Politics and views in the United States.

House Republicans consider arresting Merrick Garland. Abortion bans are proving to be expensive for states, and data suggest Biden's snap immigration executive orders are working.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2024 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

This is something that again would enable the Speaker of the House to order the Sergeant at Arms to take into custody the Attorney General if he fails to comply with our request.

Florida Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna will force a vote on an inherent contempt resolution against Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Garland was held in contempt of Congress for not turning over tapes of President Joe Biden's interview with Special Prosecutor Robert Herr, but the Department of Justice, led by the AG, has refused to act.

Inherent contempt requires the House Sergeant at Arms to bring the accused before the chamber to be tried and possibly detained.

Like much of what the House has done recently, this hasn't happened in almost a century.

While some wonder if this will distract from governing, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson says having the audio is imperative.

We've got to have the audio tape to confirm what is on the written transcript.

There's been admission that they edited the transcript in some ways.

We need to know in what ways and why is it so important?

Speaker Johnson says he's eager to see Trump's performance at tonight's televised debate, arguing Biden will pale by comparison to the former president.

He says Trump's plans for the country will settle any doubts.

The Biden campaign is dismissing Trump camp charges the president will use drugs to improve his debate performance.

One spokesperson calls demands for a drug test silly.

Two years after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v.

Wade, a Guttmacher Institute report says the number of abortions increased and more are via medications.

Also new analysis from the Institute for Women's Policy Research shows financial costs of abortion bans.

Dr. Jamila Kaye-Taylor is with the IWPR.

The 16 states that have either an abortion ban or extreme restriction cost the national economy $68 billion alone.

For states that actually protect abortion, those states actually reduce these costs.

Their research says Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri would have slightly higher GDPs if they removed abortion restrictions, while women's labor force participation nationwide would vastly increase.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden's executive actions to limit southern border crossings seem to be working.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says there have been significant changes.

Border patrol encounters have dropped by over 40 percent.

We are removing more noncitizens without a legal basis to stay here, nearly doubling the rate at which we are removing noncitizens directly from border patrol custody.

Yesterday marked the 11th anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling on Shelby County v. Holder, which overturned parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and made it easier for states to put up barriers to voting.

Alabama Democratic Representative Terry Sewell says the impacts since the decision are devastating for voters' rights.

We have seen 31 states institute at least 103 new laws to restrict voting access.

And it is no surprise that those laws disproportionately target black and minority voters.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.