlines.”-photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>USAID Administrator&nbsp;Samantha Power&nbsp;said that as Putin’s “assault on Ukraine’s public services continues, the United States is rushing in with financial support to help the government keep the lights on, provide essential services to innocent citizens and pay the health care workers who are providing lifesaving support on the frontlines.”-photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine is getting an additional $1.7 billion in assistance from the U.S. government and the World Bank to pay the salaries of its&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-health-doctors-without-borders-government-and-politics-b87823403f6dc148a8d728e73ad2cbae">beleaguered health care workers</a>&nbsp;and provide other essential services.The money coming Tuesday from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-agency-for-international-development">the U.S. Agency for International Development</a>, the Treasury Department and the World Bank is meant to alleviate the acute budget deficit caused by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">“brutal war of aggression,”</a>&nbsp;USAID said in a statement.While many medical staffers have left Ukraine, some hospitals have shut down and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-maternity-hospital-pregnant-woman-dead-c0f2f859296f9f02be24fc9edfca1085">other hospitals have been bombed</a>. The health workers who remain in Ukraine do their jobs under&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-crimes-tracker-b39137c3a96eef06f4ba1793fd694542">dire circumstances</a>.Viktor Liashko, Ukraine’s minister of health, said paying health workers’ salaries is becoming more difficult each month “due to the overwhelming burden of war.”“$1.7 billion is not just yet another financial support; it is an investment that makes us a step closer to victory,” Liashko said in a statement.To date, USAID has given $4 billion in budgetary support to the Ukrainian government. These funds have been used for keeping gas and electricity flowing to hospitals and schools, getting humanitarian supplies to citizens and paying the salaries of civil servants and teachers, the organization said.USAID Administrator&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-biden-cabinet-samantha-power-foreign-policy-development-aid-0d4ef3c6c977129b0bbe59e9e726578d">Samantha Power</a>&nbsp;said that as Putin’s “assault on Ukraine’s public services continues, the United States is rushing in with financial support to help the government keep the lights on, provide essential services to innocent citizens and pay the health care workers who are providing lifesaving support on the frontlines.”Last week, the Biden administration said it will send&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-moscow-government-and-politics-4bff4beeecc6067b6f4e3aa8584de108">another $400 million in military equipment</a>&nbsp;to Ukraine, the 15th package of military weapons and equipment transferred to Ukraine from Defense Department stocks since last August.This new set of funds will be used for humanitarian purposes.“This aid will help Ukraine’s democratic government provide essential services for the people of Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/janet-yellen">Janet Yellen</a>&nbsp;said in a written statement.Yellen said the money would “reach those who need it most at the front lines of Putin’s brutal and illegal war.”Overall, the U.S. has sent about $7.3 billion in aid to Ukraine since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-moscow-kyiv-626a8c5ec22217bacb24ece60fac4fe1">the war began</a>&nbsp;in late February.

U.S., World Bank to give Ukraine $1.7B to pay health care workers

WASHINGTON — With millions of people still waiting to file their tax 
returns, the IRS reminds them to file as soon as possible and take 
advantage of special tools available on IRS.gov that can help them file.

Summer may be a busy time for many, but it's a great time to start 
tax planning - whether you still need to file a 2021 tax return or start
 planning for next year's tax season.&nbsp;The IRS website&nbsp;is the fastest and
 most convenient way to get tax-related information and help. The online
 tools are available any time, so taxpayers can use them at their 
convenience.

Here are some important reasons for taxpayers to visit IRS.gov this summer.

Taxpayers can also download the official IRS mobile app,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs2goapp">IRS2Go</a>, to check their refund status, make payments, find free tax preparation assistance, sign up for helpful tax tips and more.

Adjust withholding now to avoid tax surprises next year

Summer is a great time for taxpayers to check their withholding to 
avoid a tax surprise next filing season. Life events like marriage, 
divorce, having a child or a change in income can affect taxes.

The IRS <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator">Tax Withholding Estimator</a>
 on IRS.gov helps employees assess their income tax, credits, 
adjustments and deductions, and determine whether they need to change 
their withholding. If a change is recommended, the estimator will 
provide instructions to update their withholding with their employer 
either online or by submitting a new <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-4">Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate</a>.

