President Biden declared Florida a major disaster area Thursday morning, ordering federal aid to supplement local recovery efforts in areas affected by Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida as a Category 4 storm Wednesday afternoon. The declaration will allow federal aid to go to Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, …

Jennifer Shutt, Virginia Mercury The U.S. Senate approved broadly bipartisan legislation Thursday that would provide billions for natural disaster relief, military and economic aid to Ukraine as well as funding to help low-income families offset the rising costs of heating and cooling their homes. The legislation includes $2.5 billion in …

Jennifer Shutt, Ohio Capital Journal The U.S. Senate advanced a catchall spending package Tuesday that would provide billions to aid Ukraine’s war effort, help communities throughout the country recover from natural disasters and keep the federal government funded through mid-December. Democrats and Republicans voted 72-23 to move the measure toward …

An Iowa man was sentenced to more than seven years in prison Tuesday for restraining former DC Police Officer Mike Fanone while other rioters assaulted him on Jan. 6. Kyle Young, 38, of Redfield, Iowa, pleaded guilty in May to one felony count of assaulting, resisting or impeding a police …

This story was originally published by The 19th Candice Norwood Last year, about 6.2 million people participated in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the federal assistance service that aims to support the health and nutrition of low-income pregnant and breastfeeding people and children under …

Danielle J. Brown, Florida Phoenix As Hurricane Ian makes its entrance on the Southwest coastline, Florida utility companies have already documented hundreds of thousands of homes without power due to the impact of the intense Category 4 storm. And some worry that efforts to get families back online could take …

Matthew Choi, The Texas Tribune U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, broke from his own party in voting against a bipartisan bill that would bar him from singlehandedly objecting to presidential election results, as he did on Jan. 6, 2021. The bill, dubbed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement …

Kenny Stancil, Common Dreams Progressives responded with indignation Tuesday after Rep. Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking Democrat in the House, stated his opposition to popular legislation that aims to restrict widespread stock trading by members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children, senior government officials, and federal judges, including those on the …

A Wednesday hearing planned by the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol has been postponed due to Hurricane Ian nearing landfall in Florida. A new date has not been announced. In light of Hurricane Ian bearing down on parts of Florida, we have decided …

James Brooks, Alaska Beacon An Anchorage Superior Court Judge ruled Thursday that Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman is likely ineligible for public office but ordered that he remain on the state’s Nov. 8 election ballots, pending the result of a trial in December. Eastman is heavily favored in the general …

The Biden administration outlined a national strategy Tuesday of executive actions and legislative priorities it says will combat hunger and address diet-related conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and various cancers that plague millions of Americans. The strategy arrives the day before President Joe Biden is scheduled to address the White …

Right-wing Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona went beyond her usual defense of the filibuster on Monday to argue in favor of reinstating the Senate’s supermajority requirement for all judicial and executive branch confirmations, drawing the ire of progressives who have long criticized the upper chamber’s anti-democratic rules. “Not only …

Ariana Figueroa, Ohio Capital Journal Faith leaders pressed Congress to pass voting rights legislation, a $15 minimum wage and a permanent expansion of the child tax credit during a recent briefing on Capitol Hill. “Poverty is a policy choice,” Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign and …

The latest polls show that the gap between Cheri Beasley and Ted Budd in the North Carolina U.S. Senate race continues to narrow, while the candidates’ differences on key issues have sharpened ahead of what could be their one and only debate. Budd, who avoided debates during an extended and contentious …

Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune Veteran GOP strategist Karl Rove said Saturday that Texas’ abortion law is too extreme, underscoring an increasingly public discomfort with the measure among Republicans. Rove made the comment during an exchange at a Texas Tribune Festival panel about elections following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June …