Poli Alert Politics & Civics

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams Republican leaders in nearly two dozen U.S. states are attempting—potentially in violation of federal law—to use coronavirus relief funds approved by Congress last year to finance tax cuts instead of devoting the money to combating the ongoing pandemic and its economic consequences. The Washington Post reported …

by Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder Frustrated abortion rights advocates are imploring President Joe Biden to make sweeping moves to protect abortion access, saying now is the time for Democrats to be bold as Republican-led states rapidly implement restrictions and outright bans. Stymied in the U.S. Senate by the filibuster, congressional …

Christopher Decker, University of Nebraska Omaha The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in June, signaling the labor market remains strong even as the Federal Reserve tries to weaken it to tame inflation. The July 8, 2022, jobs report also showed the unemployment rate remained at a 70-year low …

by Henry Redman, Wisconsin Examiner In a 4-3 decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that absentee ballot drop boxes are illegal and voters must send their ballots by mail or deliver them in-person to local clerks.  The court’s four conservative members decided that the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) gave inappropriate …

by Jennifer Shutt, Michigan Advance President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly been criticized as slow to respond to a widely expected U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended the nationwide right to an abortion, signed an executive order Friday that could preserve some access to abortion in states where the procedure …

Shefali Luthra Originally published by The 19th President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Friday designed to expand access to medication abortion and education about legally available abortion options, as well as provide legal backing for people seeking or providing abortions. The president is expected to speak in more …

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — one of the most consequential leaders in Japan’s postwar history — died Friday after being shot while giving a stump speech in the city of Nara. He was 67 years old. As Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, the assassination of Abe just two days before …

by Nick Evans, Ohio Capital Journal “We turned a promise broken into a promise kept,” Joe Biden told a crowd of union workers in Cleveland Wednesday. The president’s visit offered a victory lap for provisions in his American Rescue Plan, or ARPA, that will keep a number of multi-employer pension …

by Ariana Figueroa, Iowa Capital Dispatch The chair of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Thursday said she has requested that CEOs of three gun manufacturing companies appear before Congress to testify at a hearing later this month on gun violence. Chair Carolyn B. Maloney of New …

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams Conservative British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation Thursday after dozens of his government ministers stepped down earlier this week, jumping ship as the U.K. leader was engulfed by scandal, backlash over skyrocketing costs of living, and other crises. As the Associated Press summarized, “Johnson, …

by Jennifer Shutt, Florida Phoenix U.S. Senate Democrats have reached a tentative agreement to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs in the Medicare program, the first step in passing a long-stalled package that’s expected to include tax and climate change provisions as well. The deal, brokered between Senate Majority Leader …

The Fulton County special grand jury investigating the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia has subpoenaed two of then-President Donald Trump’s top lawyers and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, according to court filings detailed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Subpoenas for former New York City Mayor Rudy …

by Kira Lerner, Arizona Mirror The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division announced Tuesday that it has sued Arizona over a law signed by the state’s Republican governor in March that requires people registering to vote prove their citizenship to participate in a presidential election or to vote by …

by Rob Schofield, Ohio Capital Journal The U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday that it will hear a North Carolina redistricting case that one prominent constitutional scholar described to the New York Times as “an 800-pound gorilla brooding in the background of election law cases working their way up from state courts.” In Moore …

Maryland gun owners are no longer required to prove they have a good and substantial reason to carry a concealed weapon. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday directed the Maryland State Police to suspend that provision of state law. The governor’s directive makes it easier for legal gun owners to …