WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on House Democrats' strategy session (all times local):
5:55 p.m.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is criticizing congressional Republicans for failing to stand up to President Donald Trump, even as Trump is "shredding" some of the nation's core values and launching an "all-out attack" on the news media and courts.
Biden says too many Republicans were silent as Trump gave "comfort and safe harbor" to neo-Nazis and white nationalists last summer in Charlottesville, Virginia. He also says Republicans have failed to protect special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
Addressing House Democrats at a strategy session Wednesday at the Capitol, Biden says Republicans appear willing "to do anything to protect this president, no matter how much it means abandoning their core principles."
Biden says he's confident Democrats will take back the House majority this fall.
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11:45 p.m.
Democrats are heading into the November elections with an energized party base, an unpopular president to rail against and a growing wave of GOP retirements. Now they just need a clear message.
In recent weeks, lawmakers have zigzagged from digging in against President Donald Trump — even forcing a government shutdown — to trying to cut deals. They've played to their core supporters on immigration, only to shift quickly to the middle on spending. They've amplified news about the Russia investigation and dueling classified memos, at the risk of drowning out their objections to Trump's economic policies.
Democrats had planned to retreat to Maryland's Eastern Shore to discuss 2018 strategy Wednesday, but instead were stuck in Washington locked in an immigration and spending debate that put their divisions on full display.