<a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc153">Taxpayers who requested an extension to October 17 or missed the April 18 deadline</a>&nbsp;can still prepare and e-file returns for free with <a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free">IRS Free File</a>, if they qualify. The IRS accepts <a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/e-file-options">electronically filed returns</a>
 24/7. There's no reason to wait until October 17 if filers have all the
 information and documentation they need to file an accurate return 
today. They can get their refund faster by choosing <a href="https://www.irs.gov/refunds/get-your-refund-faster-tell-irs-to-direct-deposit-your-refund-to-one-two-or-three-accounts">direct deposit</a>.

Taxpayers who missed the April 18 deadline and owe should file and 
pay electronically as soon as possible to reduce penalties and interest.
 Taxpayers can make payments or set up <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments">payment plans online</a>.

The <a href="https://www.irs.gov/help/contact-your-local-irs-office">Taxpayer Assistance Center Locator tool</a>
 has a new look and feel, featuring a dynamic map, a directions button 
and two tabs for inputting search criteria. It's important to remember 
that Taxpayer Assistance Centers operate by appointment only. Taxpayers 
can make an appointment by calling the number for the office they want 
to visit.

Many IRS webpages are now available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Korean, Haitian Creole and Chinese. Some of the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/help/languages">multilingual resources</a> include the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxpayer-bill-of-rights">Taxpayer Bill of Rights</a>, <a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/e-file-options">e-file resources</a> and many tax <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions">forms and publications</a>.

At the online <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/information-about-the-alternative-media-center">Alternative Media Center</a> (AMC), taxpayers will find a variety of <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/accessible-irs-tax-products">accessible products</a>
 to help with the use of assistive technology such as screen reading 
software, refreshable Braille displays and screen magnifying software. 
These products include tax forms, instructions and publications that can
 be downloaded or viewed online as Section 508 compliant PDFs, HTML, 
eBraille, text and large print.

Please note that every product is not available in all formats. For 
example, tax forms are not available as HTML. To request paper copies of
 tax forms or instructions or publications in Braille or large print, 
taxpayers can call the tax form telephone number at <a href="tel:800-829-3676">800-829-3676</a>. Taxpayers can complete <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f9000.pdf">Form 9000, Alternative Media Preference</a>PDF,
 to choose to receive their IRS tax notices in Braille, large print, 
audio or electronic formats. This includes notices about additional 
taxes or penalties owed. Taxpayers can include the completed form with 
their tax return, mail it as a standalone form to the IRS or they can 
call <a href="tel:800-829-1040">800-829-1040</a>.

