Biden speech live today: President to say US must turn ‘peril into possibility’ in joint address to Congress

In addition to speaking to a mostly virtual, Covid-safe audience, Joe Biden’s address to Congress tonight reflects historic developments in another way: it will mark the first time both a female vice-president and House speaker will take the stage for such a speech.

More info on that one here.

Joe Biden has changed much of what the Trump administration did when it was in office, but the president plans to retain Thomas Monheim as inspector general overseeing US intelligence agencies.

He’ll be in charge of investigating and auditing 18 agencies and reviewing whistleblower complaints. Mr Monheim first rose to the position in the Trump administration after his predecessor was fired for his role in the first Trump impeachment.

Joe Biden has an overall approval rating of about 60 per cent heading towards the end of his first 100 days in office, according to a new poll. That’s 12 points higher than Donald Trump’s own rating during the same period.

First Lady Jill Biden has invited five guests to virtually attend President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.

Because of Covid-19 protocols, guests will not sit in the traditional viewing box in the House chamber to listen to the speech.

Each of her guests represent a community impacted by the policies he will address in his remarks.

Javier Quiroz Castro, a registered nurse from Mexico who lives in Houston, is recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme for people who arrived in the US with migrant families as children.

Alex Woodward has more here.

Three men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer have had new charges added after a grand jury accused them of planning to use “weapons of mass destruction” to blow up a bridge, the Justice Department said.

Adam Fox, 40, of Wyoming, Michigan; Barry Croft Junior, 45, of Bear, Delaware; and Daniel Joseph Harris, 23, of Lake Orion, Michigan, have been charged with conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, in addition to a kidnapping conspiracy charge in October, Reuters reported today.

The justice department accuses them of planning to delay or harm Governor Whitmer’s security detail and nearby police officers by destroying a bridge near her holiday home, a Justice Department statement said.

Alice Hutton has more here.

According to the publication, investigators seized several electronic devices during the raid.

The Independent has contacted the Manhattan US Attorney’s office for a comment.

Mr Giuliani’s lawyer Bob Costello called the raid “totally unnecessary” and said it was only for “bad publicity” to “make him [Rudy] look like he’s some sort of criminal.” according to Fox News.

The search warrant suggests that federal authorities were further pursuing their investigation into whether Mr Giuliani, who previously served as New York City’s mayor, illegally lobbied the Trump administration on behalf of Ukranian officials and oligarchs in 2019 ahead of the 2020 election. Danielle Zoellner has the scoop on this one here.

The main event in DC politics will be Joe Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress, but as ever, there’s no shortage of Donald Trump insults making their way around the capitol

Donald Trump has continued his targeted criticism of Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, saying she is looking for a “way out” of her Congressional race after she refused to rule out a 2024 presidential run this week.

In a statement released by his leadership political action committee, Save America, the former president once again lashed out at the representative, who voted to impeach Mr Trump in January.

“Liz Cheney is polling sooo low in Wyoming, and has sooo little support, even from the Wyoming Republican Party, that she is looking for a way out of her Congressional race,” Mr Trump said in a statement on Tuesday.

Louise Hall is following this intra-party spat.

Who’s really running the show in the White House? Well, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former Fox News Host and Trump campaign official who is dating Donald Trump Jr., has some theories.

“Kamala Harris is really the de facto commander in chief. She’s made it very clear,” the former Fox News host told Newsmax on Tuesday. “She’s calling the shots here. I know this, I know her a long time [sic].”

She may be confident, but Twitter, on the other hand, is not so sure about this one.

He may not be president anymore, but Donald Trump is reportedly considering still acting like it, hatching plans to head back out onto the road to once again to hold his signature MAGA rallies.

Sources close to the former president told CNN that Mr Trump has been tossing the idea around, and could return to holding live MAGA events as soon as May – just after Joe Biden’s first 100 days in office have ended.

“It will definitely be different in terms of the setup, but we got really good at planning these events in 2020, so we will probably use a lot of those same vendors again,” CNN’s source said.

Graig Graziosi has more here on how Mr Trump plans to Make America Great Again…again.

President Biden will call for strong anti-gun violence legislation during his speech to a joint session of Congress tonight, USA Today reports, including a reinstated assault weapons ban and strengthened background checks.

The plea for reform follows a season of gruesome mass shootings, from a spate of killings targeting Asian women in the Atlanta area to the mass shooting at a Colorado grocery store.