Politics

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House gave final approval Tuesday to legislation that would allow around-the-clock security protection for families of Supreme Court justices, one week after a man carrying a gun, knife and zip ties was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house after threatening to kill the justice.

The Senate passed the bill unanimously last month, but it languished in the House as Democrats sought to broaden the measure to include protection for families of court employees. Republicans ramped up pressure to pass the bill after the arrest at Kavanaugh’s house, asserting that Democrats were essentially trying to intimidate the justices as the court weighs a potential landmark ruling on abortion.

The House passed the security measure overwhelmingly, 396-27. All of the votes in opposition came from Democrats.

“By passing this bill as is, we are sending a clear message to left wing radicals: you cannot intimidate Supreme Court justices,” said House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.

The Senate voted to expand security protections shortly after the leak of a draft court opinion that would overrule Roe v. Wade and sharply curtail abortion rights in roughly half the states. Supporters of the legislation said threats to the justices have increased since then, with protesters sometimes gathering outside their homes.

“We don’t have time to spare when it comes protecting the members of the court and their families,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the bill’s sponsor. “If, heaven forbid, something were to happen … shame on members of the House of Representatives. It would be on them for their failure to act on this commonsense, bipartisan bill.”

Democrats noted that the Supreme Court justices already have round-the-clock security details. They said they also supported extending security to immediate families. But they wanted “one itty bitty concession” to include security for families of court employees, such as the law clerks who work for the justices and help them prepare for cases.

“Democrats want to also protect employees and families who are getting threats from right wing activists,” said Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif.

But last week’s arrest clearly brought new emphasis to the bill and new pressure from Republicans seeking a vote. Democrats said they would pursue the protections for families of court employees separately.

“We can no longer delay in passing the only version of the bill they would apparently agree to,” Lieu said of Republicans.

In the Kavanaugh case, authorities have charged Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, California, with the attempted murder of a justice. Clad in black, he arrived by taxi outside Kavanaugh’s Maryland home around 1 a.m. Wednesday.

He spotted two U.S. marshals who were guarding the house and walked in the other direction, calling 911 to say he was having suicidal thoughts and also planned to kill Kavanaugh, according to court documents.

Roske said he found the justice’s address on the internet.

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By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday warned that a Supreme Court ruling overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion could open the door to restrictions in other areas, such as contraception and in vitro fertilization.

The Supreme Court looks set to vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling, according to a leaked initial draft majority opinion that was verified by the court, although the final official decision expected in coming weeks may differ.

Harris voiced her concerns at a meeting with constitutional law, privacy, and technology experts, and said it was vital to prepare for attacks on the right to privacy if Roe falls.

The former California attorney general and senator said she worried that “bad actors” or governments could find ways to use apps that track menstrual data or internet searches to track a woman’s reproductive history.

The collapse of Roe could also lead to restrictions on IVF procedures, depending on whether life was determined to begin with fertilization, as well as specific types of contraception, including intrauterine devices (IUDs), Harris said.

“I do believe that overturning Roe could clear the way for challenges to other fundamental rights, including the right to use contraception and same sex marriage,” she said.

Many of the 13 states that had passed so-called trigger laws – measures that would automatically ban abortion in the first and second trimesters if Roe is overturned – are also passing laws to restrict transgender, voting and gay rights.

Over the last several weeks, Harris has brought faith leaders and healthcare providers together to discuss their concerns.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, editing by Deepa Babington)

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Three women are competing for the Democratic nomination to take on U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, who said this will be his last term if he is reelected.

Scott has no Republican opposition and has raised $44 million for his pursuit of a second full six-year term.

His Democratic opponents are a state representative from the Charleston area, a local Democratic leader from Spartanburg, and an author and preservationist from Columbia. Combined, they have raised about $130,000 for the primary, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Scott, who is the U.S. Senate’s only Black Republican, has been one of South Carolina’s more popular politicians. He was a congressman when then-Gov. Nikki Haley appointed him to the Senate seat left open when Jim DeMint resigned in 2012.

Scott won more than 60% of the vote both in a 2014 special election and in his successful bid for a first full term in 2016.

He is also being touted by some as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, although he has not mentioned it himself. Scott has made several trips to Iowa, where during a visit last week a woman shouted he should run for president. Scott deftly pivoted, replying “of my homeowner’s association.”