Taxpayers can <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/subscribe-to-irs-tax-tips">subscribe</a> to <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-tax-tips">IRS Tax Tips</a>
 to get easy-to-read articles sent directly to their e-mail from the 
IRS. Tax Tips are brief, to the point and cover various tax topics, like
 <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/year-round-tax-planning-all-taxpayers-should-understand-eligibility-for-credits-and-deductions">year-round tax planning</a> and <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/understanding-taxpayer-rights-everyone-has-the-right-to-finality">understanding taxpayer rights</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON — With millions of people still waiting to file their tax 
returns, the IRS reminds them to file as soon as possible and take 
advantage of special tools available on IRS.gov that can help them file.Summer may be a busy time for many, but it's a great time to start 
tax planning - whether you still need to file a 2021 tax return or start
 planning for next year's tax season.&nbsp;The IRS website&nbsp;is the fastest and
 most convenient way to get tax-related information and help. The online
 tools are available any time, so taxpayers can use them at their 
convenience.Here are some important reasons for taxpayers to visit IRS.gov this summer.<h2>Get tax information 24/7</h2>Taxpayers can use IRS.gov to:<ul>
 <li>View the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free">filing page</a> to get information on most federal income tax topics.</li><li>Access the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/help/ita">Interactive Tax Assistant</a> tool for answers to many tax law questions.</li><li>Sign into their individual <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments/your-online-account">IRS online account</a> to view their balance an tax records, manage communication preferences, make payments and more.</li><li>Find the most up-to-date information about their tax refunds using the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/refunds">Where's My Refund?</a> tool. Taxpayers can check the status of their refund 24 hours after the IRS acknowledges receipt of an e-filed return.</li>
 </ul>Taxpayers can also download the official IRS mobile app,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs2goapp">IRS2Go</a>, to check their refund status, make payments, find free tax preparation assistance, sign up for helpful tax tips and more.<h2>Adjust withholding now to avoid tax surprises next year</h2>Summer is a great time for taxpayers to check their withholding to 
avoid a tax surprise next filing season. Life events like marriage, 
divorce, having a child or a change in income can affect taxes.The IRS <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator">Tax Withholding Estimator</a>
 on IRS.gov helps employees assess their income tax, credits, 
adjustments and deductions, and determine whether they need to change 
their withholding. If a change is recommended, the estimator will 
provide instructions to update their withholding with their employer 
either online or by submitting a new <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-4">Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate</a>.<h2>File electronically</h2><a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc153">Taxpayers who requested an extension to October 17 or missed the April 18 deadline</a>&nbsp;can still prepare and e-file returns for free with <a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free">IRS Free File</a>, if they qualify. The IRS accepts <a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/e-file-options">electronically filed returns</a>
 24/7. There's no reason to wait until October 17 if filers have all the
 information and documentation they need to file an accurate return 
today. They can get their refund faster by choosing <a href="https://www.irs.gov/refunds/get-your-refund-faster-tell-irs-to-direct-deposit-your-refund-to-one-two-or-three-accounts">direct deposit</a>.Taxpayers who missed the April 18 deadline and owe should file and 
pay electronically as soon as possible to reduce penalties and interest.
 Taxpayers can make payments or set up <a href="https://www.irs.gov/payments">payment plans online</a>.<h2>Find a taxpayer assistance center</h2>The <a href="https://www.irs.gov/help/contact-your-local-irs-office">Taxpayer Assistance Center Locator tool</a>
 has a new look and feel, featuring a dynamic map, a directions button 
and two tabs for inputting search criteria. It's important to remember 
that Taxpayer Assistance Centers operate by appointment only. Taxpayers 
can make an appointment by calling the number for the office they want 
to visit.<h2>Read information in other languages</h2>Many IRS webpages are now available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Korean, Haitian Creole and Chinese. Some of the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/help/languages">multilingual resources</a> include the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxpayer-bill-of-rights">Taxpayer Bill of Rights</a>, <a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/e-file-options">e-file resources</a> and many tax <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions">forms and publications</a>.<h2>Access the Alternative Media Center</h2>At the online <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/information-about-the-alternative-media-center">Alternative Media Center</a> (AMC), taxpayers will find a variety of <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/accessible-irs-tax-products">accessible products</a>
 to help with the use of assistive technology such as screen reading 
software, refreshable Braille displays and screen magnifying software. 
These products include tax forms, instructions and publications that can
 be downloaded or viewed online as Section 508 compliant PDFs, HTML, 
eBraille, text and large print.Please note that every product is not available in all formats. For 
example, tax forms are not available as HTML. To request paper copies of
 tax forms or instructions or publications in Braille or large print, 
taxpayers can call the tax form telephone number at <a href="tel:800-829-3676">800-829-3676</a>. Taxpayers can complete <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f9000.pdf">Form 9000, Alternative Media Preference</a>PDF,
 to choose to receive their IRS tax notices in Braille, large print, 
audio or electronic formats. This includes notices about additional 
taxes or penalties owed. Taxpayers can include the completed form with 
their tax return, mail it as a standalone form to the IRS or they can 
call <a href="tel:800-829-1040">800-829-1040</a>.<h2>Keep current with IRS Tax Tips</h2>Taxpayers can <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/subscribe-to-irs-tax-tips">subscribe</a> to <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-tax-tips">IRS Tax Tips</a>
 to get easy-to-read articles sent directly to their e-mail from the 
IRS. Tax Tips are brief, to the point and cover various tax topics, like
 <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/year-round-tax-planning-all-taxpayers-should-understand-eligibility-for-credits-and-deductions">year-round tax planning</a> and <a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/understanding-taxpayer-rights-everyone-has-the-right-to-finality">understanding taxpayer rights</a>.<h2>More helpful links:</h2><ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/gig-economy-tax-center">Gig Economy Tax Center</a></li><li><a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-503">Child and Dependent Care Credit</a></li><li><a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-2">About Form W-2</a></li>
 </ul>

File a tax extension? IRS advises taking these steps soon

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-congress-donald-trump-subpoenas-government-and-politics-af491858a41ce4f42416fe3a7131592e">Abruptly raising the question of witness tampering, the Jan. 6 committee</a>&nbsp;revealed Tuesday that Donald Trump had attempted to contact a person who was talking to the panel about its investigation of the former president and the 2021 attack on the Capitol.

