The Senate parliamentarian has ruled that Democrats may amend the budget resolution they used for their Covid-19 relief bill and attach another set of reconciliation instructions to it, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The ruling is a key step for Democrats as they weigh their options for moving infrastructure legislation, potentially giving
Continue Reading Justice Clarence Thomas suggested on Monday that Congress should consider whether laws should be updated to better regulate social media platforms that, he said, have come to have “unbridled control” over “unprecedented” amounts of speech. The provocative and controversial opinion comes as Twitter banned former President Donald Trump from its platform for violating its rules
Continue Reading Top members of the Biden White House have appeared with California’s embattled Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, twice over the last week — a signal of support for a politician who is likely to face a recall election. Newsom accompanied Vice President Kamala Harris on a tour of a water treatment plant in Oakland, California, on
Continue Reading Secretary of State Tony Blinken said that the US would not “trade shots in arms for political favors” when outlining the State Department’s plans to share supplies of Covid-19 vaccines with other countries, though he offered little detail on what that outreach would look like. “This is about saving lives,” Blinken said during remarks at
Continue ReadingAdditional Army criminal investigators have been sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in the wake of a soldier’s allegation about sexual assault that may have involved multiple Army personnel in more than one incident, several Army officials told CNN. According to the post’s commanding general, a trainee at Fort Sill reported on March 27 that she
Continue ReadingTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for a global minimum corporate tax rate on Monday, a pitch that comes as the Biden administration begins to sell its roughly $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs proposal that would raise US corporate taxes to fund the massive plan. “We’re working with G20 nations to agree to a global minimum
Continue Reading The Internal Revenue Service started sending what it calls “plus-up” payments last week to people who are owed a bigger stimulus check based on their actual 2020 income than they initially received. The original payments were based on 2018 or 2019 tax returns. That means people who earned less in 2020 could be owed more
Continue ReadingPresident Joe Biden recorded a video that will be played at naturalization ceremonies welcoming new US citizens in which he thanks them for choosing the United States and invokes his own ancestors who emigrated from Ireland. “I want to thank you for choosing us and believing that America is worthy of your aspirations,” Biden says.
Continue Reading Border processing facilities for migrant children are “stretched beyond thin” and experiencing “profound overcrowding” that make social distancing “impossible,” court-appointed monitors said in documents made public this weekend. The recommendations made to the court could help federal agencies deal with the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the border. The filings were submitted by Dr. Paul Wise
Continue ReadingThe Supreme Court on Monday wiped away a lower court opinion holding that then-President Donald Trump violated the First Amendment when he blocked followers from his Twitter account. The high court dismissed the case because Trump is not in office so there is no longer a live case or controversy. Trump established his Twitter account
Continue Reading Justice Democrats, the progressive group that launched Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s historic 2018 campaign, made its first splash of the 2022 midterms on Monday by endorsing Nashville activist Odessa Kelly as she kicked off her Democratic primary challenge to longtime Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper. Kelly is the co-founder and executive director of Stand Up Nashville, a
Continue ReadingPresident Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden shared well-wishes with Americans celebrating Easter on Sunday and encouraged them to get Covid-19 vaccinations as a moral obligation. “We share the sentiments of Pope Francis who said that getting vaccinated is a moral obligation, one that can save your life and the lives of others,” the
Continue Reading Hunter Biden says he is fully cooperating with the Justice Department’s investigation into his business dealings in China and predicted that he will be cleared of any wrongdoing in the probe. “I can say this, is I’m cooperating, completely. And I’m absolutely certain, 100% certain, that at the end of the investigation, that I will
Continue ReadingPresident Joe Biden’s roughly $2 trillion jobs proposal that is focused on infrastructure and the climate crisis is a “serious proposal,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday, but more work must be done on the plan to ensure it addresses major issues concerning the nation’s “human infrastructure.” “I think many of us see a crisis in
Continue Reading The last time New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s name was on a primary ballot, in September 2018, more than 65% of Democratic voters backed him for a third term. In a defiant news conference the day after the vote, Cuomo brushed back suggestions that a progressive wave was sweeping the state. “Not even a ripple,”
Continue Reading The federal government has moved to stop any further risk of contamination at a Baltimore contract vaccine manufacturer where 15 million potential doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine were spoiled last month, telling rival drugmaker AstraZeneca it must move its production from the plant and find somewhere else to make its vaccine. The Emergent BioSolutions
Continue Reading The chairman of the union for US Capitol Police officers said the department is “struggling to meet existing mission requirements” and is calling on Congress to hire hundreds of new police officers to ensure the safety of the Capitol following the death of a Capitol Police officer in an attack on Friday. Capitol Police Union
Continue ReadingFormer Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump have weighed in on Major League Baseball’s decision to move its All-Star Game out of Atlanta in response to Georgia’s new sweeping election law that imposes significant new obstacles to voting. Obama on Saturday congratulated the league “for taking a stand on behalf of voting rights for all
Continue Reading Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American detained in Iran, marked 2,000 days — more than five years — in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison on Saturday and his family again urged the Biden administration to do everything it can to get him and his father home. Namazi was arrested and detained in October 2015 and a year later
Continue Reading Virginia and New Jersey this week joined other Democratic-led states moving ahead with new laws that would expand voting access — a stark contrast to the Republican rush in statehouses across the country to make voting more difficult. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, which has tracked voting measures across the country, 843 bills
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