Poli Alert Politics & Civics

Jennifer Shutt, South Dakota Searchlight The Biden administration is once again offering Americans the opportunity to order free at-home COVID-19 rapid tests from the federal government, a program that it had shuttered amid an ongoing stalemate with Congress over additional funding to address the virus. The program will allow each …

Jacob Fischler, Iowa Capital Dispatch Survivors of a deadly attack at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs and other advocates told a U.S. House panel Wednesday that political rhetoric and policy fights dehumanize LGBTQ people and contribute to such violence. Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform …

“Despicable.” “Disgusting.” “Egregious.” “Terrifying.” Those were some of the responses to reporting by The Washington Post on Wednesday that the office of Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sought to create a list of state residents who had changed their gender on driver’s licenses and other Department of Public Safety …

Jennifer Shutt, Florida Phoenix Congress is trying to wrap up its remaining must-pass bills before leaving for the holidays — but a split between Senate Republican and House GOP leaders could hamstring the all-important task of funding government operations and averting a partial shutdown. Senate Republicans are working with Democrats …

Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams U.S. progressives marked the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre by renewing calls for gun control, with one reform advocate telling families of those slain in the nation’s worst primary school shooting that “it is our national shame that we failed to take …

Casey Quinlan, Georgia Recorder Shoppers hoping for a little relief at the grocery store for their holiday meals will be disappointed by the Consumer Price Index released Tuesday. The CPI shows inflation cooling but food prices — particularly for some holiday staples — remain high. The CPI increased 0.1% in …

Georgia’s Dec. 6 runoff election, which saw U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s victory against former University of Georgia football player Herschel Walker drew ire on both sides of the aisle. Complaints by politicians and voters included the racist history of the process, long lines at the polls and a reduced early voting …

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL., on Tuesday introduced bipartisan legislation that would ban the popular app TikTok from operating within the United States over national security concerns. Rubio’s bill—the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party, or ANTI-SOCIAL CCP …

President Joe Biden has signed legislation that protects same-sex and interracial marriage, a move welcomed by rights advocates as an important step amid fears of a potential rollback and threats against marginalized communities. Biden signed the landmark bill, known as the Respect for Marriage Act, into law during a ceremony …

Sara Wilson, Colorado Newsline The mandatory recount in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District changed four total votes and confirmed Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert’s victory, the secretary of state’s office announced Monday. Boebert narrowly defeated Democrat Adam Frisch with 50.06% of the vote. The recount yielded an increase of one vote for …

Survivors of last month’s deadly shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, will be among those testifying this week when federal lawmakers hold a hearing on how a surge in bigoted legislation pushed by Republicans has been linked to an uptick in violent attacks on LGBTQ+ …

Emma Williams, The Texas Tribune Despite the state’s near-total ban on abortion, just 12% of Texans think abortion should be illegal in all cases, according to an August poll from The Texas Politics Project. One Texas Democrat hopes to give voters more of a say in abortion policy. State Rep. …

In a last-ditch bid to revive the expanded Child Tax Credit in some form by year’s end, the White House has reportedly suggested to congressional Democrats that it is willing to accept a compromise deal that adds more stringent work requirements to the anti-poverty program—a reversal of President Joe Biden’s …

Jessica Corbett While the White House and Democratic congressional leadership are publicly hoping U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s departure from the party won’t change much in Washington, D.C., progressives in her home state of Arizona and across the nation are already pushing to replace the newly declared Independent if she runs …

Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, Arizona Mirror Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced Friday morning that she was leaving the Democratic Party, a move that was not surprising to political observers and longtime former allies and foes of the senior senator who are now looking ahead to 2024. “Clearly, it gets her out of …