Poli Alert Politics & Civics

Julia Forrest, The Texas Tribune Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas exchanged heated barbs during Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary hearing over border issues, with each official referring to one another as “revolting.” At the hearing, Mayorkas was grilled by Republicans — as he …

Congressional Democrats reiterated their opposition to steep federal spending cuts on Tuesday after Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy issued a vague outline of his caucus’ demands, which include more punitive work requirements for aid recipients and steep cuts to non-military spending. The GOP leader laid out the broad demands in …

Jennifer Shutt, Pennsylvania Capital-Star U.S. senators revoked their approval for the Gulf and Iraq wars on Wednesday, taking a broadly bipartisan vote to repeal the Authorizations for Use of Military Force that have stayed on the books years after the two wars ended. The 66-30 vote sends the measure to the …

Ariana Figueroa, New Jersey Monitor Democratic senators at a hearing on Wednesday grilled the former CEO of Starbucks over allegations that the giant coffee company intimidated, harassed and fired workers who tried to form unions. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and former presidential candidate who chairs the Senate Health, …

Adam Goldstein, South Dakota Searchlight U.S. House Republicans tussled with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Democratic committee members over work requirements in federal nutrition programs as well as spending levels for those programs at a Tuesday hearing. Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee charged Vilsack with evading bipartisan oversight …

Ashley Murray, New Hampshire Bulletin Financial regulators promised a full review of Silicon Valley Bank’s massive failure as members of a key U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday interrogated the officials about what led to the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history. Members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and …

A coalition of Democratic U.S. lawmakers led by Reps. Cori Bush and Ayanna Pressley on Tuesday announced the launch of a new caucus aimed at realizing the centurylong goal of adding an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. “It has been 100 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was first …

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams Update: The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted 55-41 to reject an amendment from Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, that would have empowered the president to wage war against Iran. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Jacky Rosen (Nev.) along with Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) …

U.S. Congressman Tim Burchett was accused of saying “the quiet part out loud” after the Tennessee Republican responded to the massacre in Nashville on Monday by arguing there’s not much Congress can do to prevent mass shootings. Speaking to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol Monday afternoon following the murder of …

A staffer for Sen. Rand Paul was stabbed and seriously injured in Washington, D.C., on Saturday and a suspect has since been arrested, according to police and Paul’s office. “This past weekend a member of my staff was brutally attacked in broad daylight in Washington, D.C.,” Paul, R-Ky,. said in …

Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee is joining the Houston mayoral race, scrambling the already crowded field. “Sheila Jackson Lee wants to come home to be your mayor for the city of Houston,” Jackson Lee said at a church event Sunday. “I will not be able …

Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin assumed control of the embattled Paterson Police Department Monday, three weeks after an anti-violence activist in the city was killed by police while he was experiencing what his supporters have called a mental health crisis. The announcement came with promises from …

Lookout Staff, Tennessee Lookout Three children and three adult staff members are dead after a mass shooting event Monday at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville’s Green Hills neighborhood. Among the victims are three 9-year-old children: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney. The adult victims are …

Robert Downen and William Melhado, The Texas Tribune Flanked by supporters waving “witch hunt” signs, former President Donald Trump turned in a signature incendiary performance Saturday in Waco, using his first 2024 campaign rally to frame himself as a victim of politicized legal investigations and vowing to be the MAGA …

Amid a national debate over whether Congress should ban TikTok, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday posted her first video on the social media platform to make the case for shifting the focus to broad privacy protections for Americans. The New York Democrat’s move follows TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew …