The White House is rounding out its press operation, adding a veteran Capitol Hill aide as President Joe Biden prepares to launch his next major agenda push. Emilie Simons will join the White House as an assistant press secretary after working for members in both chambers of Congress, most recently as the communications director for
Continue Reading The Internal Revenue Service has sent roughly 127 million stimulus payments out in the past two weeks, but some of the lowest-income Social Security recipients are among those still waiting to get the money. The delay affects those who receive Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Railroad Retirement Board benefits, and Veterans Affairs pensioners. They will
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President Joe Biden cast challenges to the US from China, Russia and global shifts in stark terms Thursday, describing “a battle between the utility of democracies in the 21st century and autocracies.” The President underscored that the United States faces an unprecedented array of tests, with Beijing posing what might be the trickiest strategic challenge
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Voters in the Columbia Public Schools boundaries will elect two school board members from a five-person field on April 6.
Continue Reading The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday deadlocked in a party-line vote on the nomination of Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general, but her confirmation is still on track with the expected support of moderate Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The committee voted 11-11 along party lines in a tie vote Thursday, which
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A US Drug Enforcement Administration agent suspended for being at the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection said Tuesday that he has since been fired from the agency and is now “the subject of a criminal investigation,” even though he claims he “never even stepped foot on the stairs of the Capitol building.” Mark
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Watching President Joe Biden’s first press conference today, all I could think was that his performance showed there’s little chance he is running for reelection — despite the fact that he said his “expectation” was to do so. He equivocated on this matter when CNN’s Kaitlan Collins followed up later. Over the course of an
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Poverty has soared during the coronavirus pandemic, but it would have been even worse without successive federal relief packages last year. The $600 stimulus checks and $300 weekly boost to unemployment benefits contained in Congress’ December assistance package stemmed the rise in poverty in the second half of last year, according to researchers at the
Continue Reading Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a vocal critic of Donald Trump who wants to save his party from the former President, thinks politicians have learned that “fear is the most compelling emotion.” “Fear will make you do anything,” the Illinois Republican said Thursday in a conversation geared toward students and young Americans, noting that politicians have
Continue Reading The Biden administration expelled more than half of the migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border in recent weeks under a Trump-era health order that has been continued by the Biden administration, according to preliminary data reviewed by CNN. Of the some 103,000 migrants encountered by Customs and Border Protection in the three weeks through March
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers have voted against funding a voter-approved expansion of Medicaid health care for low-income adults. The GOP-led House Budget Committee on Thursday voted 20-9 against paying to extend the program. Republicans argued it’s financially irresponsible to commit to expanding the expensive program. But Democrats argued Medicaid expansion is required by
Continue Reading House committee chairs are requesting documents and communications from before, during and after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol from a wide range of entities, including the White House, federal agencies, local law enforcement and the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms. The committees are requesting documents and communications prior to January 6 regarding the
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President Joe Biden held the first formal news conference of his presidency on Thursday, taking questions in the East Room of the White House on immigration, foreign policy, the Senate filibuster, his political future and other subjects. Here is a fact check of some of the claims he made. Migrant families and the border Defending
Continue Reading A scheduled trip to Alabama by first lady Jill Biden on Friday was canceled Thursday evening after deadly tornadoes swept through the state. Biden was to have been accompanied on her visit to the cities of Birmingham and Jasper, Alabama, by actress Jennifer Garner. A statement from the East Wing said the trip was being
Continue Reading Plea talks between the Justice Department and some defendants in the Capitol riot cases are still in the works, two court proceedings made clear on Thursday. The acknowledgment of discussions came in a high-profile case of a man caught on video chasing a police officer as the pro-Trump crowd sought out the inner chambers of
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There’s a new movement afoot to finally curb the President’s 9/11 war powers, and the Republicans and Democrats pushing it have hope in a key ally: the President himself. On the heels of President Joe Biden’s military strikes in Syria, a bipartisan group of lawmakers thinks there’s new momentum to finally replace those legal authorities,
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Anyone hoping President Joe Biden’s first formal news conference Thursday would produce a series of gaffes and misstatements must be deeply disappointed. Americans who want a competent, coherent, focused President should feel reassured. Biden made news by answering a question he had dodged before — the one about a second term (he is 78). “My
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In the span of a few hours Thursday, the GOP-controlled Georgia legislature sped a sweeping elections bill through both chambers, putting the battleground state on a course to impose new voting restrictions on citizens in a state that was pivotal to securing Democratic control of the White House and the US Senate. The bill passed
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President Joe Biden warned that there would be “responses” if North Korea continues to fire ballistic missiles following the hermit kingdom’s second launch in less than a week. Asked about the launches at his Thursday news conference, Biden told reporters: “We’re consulting with our allies and partners and there will be responses if they choose
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri House has approved election law changes that include requiring residents to show photo IDs before voting. The measure also would prohibit counting absentee ballots until all Election Day ballots are collected, and bars election law changes within six months of a presidential election. All but one Republican House
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