“We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously,” said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. She said the committee had notified the Justice Department.

The person Trump tried to contact declined to answer or respond to his call, Cheney said. Instead the person alerted their lawyer who contacted the committee.

The disclosure by Cheney was not the first time the panel has raised concerns about witnesses being contacted by Trump's team in ways that could reflect or at least create the appearance of inappropriate influence. It divulged examples last week of other times witnesses have received outreach from Trump allies, some suggesting he was aware they were talking to the committee, ahead of testimony before the panel.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The hearing Tuesday was the seventh for the Jan. 6 committee. Over the past month, the panel has created a narrative of a defeated Trump “detached from reality,” clinging to false claims of voter fraud and working feverishly to reverse his election defeat. It all culminated with the attack on the Capitol, the committee says.

Tuesday's session revealed details of an “unhinged” late night meeting at the White House with Donald Trump’s outside lawyers suggesting the military seize state voting machines in a last-ditch effort to pursue his false claims of voter fraud before the defeated president summoned&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">a mob to the U.S. Capitol.</a>

The committee investigating last year's attack at the Capitol is working to show how far-right extremists answered Trump's call to come for a big rally in Washington. As dozens of lawsuits and his claims of voter fraud fizzled, Trump met late into the night of Dec. 18 with attorneys at the White House before tweeting the rally invitation — “Be there, will be wild!” Members of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-donald-trump-congress-government-and-politics-e7ad5f0a566bf332477ed223abdd5f12">Proud Boys and Oath Keepers</a>&nbsp;groups are now facing rare sedition charges over the siege.

“This tweet served as a call to action -- and in some cases a call to arms.” said one panel member, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.

The panel featured&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-crime-donald-trump-presidential-elections-election-2020-fcec3b203ff165d2952ef119ef892352">new video testimony from Pat Cipollone</a>, Trump's former White House counsel, recalling the explosive meeting at the White House when Trump's outside legal team brought a draft executive order to seize states' voting machines — a “terrible idea,” he said.

“That's not how we do things in the United States,” Cipollone testified.

Another aide called the meeting “unhinged.”

Cipollone and other White House officials scrambled to intervene in the late-night meeting Trump was having with attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, retired national security aide Michael Flynn and the head of the online retail company Overstock. It erupted in shouting and screaming, another aide testified.

“Where is the evidence?" Cipollone demanded of the false claims of voter fraud.

"What they were proposing, I thought, was nuts," testified another White House official, Eric Herschmann.

But Trump was intrigued and essentially told his White House lawyers that at least Powell and outside allies were trying to do something.

“You guys are not tough enough,” Giuliani in video testimony recalled the president telling the White House attorneys. “You guys are p——-,” he said, using crass language.

As night turned to morning, Trump tweeted the call for supporters to come to Washington on Jan. 6, when Congress would be tallying the Electoral College results. “Be there. Will be wild,” Trump wrote.

The panel showed graphic and violent text messages and played videos of right-wing figures, including Alex Jones, and others laying out that Jan. 6 would be the day they fight for the president.

In vulgar and often racist language the messages beaming across the far-right forums planned for the big day that they said Trump was asking for in Washington. It would be a “red wedding,” said one, a reference to mass killing. “Bring handcuffs."

Several members of the U.S. Capitol Police who fought the mob that day sat stone-faced in the front row of the committee room.

“The problem of politicians whipping up mob violence to destroy fair elections is the oldest domestic enemy of constitutional democracy,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., in opening remarks.

At the witness table to testify in person was Jason Van Tatenhove, an ally of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes. Another witness was Stephen Ayres, who pleaded guilty last month to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building. He has said that on Jan. 2, 2021, he posted an image stating that Trump was “calling on us to come back to Washington on January 6th for a big protest.”

The committee is probing whether the extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and QAnon adherents who had rallied for Trump before, coordinated with White House allies for Jan. 6. The Oath Keepers have denied there was any plan to storm the Capitol.

