Poli Alert Political & Civics

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday warned Congress that the United States government will run out of money to pay its bills on June 5 if lawmakers don’t reach an agreement to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. “Based on the most recent available data, we now estimate that Treasury …

Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune For nearly a decade, Texas Republicans largely looked the other way as Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal problems piled up. That abruptly changed this week. In revealing it had been secretly investigating Paxton since March — and then recommending his impeachment on Thursday — a …

Three reproductive rights groups celebrated a victory in South Carolina just one day after filing a lawsuit against the state over its six-week abortion ban, which went into effect earlier this week immediately after Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed it. Judge Clifton Newman temporarily halted S. 474 at the request …

Ariana Figueroa, Florida Phoenix The U.S. House on Wednesday voted to overturn the Biden administration’s one-time student debt relief plan that is currently on hold awaiting a Supreme Court decision expected within weeks. Before the 218-203 vote on the resolution, the White House said President Joe Biden would veto it, arguing …

James Barragán, Robert Downen and Zach Despart, The Texas Tribune In an unprecedented move, a Texas House committee voted Thursday to recommend that Attorney General Ken Paxton be impeached and removed from office, citing a yearslong pattern of alleged misconduct and lawbreaking that investigators detailed one day earlier. During a …

Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder U.S. House members walked down the steps of the Capitol building Thursday morning to head back to their districts for a Memorial Day recess that began exactly one week before the country could default on the debt. House Democrats took to the floor after the final …

Robert Downen, The Texas Tribune Oath Keepers militia founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in federal prison for seditious conspiracy after playing a leading role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol in an effort to keep Donald Trump in office. Rhodes and other …

Casey Quinlan, Arkansas Advocate Across much of the country, the jobs market is as strong as it’s ever been, and Black women, young people and people with disabilities are among the workers benefiting, recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. Twenty states reported an unemployment rate under 3% in …

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis launched his presidential campaign for 2024 on Wednesday. However, his announcement on Twitter faced technical issues and failed to counter criticism that he may not be prepared to challenge former President Donald Trump. DeSantis expressed confidence in his campaign, but the decision to announce it through …

Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder Republicans and Democrats in Congress together brokered dozens of debt limit agreements, including several during the past decade, marked by a desire in both political parties to increase federal spending. But U.S. House Republicans now are pushing for the federal government to spend less next year …

Former President Donald Trump appeared virtually in a New York criminal court on Tuesday for the first time since pleading not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. During the hearing, Judge Juan Merchan outlined the terms of a protective order, preventing Trump from publicly disclosing evidence related …

Matthew Choi, The Texas Tribune U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, unveiled bipartisan border legislation Tuesday that would offer a legal pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants while investing in security measures along the borders with Mexico and Canada. The bill, dubbed the “Dignity Act,” is the latest effort in …

Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy left their closely watched meeting this week without an agreement on government spending or the debt limit, prolonging a stalemate that could soon disrupt Americans’ everyday lives as well as the global economy. Both struck a positive tone, though …

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams A group of House Democrats on Tuesday began rolling out legislation to strengthen and expand Social Security as their Republican counterparts’ debt ceiling brinkmanship threatens to disrupt the program’s monthly payments, which keep millions of seniors and children across the U.S. out of poverty each year. …

Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix May 22, 2023 Over the weekend, when the NAACP issued a travel advisory on Florida that is “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals,” several Black lawmakers across the state — both Democrats and Republicans — quickly spoke up on Monday. “In …