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Ketanji Brown Jackson defends her record under grilling from U.S. Senate Republicans
WASHINGTON – Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday sharpened their criticisms of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, probing her work as a public defender on behalf of terrorism suspects, the judicial sentences she has handed down for child pornography offenses and her views of critical race theory. Jackson defended her record […]
U.S. Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson to start Monday
After more than two weeks of private meetings with nearly half the U.S. Senate, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court, will field questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee in highly anticipated public hearings that begin Monday. Members of the panel will question Jackson for two full days, following […]
U.S. House speaker hints at bigger COVID aid push after $15 billion yanked from spending bill
The need for federal funding to address COVID-19 may be greater after lawmakers removed a $15 billion relief package from an omnibus spending bill last week, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. Amid reports of rising case levels overseas, Pelosi said the United States may need more than the amount negotiated with Republicans that congressional […]
Zelenskyy reminds Congress of Pearl Harbor and 9/11 in pleading for U.S. help for Ukraine
WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday invoked the Pearl Harbor attacks ahead of World War II and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, while urging the United States to do more to stop the Russian war against his country. During the speech, delivered virtually to members of Congress in an auditorium on Capitol Hill, Zelenskyy drew a […]
Biden’s Fed nominee withdraws after GOP boycott coupled with Manchin opposition
Sarah Bloom Raskin of Maryland withdrew her nomination to the Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday, the day after a key coal-state Democrat announced he would vote against her due to her views on climate change. In a three-page letter to President Joe Biden, Raskin, a Duke University law professor whom the Senate confirmed to two […]
Republicans in Congress file suit to end mask mandate for air travel
Seventeen Republican members of Congress have sued the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seeking an end to the federal rule requiring passengers on commercial flights and in airports to wear masks. The mandate illegally restricts the lawmakers’ freedom and is not backed by legal authority, they said in the suit filed Monday. They asked the […]
Nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin for Fed seat in doubt after Manchin opposition
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III will not support one of President Joe Biden’s picks to sit on the Federal Reserve Board, Sarah Bloom Raskin of Maryland, Manchin said Monday. The announcement casts serious doubt on the chances of Senate confirmation for Raskin, who was a Fed governor from 2010 to 2014 and deputy Treasury secretary […]
Return of earmarks a boon for members of Congress facing midterm battles
WASHINGTON — Vulnerable lawmakers from throughout the country are set to rake in federal cash for home-state projects after a major spending bill included the first round of earmarks in more than a decade. Members from both political parties began requesting thousands of projects last year when U.S. House and Senate leaders resurrected what’s called […]
U.S. Senate Republicans attack Biden on energy costs, regulations after new inflation report
Nebraska’s Deb Fischer and fellow U.S. Senate Republicans slammed President Joe Biden on Thursday for the sharp rise in consumer prices, calling for policy shifts to increase U.S. energy supply, roll back regulations and curb spending. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday the consumer price index rose nearly 8% in February over the same month in […]
National parks leader pledges more inclusion of Native Americans in land management
The federal government will make greater efforts to include Native American tribes in decisions involving federal lands, National Park Service Director Charles F. Sams III told a House panel Tuesday. In his first appearance before the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee since he was confirmed as parks director in November, Sams said President Joe Biden’s […]
Biden declares U.S. ban on Russian oil, warns of gasoline price spikes
WASHINGTON — The United States will no longer import Russian energy in an attempt to further cripple that nation’s economy as it wages war against Ukraine. President Joe Biden announced the newest sanctions Tuesday from the White House, saying that a ban on Russian oil and gas would target “the main artery of Russia’s economy.” […]
A year after Jan. 6, attack on the U.S. Capitol lives on in hundreds of court cases
Editors’ note: An earlier version of this report misstated the first name of Pamela Hemphill of Boise, Idaho. On the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, four men affiliated with the Kansas City chapter of the right-wing Proud Boys gathered on the west side of the U.S. Capitol, along with thousands of others urged on by […]