On the Democratic side, the candidate who has raised and spent the most money is South Carolina Rep. Krystle Matthews who has taken in $90,000. Matthews is the only one of the three candidates to previously win an election. She is also running for a third term for her state House seat in Berkeley County.

Matthews said she wants to change a toxic culture that she said leads senators and others in power to strip away the rights of minorities and other people who need protection the most.

Catherine Fleming Bruce is an author who has worked on preservation projects for civil rights sites around Columbia. She supports health care for all and passing federal legislation to bolster voting rights. She served as foreperson on the state grand jury that investigated corruption in the General Assembly, leading to indictments of several Republican lawmakers in 2016 and 2017. She lost a Columbia City Council race in 2019.

Angela Geter is an Air Force veteran and former chairperson of the Spartanburg County Democratic Party. She also owns an accounting firm and was a South Carolina delegate to the 2020 Democratic National Convention. She wants to work toward bridging a gap between Democrats and Republicans, which she said has gotten so wide that she said some politicians don’t even accept indisputable facts anymore. Geter lost a primary special election for a state House seat in Spartanburg County in 2017.

Scott touts his conservative credentials and got a primetime speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention. But he has also noted his work with Democrats on police reform legislation.

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Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s primary Tuesday will determine whether Republican Gov. Henry McMaster gets to run for a second full term that would make him the longest-serving governor in the state’s history, while five Democratic gubernatorial candidates are vying for their party’s nomination.

McMaster faces one candidate for the Republican nomination. Harrison Musselwhite is a trucker and former businessman who says he is running to allow open carry of guns, prevent any government vaccine mandates and eliminate state income taxes.

McMaster has raised $5 million for his reelection bid, while Musselwhite, who uses and campaigns with the nickname Trucker Bob, has not reported any campaign contributions, according to state ethics filings.

Governors in South Carolina are limited to two four-year terms, but if McMaster wins the primary and November’s election, he will have the chance to serve an unprecedented 10 years in office. That’s because he automatically ascended to the role from his lieutenant governor seat in January 2017 when Nikki Haley resigned to take a job in then-President Donald Trump’s administration. McMaster served out Haley’s last two years before getting elected in his own right in 2018.

On the Democratic side, five candidates are seeking the gubernatorial nomination: former U.S. House member Joe Cunningham, state Sen. Mia McLeod, health care administrator Carlton Boyd, barber and musician Calvin “CJ Mack” McMillan and Vietnam veteran and former postal worker William H. “Cowboy” Williams.

Most of the attention has been focused on Cunningham and McLeod, who have also raised the most money. Cunningham has received $1.8 million, while McLeod has taken in about $500,000.

Both candidates have spent time in local party gatherings, trying to generate grassroots support and emphasizing their differences with McMaster instead of each other. In their one debate Friday after early voting ended, Cunningham and McLeod again spent more time targeting the Republican governor than they did their three Democratic opponents — only one of whom answered the invitation to debate.

McLeod also had a personal tiff on Twitter with Democratic House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, suggesting infidelity and nepotism after Rutherford endorsed Cunningham and said McLeod had done little in her 10 years in the General Assembly.

McLeod often introduces herself as the first Black woman to run for governor in South Carolina, though she says her main purpose for running isn’t to make history, but to make a difference. She said South Carolina needs an alternative to the string of “Republican Light” Democratic men who have run and lost the past five gubernatorial races.

Cunningham has campaigned with a number of splashy promises such as legalizing sports gambling and recreational marijuana use.

He also insists that he is best positioned to beat McMaster. Cunningham cites his ideas and youthfulness, and has repeatedly highlighted the 35-year age gap between him and the governor. Cunningham is 40. McMaster is 75. Cunningham also contends that anything the incumbent governor hopes to accomplish with four more years of public service should have been done in his first four decades as a politician.

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Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.

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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Paul LePage, the Republican whose two terms as Maine’s governor were dominated by his offensive rhetoric and combative leadership, is seeking a political comeback.

With no opposition, LePage will coast to the Republican nomination for governor on Tuesday, setting up a fierce general election campaign against Democratic incumbent Gov. Janet Mills. The race is among just a handful of competitive governor’s contests in this year’s midterm elections.

The matchup revives a rivalry between LePage and Mills that dates to the days when he was governor and she was attorney general. LePage sued Mills for refusing to defend his administration during several political disagreements that reached a boiling point over then-President Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries. LePage had to pay to use outside counsel.

But this time, they are facing off in a dramatically different political climate.

