Author
‘Fueled by lies,’ Trump charged with seeking to overturn 2020 election
WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted Donald Trump on Tuesday, alleging that Trump and co-conspirators attempted to subvert the 2020 election to keep the former president in power through a series of illegal actions that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The former president faces four […]
Military nominees still stalled by Tuberville hold, with U.S. Senate gone until September
WASHINGTON — Despite warnings from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that vacant top military positions affect readiness, Congress is heading into August recess with hundreds of defense nominees on hold as Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville continues his protest against the Defense Department’s abortion leave policy. As of Thursday, 301 military nominees had not yet reached […]
Massive defense bill approved by U.S. Senate, but deep partisan divide with House looms
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators avoided a heated partisan split as they passed the massive annual defense policy package late Thursday — in stark contrast to the GOP-led House version, in which far-right members included language to restrict abortion access and transgender care for service members. Senators passed the National Defense Authorization Act, 86-11, but lawmakers […]
Is there evidence of extraterrestrial life? Congress tries to figure it out
WASHINGTON — During an otherworldly hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday, lawmakers and witnesses launched accusations that the Pentagon is stonewalling Congress and the public from information about unidentified anomalous phenomena, more often referred to as UFOs. That includes a 2014 encounter when a “dark gray or black cube inside a clear sphere” traveled within 50 […]
U.S. Senate votes to curb farmland purchases by China, Iran, North Korea, Russia
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators approved bipartisan amendments to the annual defense policy bill Tuesday night that would prohibit China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing U.S. farmland and screen American investment in high-tech ventures on foreign adversary soil. By a 91-7 vote, the lawmakers approved a measure that would require review of — and […]
Family pleads for U.S. teacher imprisoned in Russia: ‘We’re not forgetting my brother’
WASHINGTON — Days after meeting with high-level White House officials, the family of an American teacher imprisoned in Russia walked the halls of the U.S. Capitol complex Thursday, pleading with U.S. leaders to remember that Marc Fogel is staring down a 14-year sentence in a penal colony on a marijuana charge. Fogel, 61, an international […]
White House rolls out strategy to battle deadly drug mixture of fentanyl and xylazine
WASHINGTON — The White House is unveiling a plan to combat the growing threat of drug overdose deaths involving the combination of illicitly manufactured fentanyl and the powerful sedative xylazine, approved only for veterinary use. The plan comes ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’s meeting with state attorneys general next week to discuss the staggering […]
‘This is not a normal court,’ says Biden as GOP opponents praise affirmative action ruling
WASHINGTON — Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively scrambles the role affirmative action plays in the college admissions process cannot let the country slide “backwards,” President Joe Biden said just hours after the majority justices released their opinion. Meanwhile, Republicans seeking to challenge him in 2024 praised the decision. Issues of race and higher […]
US Supreme Court strikes down use of affirmative action in college admissions
Updated on Thursday, June 29 at 2:18 p.m. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that two prominent universities’ consideration of race in acceptances violated the U.S. Constitution, effectively reshaping the role of affirmative action in the college admissions process throughout higher education. In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for […]
White House unveils $42.5B to connect every American to high-speed broadband internet
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Monday announced $42.45 billion to connect all Americans to high-speed broadband internet by the end of the decade, likening the ambitious goal to FDR’s New Deal-era rural electrification program that brought the then-modern technology to farms and rural areas across the United States. The funds, which will be distributed […]
Bonuses for execs of failed banks could be recouped under bill advancing in U.S. Senate
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators on a panel with jurisdiction over banking regulations on Wednesday approved a bipartisan bill that would allow government officials to “claw back” compensation from banking executives who fail to thwart massive failures like the historic run on Silicon Valley Bank earlier this year. Members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing […]
Swelling crowd of top military nominees blocked from U.S. Senate vote by Tuberville
WASHINGTON — Despite top U.S. military retirements beginning in less than a month, Sen. Tommy Tuberville refuses to budge on his blockade of hundreds of armed services promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s reproductive care policy instituted after the reversal of Roe v. Wade. The first-term Alabama Republican is provoking concern among his own party […]