The committee began the second half of the hearing making connections between Trump allies Flynn and Roger Stone and the extremist groups who were preparing to come to Washington.

It showed showing a picture of Rhodes, the Oath Keeper leader, walking with Flynn, the former national security aide to Trump, outside the Capitol at some point.

This was the only hearing this week, as new details emerge. An expected prime-time hearing Thursday has been shelved for now.

This week's session comes after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-government-and-politics-9e7c03bb83f43fb17b4fd90d1360993d">former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson provided stunning accounts</a>&nbsp;under oath of an angry Trump who knowingly sent armed supporters to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then refused to quickly call them off as violence erupted, siding with the rioters as they searched menacingly for Vice President Mike Pence.

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-congress-donald-trump-subpoenas-government-and-politics-af491858a41ce4f42416fe3a7131592e">Abruptly raising the question of witness tampering, the Jan. 6 committee</a>&nbsp;revealed Tuesday that Donald Trump had attempted to contact a person who was talking to the panel about its investigation of the former president and the 2021 attack on the Capitol.<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rrUa0hfG6Lo?start=716" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>“We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously,” said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. She said the committee had notified the Justice Department.The person Trump tried to contact declined to answer or respond to his call, Cheney said. Instead the person alerted their lawyer who contacted the committee.The disclosure by Cheney was not the first time the panel has raised concerns about witnesses being contacted by Trump's team in ways that could reflect or at least create the appearance of inappropriate influence. It divulged examples last week of other times witnesses have received outreach from Trump allies, some suggesting he was aware they were talking to the committee, ahead of testimony before the panel.A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The hearing Tuesday was the seventh for the Jan. 6 committee. Over the past month, the panel has created a narrative of a defeated Trump “detached from reality,” clinging to false claims of voter fraud and working feverishly to reverse his election defeat. It all culminated with the attack on the Capitol, the committee says.Tuesday's session revealed details of an “unhinged” late night meeting at the White House with Donald Trump’s outside lawyers suggesting the military seize state voting machines in a last-ditch effort to pursue his false claims of voter fraud before the defeated president summoned&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">a mob to the U.S. Capitol.</a>The committee investigating last year's attack at the Capitol is working to show how far-right extremists answered Trump's call to come for a big rally in Washington. As dozens of lawsuits and his claims of voter fraud fizzled, Trump met late into the night of Dec. 18 with attorneys at the White House before tweeting the rally invitation — “Be there, will be wild!” Members of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-donald-trump-congress-government-and-politics-e7ad5f0a566bf332477ed223abdd5f12">Proud Boys and Oath Keepers</a>&nbsp;groups are now facing rare sedition charges over the siege.“This tweet served as a call to action -- and in some cases a call to arms.” said one panel member, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.The panel featured&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-crime-donald-trump-presidential-elections-election-2020-fcec3b203ff165d2952ef119ef892352">new video testimony from Pat Cipollone</a>, Trump's former White House counsel, recalling the explosive meeting at the White House when Trump's outside legal team brought a draft executive order to seize states' voting machines — a “terrible idea,” he said.“That's not how we do things in the United States,” Cipollone testified.Another aide called the meeting “unhinged.”Cipollone and other White House officials scrambled to intervene in the late-night meeting Trump was having with attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, retired national security aide Michael Flynn and the head of the online retail company Overstock. It erupted in shouting and screaming, another aide testified.“Where is the evidence?" Cipollone demanded of the false claims of voter fraud."What they were proposing, I thought, was nuts," testified another White House official, Eric Herschmann.But Trump was intrigued and essentially told his White House lawyers that at least Powell and outside allies were trying to do something.“You guys are not tough enough,” Giuliani in video testimony recalled the president telling the White House attorneys. “You guys are p——-,” he said, using crass language.As night turned to morning, Trump tweeted the call for supporters to come to Washington on Jan. 6, when Congress would be tallying the Electoral College results. “Be there. Will be wild,” Trump wrote.Immediately, the extremists reacted.The panel showed graphic and violent text messages and played videos of right-wing figures, including Alex Jones, and others laying out that Jan. 6 would be the day they fight for the president.In vulgar and often racist language the messages beaming across the far-right forums planned for the big day that they said Trump was asking for in Washington. It would be a “red wedding,” said one, a reference to mass killing. “Bring handcuffs."Several members of the U.S. Capitol Police who fought the mob that day sat stone-faced in the front row of the committee room.