LePage moved to Florida after leaving office in 2019 but returned a year later and decided to mount a third campaign. He has the full backing of the Republican Party, which has allowed him to focus his energy and financial resources on the general election. Mills, for her part, is seeking reelection in a difficult year for Democrats, weighed down by President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings and widespread frustration with the party’s management of inflation and gas prices.

The campaign is emerging as a barometer of whether voters this year will be motivated by economic anxiety or political civility.

LePage is fond of calling himself “Trump before Donald Trump became popular,” and he retains a solid following among conservatives. A former city councilor and mayor in Waterville, he was narrowly elected governor in 2010 in a five-way race.

He won plaudits during his tenure for advancing conservative policies, including lowering the tax burden and shrinking Maine’s welfare rolls by tightening eligibility requirements and capping the length of some benefits.

But his policy agenda was often overshadowed by his penchant to offend. During a time of rising animosity toward the media, he joked that he wanted to bomb a newspaper. He told the Portland chapter of the NAACP to “kiss my butt” and dismissed the dangers of an industrial chemical by saying the “worst case is some women may have little beards.” He was considered one of the nation’s most vulnerable governors when he ran for reelection in 2014.

David Capuano, a Brunswick resident who’s not enrolled in either party, said he’s in the camp of voters who believe LePage should go away.

“This guy is a mini-Donald Trump,” Capuano said. “The man is a bully and a loudmouth. I don’t like bullies.”

Ray Richardson, a Republican and radio talk show host at WLOB in Portland, said people remember that LePage did some good things during his eight years. He said LePage is “laser-focused” on addressing new problems.

“He’s a known quantity. We were enduring good times under him,” Richardson said. “He left Maine in a good place.”

For her part, when Mills came into office in 2019, her first action was to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act — something LePage had refused to do. She borrowed a Republican idea to return the bulk of a $1.2 billion budget surplus to taxpayers in the form of $850 inflationary relief checks. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, she issued an executive order requiring residents to wear masks, and she later implemented a vaccine mandate for health care workers, angering conservatives who felt their civil rights were being trampled.

LePage criticized what he described as Mills’ heavy-handed response to the pandemic, and he has repeatedly sought to link her to Biden.

“Never have we witnessed so many destructive public policies all at one time,” LePage told fellow Republicans.

At her party convention, Mills touted her fiscal stewardship and said of LePage, “We won’t go back.”

“We recorded historic budget surpluses because of good management,” Mills said. “We rejected tax increases on Maine people and instead delivered tax relief, including an income tax cut for retirees.”

The campaign carries historic significance. Mills is the state’s first female governor, and a LePage win would make him Maine’s longest-serving governor.

The Maine Constitution prohibits a governor from seeking a third consecutive term, but a two-term candidate can run again after skipping a cycle. The last candidate to attempt that, Democrat Joe Brennan, failed to win a third term in elections in 1990 and 1994.

So far, Mills is outraising LePage more than 2-to-1, collecting $3.2 million compared to the nearly $1.5 million raised for LePage, according to campaign financial disclosures.

This year, unlike his last two campaigns, LePage won’t have the help of a big-spending spoiler to siphon votes from the Democratic candidate. LePage didn’t win a majority of the vote in his successful 2010 and 2014 campaigns when he ran against candidates who included independent Eliot Cutler, who won nearly 36% of the vote in 2010 and over 8% in 2014.

The only independent running in this year’s election is Sam Hunkler, a physician and political newcomer who has a self-imposed spending cap of $5,000.

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Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.

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By Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON(Reuters) – Top advisers to then-President Donald Trump told him that his claims of widespread election fraud were unfounded and would not reverse his 2020 election loss, but he refused to listen, according to testimony on Monday at a hearing of the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Close aides and family members said they told Trump that they found no merit in a wide range of often outlandish allegations that surfaced after his election defeat, including reports of a “suspicious suitcase” containing fake ballots, a truck transporting ballots to Pennsylvania and computer chips swapped into voting machines.

“I thought, boy, if he really believes this stuff he has lost contact with, he’s become detached from reality,” said William Barr, who served as Trump’s attorney general and was long known as loyal to the Republican president. In video testimony, Barr bluntly dismissed claims of fraud as “bullshit” and “crazy stuff.”

“There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were,” he said.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives Select Committee investigating the assault on the U.S. Capitol by thousands of Trump supporters presented its findings at the second of an expected six this month on its nearly year-long investigation into the riot.

