Author
Biden administration to rapidly expel more migrants at the border, add legal pathways
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Thursday announced dual immigration strategies that would increase expulsions of migrants who attempt to cross the Southern border, while also expanding opportunities for migrants from several countries to legally enter the United States. But the sweeping new immigration plan brought condemnation from advocates who said he should not broaden […]
Trump fixation on Wisconsin, Ginni Thomas text regrets and more from the Jan. 6 panel
In the final weeks of 2022, the Democrat-led U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, attack on the Capitol disclosed thousands of pages of transcripts of interviews the panel’s members and staff conducted with key witnesses. The transcripts were central to a committee report released in December that held Donald Trump responsible for the 2021 […]
U.S. House Jan. 6 panel report finds Trump incited insurrection, demands accountability
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Jan. 6 committee late Thursday published its findings in a nearly 850-page report that accused former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection and recommended Congress consider how to determine whether those found to be insurrectionists should be barred from holding office ever again. The report caps 18 months of work for […]
TikTok ban for federal workers close to becoming law, following flurry of state bans
A ban on federal employees using TikTok on their government-issued phones is on track to become law after Congress included the provision in the year-end government funding bill released early Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s legislation barring the popular social media platform from federal devices was one of several bills attached to the spending measure, the last major action […]
U.S. House Jan. 6 panel refers Trump for criminal charges, including inciting insurrection
The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in a historic vote agreed unanimously Monday to refer former President Donald Trump and others to the Justice Department for potential criminal charges, including inciting or aiding an insurrection. Trump associates, including attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro and White House Chief […]
U.S. Senate votes to bar TikTok from government devices as state bans multiply
The U.S. Senate late Wednesday unanimously passed a bill to ban federal employees from downloading TikTok on their work phones. Critics of TikTok, a widely popular social media platform, say the app creates national security concerns because of its ability to track users’ data — and because the Chinese government can compel that data from […]
Club Q survivors at U.S. House hearing denounce anti-LGBTQ rhetoric
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 Committee largely sympathized with the survivors, but drew different conclusions […]
FTX failure divides lawmakers on how tough to get with crypto regulation
Members of a U.S. House committee disagreed at a Tuesday hearing about whether more aggressive federal regulation would have protected customers from the collapse of cryptocurrency firm FTX and the alleged fraud of its founder, Samuel Bankman-Fried. Lawmakers at the four-hour House Financial Services Committee hearing appeared to view the unfolding scandal around Bankman-Fried, arrested […]
Attempt to help states ease banking for marijuana businesses stumbles in Congress
The annual Defense Department policy bill members of Congress released late Tuesday did not include measures to loosen federal marijuana restrictions, to the disappointment of advocates. That leaves few avenues to pass marijuana measures that would be a boon to states where the drug is legal before Congress adjourns for the year. As one of […]
Despite FTX fallout, some U.S. House members still skeptical about crypto regulation
Nearly nine months after a bipartisan group of U.S. House members sent a letter questioning the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into cryptocurrencies, including the failed FTX exchange, the lawmakers are maintaining their position that the agency’s approach to regulating crypto is deeply flawed. In public comments since FTX’s collapse last month, the congressmen, led […]
U.S. House votes to avert calamitous rail strike, but Senate prospects murky
The U.S. House moved Wednesday to avoid an economically disastrous nationwide rail strike, voting to codify an agreement that members of some unions had already rejected and separately add paid sick leave that workers had demanded. The two-track approach allows Democrats to avert a strike that could cost the U.S. economy up to $2 billion […]
Little appetite for Manchin permitting bill in congressional lame-duck session
Among the items on Congress’ lengthy to-do list by the end of the year is U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposal to speed up the federal government’s permitting process that certifies energy projects do not harm the environment. But the bill, which was a condition of the centrist West Virginia Democrat’s support for his party’s larger […]