Political News

The House on Wednesday passed bipartisan legislation that prohibits employers from using pre-dispute non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) or non-disparagement clauses to silence survivors of workplace sexual assault and harassment. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the Speak Out Act, which had already been approved in the Senate by unanimous consent, …

Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder Senate Republicans overwhelmingly re-elected Mitch McConnell on Wednesday as their leader for the next Congress, though nearly a dozen members backed Florida Sen. Rick Scott’s attempt to usurp McConnell. Scott’s bid, which he launched Tuesday during an hours-long discussion among Senate Republicans about the future of …

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who became the first woman in history to hold the gavel, shepherding landmark bills across four presidencies, announced Thursday she’ll step aside from leadership though she’ll remain in Congress. “With great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the …

A Fulton County judge ruled Tuesday to overturn Georgia’s recently implemented abortion ban — setting the state’s abortion restrictions back to previous timelines. Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney sided with plaintiffs in a state constitutional challenge of the law that was filed quickly after the ban took effect. House Bill …

Julia Conley, Common Dreams As former President Donald Trump prepared to announce his 2024 presidential campaign Tuesday, Rep. David Cicilline was circulating a letter to his fellow Democratic lawmakers calling on them to support legislation that would bar Trump from running, citing his involvement in the January 2021 attack on …

Jennifer Shutt, Michigan Advance The Biden administration on Tuesday asked Congress for billions more in funding this year to address COVID-19 and the ongoing war in Ukraine, suggesting lawmakers attach it to a spending bill that must pass before Dec. 16. The $9 billion request for COVID-19 operations and nearly …

Jennifer Shutt, Virginia Mercury U.S. Senate cleared a key hurdle to passing a marriage equality bill Wednesday, garnering even more than the 60 senators from both political parties needed to move past a legislative filibuster. The bill, which could win final passage in the Senate as soon as this week, …

Jason Hancock, Missouri Independent A Missouri judge on Monday ruled staff in the attorney general’s office, while it was being run by now-U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, used private email accounts to “knowingly and purposefully” subvert the state’s open records law. Cole County Judge Jon Beetem determined the attorney general’s office …

The FBI has officially announced that a single minor youth is the main suspect in most racially motivated bomb threats to dozens of Historically Black Colleges and Universities earlier this year that terrorized students. The FBI in a statement on Monday did not release any further details — only that the individual …

Stephen Fowler, GPB News A coalition of Democratic groups announced they are suing the state of Georgia over its interpretation of a state law that disallows an optional Saturday of early voting before the Dec. 6 U.S. Senate runoff. In a press release, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Warnock …

Jacob Fischler, Florida Phoenix Former President Donald Trump, whose lies about his reelection loss in 2020 precipitated an insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol, said Tuesday he will make another run for the White House in 2024. His announcement came only a week after a disappointing showing by Republicans — …

Stephen Neukam and Matthew Choi, The Texas Tribune A fight is brewing between Senate Republicans as they prepare to pick their leader for the next Congress — and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is among a loud cohort voicing their discontent with leadership after the party failed to retake control …

Jacob Fischler, Michigan Advance The U.S. Supreme Court sided Monday with the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, denying a request from Arizona Republican Chairwoman Kelli Ward and her husband to block the panel from obtaining their cellphone records. The court’s two-paragraph order ends …

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Sunday said congressional Democrats should use the upcoming lame-duck session to eliminate the U.S. debt ceiling for good, warning that leaving the borrowing limit intact gives Republicans an opening to hold the economy hostage. “I’d get rid of the debt ceiling altogether,” Warren (D-Mass.) told NBC‘s …

Ariana Figueroa, Virginia Mercury A federal appeals court on Monday issued a nationwide injunction indefinitely blocking the Biden administration’s student debt relief program in response to a challenge by six GOP-led states. The unanimous ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis came after the six states — Nebraska, …