Monday’s hearing sought to make the case that Trump ignored the advice of many of his own staffers when he claimed that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from him.

Committee members argue that Trump’s repeated fraud claims, known by Democrats as “The Big Lie,” convinced his followers to attack the Capitol.

“He and his closest advisors knew those claims were false, but they continued to peddle them anyway, right up until the moments before a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol,”

Democrats said Trump raised some $250 million from supporters to advance fraud claims in court but instead steered much of the money elsewhere.

“The ‘Big Lie’ was also a big ripoff,” Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren said.

Trump has denied wrongdoing, and repeatedly insisted that he did not lose, dismissing the Select Committee investigation as a political witchhunt.

Opinion polls show that many of Trump’s supporters still believe his false claims about the election. Some are now running for offices in which they would oversee future elections. Trump has hinted at running for president again in 2024 but has not announced any decision.

CAMPAIGN ‘DID NOT MAKE ITS CASE’

Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager, said he recommended on election night that Trump steer clear of any pronouncement of victory and instead say votes were still being counted.

“He thought I was wrong. He told me so, and that they were going to go, that he was going to go in a different direction,” Stepien said in videotaped testimony. Stepien was slated to testify in person, but cancelled at the last minute when his wife went into labor.

Trump went on television to preemptively declare victory at the urging of Rudy Giuliani, a former New York City mayor. Campaign advisor Jason Miller testified that Giuliani was not sober at the time.

“The mayor was definitely intoxicated but I, um, did not know his level of intoxication when he spoke with the president, for example,” Miller said in video testimony.

Byung J. “BJay” Pak, who resigned as U.S. attorney in Atlanta as Trump’s camp questioned Georgia’s election results, said he found no evidence of fraud in that state.

Referring to the suspicious suitcase that supposedly contained fake or altered ballots, Pak said, sitting at the witness table: “The alleged black suitcase being pulled from under the table was an official lock box.”

Monday’s session followed a blockbuster hearing on Thursday night featuring testimony showing that close Trump allies – even Trump’s daughter Ivanka – rejected his false claims of voting fraud. Nearly 20 million Americans watched the hearing aired in the primetime peak television viewing hours.

Four people died the day of the attack, one fatally shot by police and the others of natural causes. Some 140 police officers were injured, and one died the next day. Four officers later died by suicide.

Nearly 850 people have been arrested for crimes related to the riot, including more than 250 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Richard Cowan and Doina Chiacu, additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Alistair Bell)

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By Gabriella Borter

(Reuters) – If the U.S. Supreme Court votes to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, conservative states will have more confidence that their new limits on abortion will stand while liberal states will feel more urgency to protect and expand abortion rights.

Here are some restrictions and protections state legislatures have taken up in 2022:

ABORTION RESTRICTIONS

ARIZONA: Republican Governor Doug Ducey in March signed a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The measure makes exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for rape or incest. It will take effect later this year if not blocked in court.

FLORIDA: Republican Governor Ron DeSantis in April signed a 15-week abortion ban, which allows exceptions for medical emergencies or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality. The exceptions do not allow for abortion past 15 weeks in case of rape, incest or human trafficking. The ban is due to take effect on July 1.

IDAHO: Republican Governor Brad Little signed a six-week abortion ban in March that allows family members of the fetus to sue providers who perform abortions past that point, similar to a Texas law enacted last year. The Idaho law was due to take effect in April, but has been blocked by the state Supreme Court. A hearing is set for August.

KENTUCKY: The legislature in April Louisiana lawmakers in June gave final approval overrode Democratic Governor Andy Beshear’s veto to enact several abortion restrictions, including a 15-week ban, a requirement that fetal remains be cremated or interred, and a requirement that a combination birth-death or stillbirth certificate be issued for each abortion. The law took immediate effect, suspending clinics’ ability to provide abortions for eight days until a U.S. judge temporarily blocked its enforcement.

LOUISIANA: Louisiana lawmakers in June gave final approval to a bill that would strengthen the state’s trigger law, which goes into effect if Roe is overturned. The measure bans all abortions except in medical emergencies and increases the criminal penalties for healthcare workers who provide abortions to a maximum $100,000 fine and 10 years in jail. Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards has approved abortion restrictions in the past and is expected to sign the legislation.

OKLAHOMA: Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican, this spring signed three laws restricting or banning abortion.

