Politics

South Carolina is joining Montana in ending federal pandemic unemployment benefits for its residents next month. The Republican governors of both states say the enhanced jobless programs are dissuading people from returning to the workforce and are creating labor shortages. They are the first two states to halt participation in the historic federal expansion of

President Joe Biden and senior congressional Democrats plan to make a sustained push for a bipartisan agreement on a scaled-back infrastructure proposal over the next two weeks, according to aides and White House officials. In the latest sign that Democratic leaders are giving bipartisan talks their blessings, aides say that a timeline for passing a

Alleged US Capitol rioter Anthony Antonio was hooked on Fox News and developed “Foxitis,” his lawyer said Thursday in a virtual hearing interrupted multiple times by another defendant’s profane outbursts. Antonio, his lawyer Joseph Hurley said, had lost his job at the beginning of the pandemic and for the next six months watched Fox News

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced late Thursday night that she will not run for reelection this year. “As (husband) Derek and I have given thoughtful prayer and consideration to the season now before us, it is with deep emotions that I hold my head high, and choose not to seek another term as Mayor,”

Almost a million people signed up for 2021 health insurance coverage on the federal Affordable Care Act exchange during the first 10 weeks of President Joe Biden’s special enrollment period, according to data released Thursday from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That’s well over double the number who turned to the exchange in

The Biden administration is weighing unfreezing $1 billion in Iranian funds that the country could use for humanitarian relief, amid the negotiations for the US to reenter the 2015 nuclear deal and bring Iran back into compliance with its terms. It is not clear whether the release of the funds would occur unilaterally, but one

Montana will soon stop paying federal pandemic unemployment benefits to its residents, opting instead to provide $1,200 return-to-work bonuses. It is the first state to end participation in the historic federal expansion of jobless benefits, which Congress enacted last spring as the coronavirus pandemic began upending the national economy and costing millions of Americans their

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration is “actively looking” at strengthening security assistance to Ukraine as he pledged support for the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression. The top US diplomat arrived in the Ukrainian capital Wednesday night after meeting with the G7 Foreign Ministers in London,

The US Army announced a change to its grooming policy on Thursday, allowing female soldiers to wear ponytails in all uniforms. In January, the Army announced new policies that allowed soldiers to wear ponytails, locs, lipstick and earrings. They were permitted to wear medium-length ponytails on the back of the scalp that did not interfere

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday morning signed into law a controversial voting bill aimed at curbing access to mail-in voting in the state, joining a host of other GOP-led states pushing new limits in connection with former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election. In signing the bill during

President Joe Biden on Thursday suggested he was open to a corporate income tax rate between 25% and 28% to pay for his sweeping infrastructure and jobs proposal, the most concrete view he’s given to date on his negotiating position. “Making sure the largest companies don’t pay zero … and reducing the, the tax cut