Dwight Stirling, The Conversation Less than a month after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin took the extraordinary step of pausing all operations for 24 hours to “address extremism in the ranks.” Pentagon officials had been shaken by service members’ prominent role …
Read More »Biden Signs Bill Aiding Veterans Exposed To Toxic Burn Pits
Jennifer Shutt, Nevada Current President Joe Biden signed legislation into law Wednesday that will provide health care and benefits to veterans exposed to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq, achieving a long-term, personal goal. “I was in and out of Iraq over 20 times,” Biden said of prior trips to …
Read More »Biden Administration Proposes Changing How Monkeypox Vaccine Is Administered
Jennifer Shutt, Ohio Capital Journal The Biden administration began encouraging health care providers Tuesday to change the way they’re administering vaccines to protect against monkeypox, in an attempt to stretch out doses fivefold. The latest shift in strategy comes as the administration races to curtail the spread of the virus, …
Read More »FBI Search Of Trump Home Was Likely Vetted Carefully, Despite Republicans’ Claims Of A Witch Hunt
Matthew Choi, The Texas Tribune The FBI raid Monday on former President Donald Trump has Texas Republicans rallying to his defense, echoing his unfounded claims that it was a political hit job. But legal experts assert there would have been a very high standard of probable cause to execute such …
Read More »Trump Pleads the Fifth in New York AG Probe
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday refused to answer questions from New York Attorney General Letitia James about his business dealings, explaining he was invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. “I have absolutely no choice because the current administration and many prosecutors in this country have lost all moral …
Read More »Federal Appeals Court Says House Committee Can Get Trump’s Tax Returns
On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously ruled that the House Committee on Ways and Means can review Donald Trump’s tax returns for 2015 to 2020. The chair of the committee, Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), initially requested that the …
Read More »McMichaels Get Federal Life Sentence For Hate Crime In Arbery Killing
Jill Nolin, Georgia Recorder At the federal courthouse in Brunswick Monday, U.S. District Judge Lisa G. Wood used an even-tempered and soft voice to express her indignation for three men convicted in Coastal Georgia’s most notorious hate crime: the racially charged murder of Ahmaud Arbery. “A young man is dead,” …
Read More »Sinema Received Over $500K From Private Equity Before Shielding Industry From Tax Hikes
Kenny Stancil, Common Dreams Senate Democrats passed a pared-backed reconciliation package on Sunday, but only after a pair of widely supported provisions that would have made it harder for Wall Street tycoons to reduce their tax bills were removed at the behest of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema—the right-wing Arizona Democrat who …
Read More »Former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Largo Home Searched By FBI
Former President Donald Trump announced that FBI agents had conducted a raid of his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, and some House Republicans were quick to take his side. It was not immediately clear what the FBI may have been seeking, though the former president made a point of saying in …
Read More »At CPAC, Conservatives Show Donald Trump Loyalty And Support For Another Presidential Run
William Melhado, The Texas Tribune In the corner of the brightly lit, heavily bannered conference hall for this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, an empty jail cell sets the scene of a Make America Great Again performance art piece. A sign fixed to the exterior of the cell warns “#younext.” …
Read More »‘What the Hell is Wrong With Them’: GOP Senators Kill $35 Cap on Insulin
Senate Republicans on Sunday successfully stripped a proposed $35 per month cap on out-of-pocket spending on insulin for patients enrolled in private insurance from the tax and climate bill making its way through the Senate. The Senate parliamentarian had earlier ruled that the provision, sponsored by Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael …
Read More »After Slow Response, Biden Administration Ramps Up Abortion Access Protections
Mariel Padilla, The 19th After a relatively subdued response to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the Biden administration had a busy week in reproductive rights policy. The executive office made several moves to protect abortion access across the country and delay state restrictions. Some lawmakers continued to …
Read More »Senate Passes Major Health, Tax And Climate Bill In Boost For Democrats
Ariana Figueroa, New Jersey Monitor The U.S. Senate, along party lines, passed a sweeping energy, health care, climate and tax package Sunday afternoon, following an overnight marathon of votes that resulted in just a handful of notable changes to the legislation. The 755-page bill was passed after Vice President Kamala …
Read More »Gen. Michael Langley Becomes First Black 4-Star Marine General
Gen. Michael E. Langley became the first Black four-star Marine General in a ceremony in Washington on Saturday. He will take command of the U.S. Africa Command, based in Germany. “I’m humbled and honored for the opportunity to take on the stewardship of AFRICOM command with the four-star billet, but …
Read More »Transportation Dept. Proposes New Rules Making It Easier For Airline Travelers To Get Refunds
The Department of Transportation(DOT) proposed a rule change last week that would require airlines to refund a customer’s ticket if a domestic flight is delayed by more than three hours. The DOT said the proposed rule change would strengthen the agency’s current directive that requires airlines to refund travelers if …
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