The law signed on May 26 banned all abortions except in cases of medical emergency, rape or incest. It took effect immediately and shut down the state’s abortion services. It relies on private citizens to sue providers and any person who “aids or abets” abortions to be enforced.

Earlier in May, Stitt signed a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. It relies on the same lawsuit enforcement mechanism and also took effect immediately.

A bill signed in April bans abortion except in medical emergencies and penalizes providers who violate the law with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison. The law is due to take effect in August.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Republican Governor Kristi Noem signed a bill in March requiring women to make three in-person doctor’s visits to complete a medication abortion. A federal judge temporarily blocked the law from taking effect in response to a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood. In May, a federal appeals court put the case on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case involving federal abortion rights.

ABORTION PROTECTIONS

COLORADO: Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, signed a bill on April 4 codifying the right to have an abortion. The measure immediately took effect.

CONNECTICUT: In May, Democratic Governor Ned Lamont signed a bill that protects anyone who provides abortions, has an abortion or assists someone having an abortion from other states’ restrictions. Among other provisions, the measure bars state agencies from assisting in interstate investigations seeking to hold someone civilly or criminally liable for getting or aiding an abortion. The law is due to take effect July 1.

MARYLAND: The legislature passed a bill that expands the definition of who can provide abortions to include any “qualified provider,” establishes a state-funded abortion provider training program and requires most insurance plans to cover the cost of abortions. Republican Governor Larry Hogan vetoed the bill, but the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature overrode his veto on April 9 and the law is due to take effect July 1.

NEW YORK: Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday signed legislation that protects the state’s abortion providers and patients from other states’ penalties on abortion. The laws, which took immediate effect, allow individuals to file claims against anyone who sues or brings charges against them for facilitating or obtaining an abortion, and prohibit state courts from cooperating in civil or criminal lawsuits stemming from abortions that took place in New York.

VERMONT: The Democratic-led legislature in February passed a constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to abortion. It will be on the ballot for voters to approve in November.

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Marguerita Choy)

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By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday endorsed a bipartisan Senate gun-safety proposal as “meaningful progress” as he announced new gun-trafficking charges in an effort to crack down on the gun violence plaguing America.

“We do think that at least the framework that I read about this morning with respect to the bipartisan negotiations would be meaningful progress in that direction,” Garland said at a news conference.

Garland’s comments came one day after a bipartisan group of senators announced a gun safety bill designed to win approval by Republicans and Democrats alike.

President Joe Biden’s administration is facing mounting pressure to take action in the wake of last month’s mass-shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

Garland said a Justice Department strike force focused on firearms trafficking had charged a Texas man for illegal purchases and re-sales of 92 guns, 16 of which were later recovered in connection with homicides, assaults and drug trafficking.

“We are cracking down on the criminal gun-trafficking pipelines that flood our communities with illegal guns,” Garland said.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Lisa Shumaker)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Rudy Giuliani, one of Donald Trump’s primary lawyers during the then-president’s failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, must now answer to professional ethics charges, the latest career slap after law license suspensions in New York and the District of Columbia.

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the disciplinary branch of the District of Columbia Bar, filed the charges against the former federal prosecutor and New York mayor alleging that he promoted unsubstantiated voter fraud claims in Pennsylvania. The action was filed June 6 and became public Friday.

At issue are claims Giuliani made in supporting a Trump campaign lawsuit seeking to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania. That suit, which sought to invalidate as many as 1.5 million mail-in ballots, was dismissed by courts.

The counsel’s office said Giuliani’s conduct violated Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct “in that he brought a proceeding and asserted issues therein without a non-frivolous basis in law and fact for doing so” and “that he engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.”

The counsel asked that the D.C. Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility take up the matter. Giuliani has 20 days to respond, according to the filing. An attempt Saturday to reach a lawyer for Giuliani was unsuccessful.

The step is the latest against Giuliani for his role in Trump’s debunked claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent.

Last June, an appeals court suspended him from practicing law in New York because he made false statements while trying to get courts to overturn Trump’s loss. An attorney disciplinary committee had asked the court to suspend his license on the grounds that he had violated professional conduct rules as he promoted theories that the election was stolen through fraud.

The D.C. Bar temporarily suspended him last July although the practical implication of that action is questionable, given that Giuliani’s law license in Washington has been inactive since 2002.

News of the counsel’s action follows the first public hearing by the House committee investigating the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Giuliani met for hours with the committee last month.