“The problem of politicians whipping up mob violence to destroy fair elections is the oldest domestic enemy of constitutional democracy,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., in opening remarks.At the witness table to testify in person was Jason Van Tatenhove, an ally of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes. Another witness was Stephen Ayres, who pleaded guilty last month to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building. He has said that on Jan. 2, 2021, he posted an image stating that Trump was “calling on us to come back to Washington on January 6th for a big protest.”The committee is probing whether the extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and QAnon adherents who had rallied for Trump before, coordinated with White House allies for Jan. 6. The Oath Keepers have denied there was any plan to storm the Capitol.The committee began the second half of the hearing making connections between Trump allies Flynn and Roger Stone and the extremist groups who were preparing to come to Washington.It showed showing a picture of Rhodes, the Oath Keeper leader, walking with Flynn, the former national security aide to Trump, outside the Capitol at some point.This was the only hearing this week, as new details emerge. An expected prime-time hearing Thursday has been shelved for now.This week's session comes after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-government-and-politics-9e7c03bb83f43fb17b4fd90d1360993d">former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson provided stunning accounts</a>&nbsp;under oath of an angry Trump who knowingly sent armed supporters to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then refused to quickly call them off as violence erupted, siding with the rioters as they searched menacingly for Vice President Mike Pence.Trump has said Cassidy's account is not true. But Cipollone at Friday's private session did not contradict earlier testimony. Raskin said the panel planned to use “a lot” of Cipollone's testimony.The Proud Boys have said their membership grew after Trump, during his first debate with Biden, refused to outright condemn the group but instead told them to “stand back and stand by.”The Oath Keepers had also been organizing for Jan. 6 and established a “quick response force” at a nearby hotel in Virginia, according to court filings.The panel also noted that many of the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol appeared to be QAnon believers. Federal authorities have explicitly linked at least 38 rioters to the pro-Trump conspiracy theory, according to an Associated Press review of court records.One of the most recognizable figures from the attack was a shirtless Arizona man who called himself the “QAnon Shaman,” carried a spear and wore face paint and a Viking hat with fur and horns.The panel has shown, over the course of fast-paced hearings and with eyewitness accounts from the former president's inner circle, that Trump was told “over and over," as Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said, that he had lost the election and his claims of voter fraud were just not true. Nevertheless, Trump summoned his supporters to Washington and then sent them to the Capitol in what panel Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., has called an “attempted coup.”-----WASHINGTON (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-congress-donald-trump-subpoenas-government-and-politics-af491858a41ce4f42416fe3a7131592e">Jan. 6 committee</a>&nbsp;is set to highlight the way violent far-right extremists answered Donald Trump’s “siren call” to come to Washington for a big rally, as some now face rare sedition charges over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">the deadly U.S. Capitol attack</a>&nbsp;and effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.The panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol siege convenes Tuesday for a public hearing probing what it calls the final phase of Trump's multi-pronged effort to halt Joe Biden's victory. As dozens of lawsuits and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-ap-fact-check-joe-biden-donald-trump-technology-49a24edd6d10888dbad61689c24b05a5">false claims of voter fraud</a>&nbsp;fizzled, Trump tweeted the rally invitation, a pivotal moment, the committee said.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-donald-trump-congress-government-and-politics-e7ad5f0a566bf332477ed223abdd5f12">The far-right Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and others now facing criminal charges</a>&nbsp;readily answered.“We will lay out the body of evidence that we have that talks about how the president’s tweet on the wee hours of December 19th of ‘Be there, be wild,’ was a siren call to these folks,” said one panel member, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., over the weekend on “Meet the Press.” In fact, Trump tweeted, "Be there, will be wild!”Among those expected to testify is Stephen Ayres, who pleaded guilty last month to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building. He admitted that on Jan. 2, 2021, he posted an image stating that Trump was “calling on us to come back to Washington on January 6th for a big protest." Another witness is Jason Van Tatenhove, an ally of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes. The witnesses were confirmed by someone familiar with the testimony who spoke on condition of anonymity because the witnesses had not yet been announced.This is the seventh hearing in a series that has presented numerous blockbuster revelations