Poli Alert Political & Civics

The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs will mandate COVID-19 vaccines for healthcare personnel, the VA secretary announced Monday. The mandate applies to Title 38 VA healthcare personnel, such as physicians, nurses, dentists, and chiropractors, “who work in Veterans Health Administration facilities, visit VHA facilities or provide direct care to those …

While meeting with Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday, President Joe Biden announced that the combat mission in the region would cease by the end of the year. “We’re not going to be, by the end of the year, in a combat mission,” President Biden said. Biden on most recent …

The Missouri Supreme Court Thursday unanimously reversed a lower court decision that found the state’s Medicaid expansion unconstitutional. The high court overruled Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem’s decision that upended the long-running push to add as many as 275,000 low-income Missourians to the government-run health insurance program. In doing …

DC’s wealthiest residents are likely to soon pay more in taxes, funding what lawmakers consider to be necessary programs that invest in early childhood education and housing to stabilize the workforce. In a vote of 8-5, the D.C. Council approved the Homes and Hearts Amendment Act, thereby including it in …

New York is now the sixth state to ban child marriage. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill on Thursday to change the legal age of consent to be married in New York to 18. “This administration fought hard to successfully end child marriage in New York and I’m proud to …

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday appointed Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Ilinois to serve on the select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Pelosi noted Kinzinger’s experience as an Air Force veteran and Lieutenant Colonel in the Air National Guard, stating he “brings great …

The Biden Administration has purchased 200 million additional doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to prepare for the possibility of children being eligible to be vaccinated and to administer booster shots to vaccinated Americans, should they be deemed necessary. “The federal government is exercising an option in its contract with Pfizer …

President Joe Biden announced a new mortgage relief program for homeowners with federal loans on Friday. Homeowners’ monthly mortgage could be reduced by up to 25%. “[M]any homeowners will need deeper assistance due to pandemic-related income loss. For example, due to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, some homeowners …

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled on Friday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) exceeded their authority when they temporarily suspended evictions. In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that the agency …

Republicans are finally urging Americans to get vaccinated as the COVID-19 infection rates go up across the United States. “These shots need to get in everybody’s arm as rapidly as possible, or we’re going to be back in a situation in the fall that we don’t yearn for, that we …

Former Iowa Rep. Abby Finkenauer announced in a video on Thursday that she is running for Senate. https://twitter.com/Abby4Iowa/status/1418194238039339010?s=20 Finkenauer represented Iowa’s 1st Congressional district from 2019 to 2021. “The politicians who’ve been there for decades… [t]hey think they own democracy, and they were silent when it was attacked. You see …

The Department of Justice launched gun trafficking strike forces in five cities across the United States on Thursday to eradicate the growing gun violence. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco launched the strike forces during a trip to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives …

President Biden on Thursday signed a bill to increase funding to the Crime Victims Fund, which supports victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other crimes. In a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Biden signed the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of …

The Biden Administration on Thursday imposed sanctions against the Cuban Defense Minister and a government special forces unit for human rights violations during a government crackdown on protests this month. Protests have been widespread throughout the country for the past two weeks, due to growing frustrations with the lack of …

On Thursday, the White House announced that it is investing $1.6 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan passed in March toward boosting COVID-19 testing and mitigation efforts in schools, prisons, homeless, and domestic violence shelters. “As COVID-19 cases rise among unvaccinated people and where the more transmissible Delta virus …