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DALLAS (AP) — There is little evidence that gasoline prices, which hit a record $5 a gallon on Saturday, will drop anytime soon.

Everyone seems to have a favorite villain for the high cost of filling up.

Many blame President Joe Biden and his policies that they say are hurting the petroleum industry. Others say it’s because Russian President Vladimir Putin recklessly invaded Ukraine, even though prices were going up before that occured. Democrats in Congress accuse the oil companies of price gouging.

As with many things in life, the answer is complicated.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Gasoline prices have been surging since April 2020, when the initial shock of the pandemic drove prices under $1.80 a gallon, according to government figures. They hit $3 in May 2021 and cruised past $4 this March.

State averages ranged from $6.43 a gallon in California to $4.52 in Mississippi.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

Several factors are coming together to push gasoline prices higher.

Global oil prices have been rising — unevenly, but sharply overall — since December. The price of international crude has roughly doubled in that time, with the U.S. benchmark rising nearly as much, closing Friday at more than $120 a barrel.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions by the United States and its allies have contributed to the rise. Russia is a leading oil producer.

The United States is the world’s largest oil producer, but U.S. capacity to turn oil into gasoline is down 900,000 barrels of oil per day since the end of 2019, according to the Energy Department.

Tighter oil and gasoline supplies are hitting as energy consumption rises because of the economic recovery.

Finally, Americans typically drive more starting around Memorial Day, adding to the demand for gasoline.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO GET MORE OIL?

Analysts say there are no quick fixes; it’s a matter of supply and demand, and supply can’t be ramped up overnight.

If anything, the global oil supply will grow tighter as sanctions against Russia take hold. European Union leaders have vowed to ban most Russian oil by the end of this year.

The U.S. has already imposed a ban even as Biden acknowledged it would affect American consumers. He said the ban was necessary so that the U.S. does not subsidize Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Defending freedom is going to cost,” he declared.

The U.S. could ask Saudi Arabia, Venezuela or Iran to help pick up the slack for the expected drop in Russian oil production, but each of those options carries its own moral and political calculations.

Republicans have called on Biden to help increase domestic oil production — for example, by allowing drilling on more federal lands and offshore, or reversing his decision to revoke a permit for a pipeline that could carry Canadian oil to Gulf Coast refineries.

However, many Democrats and environmentalists would howl if Biden took those steps, which they say would undercut efforts to limit climate change. Even if Biden ignored a big faction of his own party, it would be months or years before those measures could lead to more gasoline at U.S. service stations.

At the end of March, Biden announced another tapping of the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bring down gasoline prices. The average price per gallon has jumped 77 cents since then, which analysts say is partly because of a refining squeeze.

WHY IS U.S. REFINING DOWN?

Some refineries that produce gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and other petroleum products shut down during the first year of the pandemic, when demand collapsed. While a few are expected to boost capacity in the next year or so, others are reluctant to invest in new facilities because of Administration policies and a transition to electric vehicles would reduce demand for gasoline over the long run.

The owner of one of the nation’s largest refineries, in Houston, announced in April that it will close the facility by the end of next year.

WHO IS HURTING?

Higher energy prices hit lower-income families the hardest. Workers in retail and the fast-food industry can’t work from home — they must commute by car or public transportation.

The National Energy Assistance Directors Association estimates that the 20% of families with the lowest income could be spending 38% of their income on energy including gasoline this year, up from 27% in 2020.

WHEN WILL IT END?

It could be up to motorists themselves — by driving less, they would reduce demand and put downward pressure on prices.

“There has got to be some point where people start cutting back, I just don’t know what the magic point is,” said Patrick De Haan, an analyst for the gas-shopping app GasBuddy. “Is it going to be $5? Is it going to be $6, or $7? That’s the million-dollar question that nobody knows.”

HOW ARE DRIVERS COPING?

On Saturday morning at a BP station in Brooklyn, New York, computer worker Nick Schaffzin blamed Putin for the $5.45 per gallon he was shelling out and said he will make sacrifices to pay the price.

“You just cut back on some other things — vacations, discretionary stuff, stuff that’s nice to have but you don’t need,” he said. “Gas you need.”

At the same station, George Chen said he will have to raise the prices he charges his customers for film production to cover the gas he burns driving around New York City. He acknowledged that others aren’t so fortunate.

“It’s going to be painful for people who don’t get pay increases right away,” he said. ”I can only imagine the families who can’t afford it.”

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