Nancy Pelosi rejects Trump impeachment calls following Mueller testimony – live | US news

Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW of North America have struck a deal with California to produce more fuel-efficient cars in the US.

The agreement could undercut the Trump administration’s efforts to relax gas mileage standards for American cars.

The Washington Post reports:

Mary D. Nichols, California’s top air pollution regulator, said in an interview Wednesday that she sees the agreement as a potential ‘olive branch’ to the Trump administration and hopes it joins the deal, which she said gives automakers flexibility in meeting emissions goals without the ‘massive backsliding’ contained in the White House’s current proposal. …

In a joint statement, the four companies said their decision to hash out a deal with California was driven by a need for predictability, as well as a desire to reduce compliance costs, keep vehicles affordable for customers and be good environmental stewards.

Trump is up and tweeting about the two-year budget deal that would raise the debt ceiling and end painful annual spending cuts.

The president’s unequivocal endorsement should relieve House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. When the deal between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House speaker Nancy Pelosi was announced, Trump said he was “pleased” with the agreement. But the lack of a full-throated endorsement worried some Republicans, particularly given a handful of conservatives’ complaints about the deal.

Trump’s endorsement should quiet those concerns before Congress votes on the bill — assuming the president doesn’t change his mind, which is always possible.

Good morning, live blog readers!

Washington is still processing everything we heard from special counsel Robert Mueller yesterday during his hearings before two House panels. But one (very important) person seems to have already reached a conclusion: Nancy Pelosi.

The House speaker rebuffed judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler’s entreaties to launch impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump during a closed-door meeting yesterday after Mueller’s appearance. Pelosi called Nadler’s idea to begin drafting articles of impeachment premature, standing by her insistence that the “slow, methodical approach” was the way to go.

Pelosi is sure to be asked about her position on impeachment during a media availability later today. Here are a few other things the blog is keeping its eye on:

• Jeffrey Epstein was found unconscious in his Manhattan jail cell with injuries to the neck, the New York Post reports. The wealthy financier was denied bail last week and is awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in New York.
• Puerto Rico’s governor Ricardo Rosselló announced he would resign effective 2 August, our colleague Oliver Laughland reports. Rosselló has faced nearly two weeks of protests over misogynistic and homophobic comments he made in leaked text messages.
• US rapper A$AP Rocky has been charged with assault in Sweden. The artist has been in custody for more than three weeks following a fight in Stockholm late last month, and Trump has said he would reach out to Swedish authorities to discuss securing Rocky’s release.
• The House judiciary committee will hold a hearing at 10 am EDT on migrant family separations and the conditions of migrant detention centers.

The blog is covering all of that and more today. Stay tuned.