from the Jan. 6 committee. Over the past month, the panel has created&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-biden-presidential-elections-election-2020-congress-eb90b5a11a77fe528fa610cccb442c1e">a stark narrative of a defeated Trump “detached from reality,”</a>&nbsp;clinging to his false claims of voter fraud and working feverishly to reverse&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-wins-white-house-ap-fd58df73aa677acb74fce2a69adb71f9">his election defeat</a>. It all culminated with the deadly attack on the Capitol, the committee said.What the committee intends to probe Tuesday is whether the extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and QAnon adherents who had rallied for Trump before, coordinated with White House allies for Jan. 6. The Oath Keepers have denied there was any plan to storm the Capitol.The panel is also expected to highlight&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-crime-donald-trump-presidential-elections-election-2020-fcec3b203ff165d2952ef119ef892352">new testimony from Pat Cipollone</a>, the former White House counsel, who “was aware of every major move” Trump was making, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who will lead the session.It's the only hearing set for this week, as new details emerge. An expected prime-time hearing Thursday has been shelved for now.This week's session comes after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-government-and-politics-9e7c03bb83f43fb17b4fd90d1360993d">former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson provided stunning accounts</a>&nbsp;under oath of an angry Trump who knowingly sent armed supporters to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then refused to quickly call them off as violence erupted, siding with the rioters as they searched menacingly for Vice President Mike Pence.Trump has said Cassidy's account is not true. But Cipollone at Friday's private session did not contradict earlier testimony. Raskin said the panel planned to use “a lot” of Cipollone's testimony.The panel is expected to highlight a meeting on Dec. 18, 2020, at the White House in which former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, one-time Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and others floated ideas for overturning the election results,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-steve-bannon-politics-congress-zoe-lofgren-b1d1256bd8b51aa74f69640b90884c87">Raskin told CBS over the weekend</a>.This was days after the Electoral College had met on Dec. 14 to certify the results for Biden — a time time when other key Republicans were announcing that the election and its challenges were over.On Dec. 19, Trump would send the tweet beckoning supporters to Washington for the Jan. 6 rally, the day Congress was set to certify the Electoral College count: "Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”The Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, extremist far-right groups whose leaders and others are now facing rare sedition charges for their roles in the attack, prepared to come to Washington, according to court filings.On Dec. 29, the Proud Boys chairman posted a message on social media that said members planned to “turn out in record numbers on Jan. 6th," according to a federal indictment.The group planned to meet at the Washington Monument, its members instructed not to wear its traditional black and yellow colors, but be “incognito.”The Proud Boys have contended that membership grew after Trump, during his first debate with Biden, refused to outright condemn the group but instead told them to “stand back and stand by.”The night before Jan. 6, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio met with Rhodes at an underground parking garage, according to court filings along with images a documentary filmmaker trailing the group provided to the panel.The Oath Keepers had also been organizing for Jan. 6 and established a “quick response force” at a nearby hotel in Virginia, according to court filings.After the Capitol siege, Rhodes called someone with an urgent message for Trump, another group member has said. Rhodes was denied an chance to speak to Trump, but urged the person on the phone to tell the Republican president to call upon militia groups to fight to keep the president in power.An attorney for Rhodes recently told the committee that their client wants to testify publicly. Rhodes was already interviewed by the committee privately, and it's unlikely the panel will agree.The panel also intends to discuss the way many of the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 appeared to be QAnon believers. Federal authorities have explicitly linked at least 38 rioters to the pro-Trump conspiracy theory, according to an Associated Press review of court records.One of the most recognizable figures from the Jan. 6 attack was a shirtless Arizona man who called himself the “QAnon Shaman,” carried a spear and wore face paint and a Viking hat with fur and horns.A core belief among QAnon followers is that Trump was secretly fighting a cabal of deep state operatives, prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites who worship Satan and engage in sex trafficking of children.The panel has shown, over the course of fast-paced hearings and with eyewitness accounts from the former president's inner circle, how Trump was told “over and over” again, as Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said, that he had lost the election and his false claims of voter fraud were just not true. Nevertheless, Trump summoned his supporters to Washington and then sent them to the Capitol in what Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., has called an “attempted coup.”