Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams The U.S. House of Representatives started a two-week recess on Friday, but not before a series of events that provoked fresh declarations of what has become a familiar phrase over the past few years: “Republicans in disarray.” Before leaving Capitol Hill, House members passed a spending …
Read More »Senate In Overnight Vote Sends $1.2T Government Spending Package To Biden
Jennifer Shutt, Iowa Capital Dispatch The U.S. Senate took a broadly bipartisan vote early Saturday to approve a $1.2 trillion spending package, sending the measure to President Joe Biden for his signature with no time to spare after missing a midnight deadline. The 74-24 vote wraps up the government funding …
Read More »Massive $1.2 Trillion Spending Package That Would Avert A Shutdown Released By Congress
Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder Congress released the final six government funding bills early Thursday, starting off a sprint toward the Friday midnight deadline to wrap up work that was supposed to be finished nearly six months ago. The bipartisan agreement on the $1.2 trillion spending package, which emerged just before …
Read More »AOC, Sanders Renew Fight for Green New Deal for Public Housing
Backed by dozens of progressive groups and congressional Democrats, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday reintroduced legislation designed to tackle both the affordable housing crisis and the climate emergency. The New York Democrat and Vermont Independent are leading the renewed fight for the Green New Deal …
Read More »Sen. Menendez Won’t Seek Democratic Nod For Reelection, May Run As Independent In November
Nikita Biryukov, New Jersey Monitor Sen. Bob Menendez will not seek the Democratic nod for his own seat this June as he faces charges of bribery and acting as a foreign agent, though he is leaving the door open to an independent campaign in the fall. The senator said in …
Read More »Texas’ New Immigration Law Is Blocked Again
Alejandro Serrano and Uriel J. García, The Texas Tribune A federal appeals court late Tuesday night stopped a state law allowing Texas police to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border — hours after the U.S. Supreme Court had allowed it to go into effect. Earlier in the …
Read More »Lev Parnas Slams Trump and Allies Over False Biden Allegations in House Oversight Hearing
Jimmy Williams Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani and a key figure in the Trump impeachment inquiry, testified before the House Oversight Committee, condemning former President Donald Trump and his allies for spreading false allegations against the Biden family. Parnas accused Trump, Giuliani, and others of creating falsehoods …
Read More »Biden-Harris Administration Approves Additional $5.8 Billion in Student Debt Relief for 78,000 Public Service Workers
Jimmy Williams The Biden-Harris Administration announced today the approval of $5.8 billion in additional student loan debt relief for 77,700 borrowers. These approvals are the result of fixes made by the Administration to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Today’s announcement brings the total loan forgiveness approved by the Biden-Harris Administration …
Read More »Congress Struggles To Finish Work On Spending Bills As Another Friday Deadline Nears
Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder Congressional staff were scrambling Wednesday to finalize sweeping legislation that would fund much of the federal government, but time was running short ahead of a Friday midnight deadline. Leaders of the House and Senate and the Biden administration announced Tuesday they’d reached consensus on the final …
Read More »A ‘deeply divided’ Congress Took No Major Action On Civil Rights In 2023, Report Finds
Ariana Figueroa, Georgia Recorder Last year, neither chamber in Congress passed any meaningful civil rights legislation, according to an analysis of legislative and voting records of the first session of the 118th Congress by a coalition of civil rights groups. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Voting Record report found …
Read More »Trump Seeks Absolute Immunity for Efforts to Overturn 2020 Election
Jimmy Williams Former President Donald Trump is pushing for absolute immunity in the legal battle over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. In a new filing with the Supreme Court, Trump’s legal team argues that he should be shielded from prosecution for any official acts he undertook while …
Read More »Congress Strikes Deal to Fund Government, Breaking Impasse
Jimmy Williams Congressional leaders, alongside President Joe Biden, have reached a breakthrough agreement to fund the government, resolving a deadlock over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that had stalled negotiations. In a statement, Speaker Mike Johnson announced the DHS deal, signaling progress toward completing funding for the …
Read More »Supreme Court Permits Texas Police To Arrest People Who Illegally Cross The Border As The SB 4 Legal Clash Continues
Uriel J. García and Alejandro Serrano, The Texas Tribune The U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision on Tuesday ruled that a law allowing Texas police to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border can take effect while a legal battle over the new state law empowering local …
Read More »Suit Alleging Suppression Of Free Speech Met With Skepticism At Supreme Court
Jason Hancock, Minnesota Reformer The U.S. Supreme Court seemed skeptical Monday of a lawsuit alleging the federal government colluded with social media companies to suppress the freedom of speech, with a majority of justices across the ideological spectrum raising issues with the case and its potential consequences. The Biden administration …
Read More »Biden Just Signed The Largest Executive Order Focused On Women’s Health
Jennifer Gerson Originally published by The 19th President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order directing the most comprehensive set of actions ever taken by the president’s office to expand and improve research on women’s health. In a statement, the president and First Lady Jill Biden also announced more …
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