The Biden administration is facing an increasing number of unaccompanied migrant children crossing into the United States, placing added strain on a system operating under limited capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic. US Customs and Border Protection has attributed the increase in arrests in part to instability in home countries, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic
Continue Reading Senate Democrats’ push to quickly pass President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 relief package has met a time-consuming and stamina-challenging speed bump known as a “vote-a-rama.” Republicans are using the process to put Democrats in a tough position to not just stay united, but also consistent about the stimulus package. Here’s what you need to know: What
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The Senate is voting into the wee hours of Saturday morning on a series of amendments to the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, following a nearly twelve hour struggle to get one Democrat to support the party’s plan to extend unemployment benefits. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin stalled President Joe Biden’s top priority in Congress
Continue Reading A task force established to review security at the US Capitol following the violent insurrection on January 6 is calling for mobile fencing around the complex, a quick reaction Capitol Police force on standby when Congress is in session and an overhaul of how members are protected in their home districts, according to an executive
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The Senate dealt progressives a blow they have been trying to prevent but knew was coming by voting down an amendment to include a $15 minimum wage in President Joe Biden’s Covid relief package. After the Senate parliamentarian ruled that the provision could not be a part of the reconciliation process, a procedural shortcut that
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The Biden administration has notified facilities caring for migrant children that they can open back up to pre-Covid-19 levels, acknowledging “extraordinary circumstances” due to a rising number of minors crossing the US-Mexico border, according to a memo obtained by CNN. The increase in arrivals of unaccompanied children put additional strain on the immigration system, which
Continue Reading The attorney for Charlotte Bennett, who is accusing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, sent a letter Friday to New York Attorney General Letitia James calling for all documents and notes of conversations related to her client’s complaint to be maintained “without alteration.” The letter, written by Debra Katz, comes following news reports
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A deal has been reached in the Senate to pave the way forward on President Joe Biden’s Covid relief bill after activity in the chamber ground to a halt for hours on Friday amid a holdup over unemployment benefits. A Democratic aide told CNN that Senate Democrats plan to offer an amendment to extend the
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The New York State Senate and State Assembly passed a bill to repeal Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s expanded emergency executive powers Friday, sending it to the governor’s desk. The vote split straight down the party line in both chambers, with Republicans saying the legislation does not go far enough to curtail Cuomo’s power. The bill has
Continue Reading The Biden administration is considering opening additional temporary border facilities in Arizona to manage the influx of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border, marking the latest move to address capacity issues that have been exacerbated because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The administration is considering a facility in Yuma, according to two officials and the mayor
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West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin stalled the passage of the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill for hours on Friday, as Republicans urged him to support a less generous plan extending enhanced benefits for the unemployed. The Senate had braced for a series of politically tough amendment votes that will stretch late into the night
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A former Trump State Department political appointee appeared in Washington, DC, federal court Friday after being charged for pushing against police in the Capitol building during the January 6 insurrection. Federico Klein, who lives in the DC area and who goes by Freddie, is the first known Trump administration political appointee to be arrested for
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Some top aides for New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo allegedly rewrote a June nursing home report from state health officials to hide the higher Covid-19 death toll among the state’s nursing home residents, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported Thursday night. In its reporting, the New York Times cites documents and
Continue Reading Congressional Democrats are pushing President Joe Biden to nominate Shalanda Young to lead the Office of Management and Budget after Neera Tanden withdrew her nomination amid opposition in the Senate. Young is Biden’s nominee to serve as deputy director of the office and currently serves as staff director and clerk for the House Appropriations Committee. The
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Jobless Americans would get a smaller weekly boost to unemployment benefits but receive those payments for an additional month under a last-minute revision of the Senate’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on Friday. The bill, which now differs from the House version passed last week, calls for providing a $300 a week federal enhancement and
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As the demand for coronavirus vaccines continues to outpace the supply, the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine came as encouraging and much needed news to cities and states across the US. But not, apparently, for Detroit. The city’s longtime mayor, Democrat Mike Duggan, rejected a shipment of 6,200 J&J single-shot vaccines, claiming that Detroit’s
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White House and Detroit officials tried to limit fallout after Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan initially declined to accept an allocation of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine. The move is at odds with federal health officials’ recommendations and the Biden administration messaging that Americans should take whichever vaccine they first have access to. “As I understand
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The New York State Senate passed a bill to repeal Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s expanded emergency executive powers Friday. The vote split straight down the party lines, with all 20 Republican senators saying the bill does not go far enough to curtail Cuomo’s power and voting against it. “Today, under this new legislation the governor will
Continue Reading All nine Supreme Court justices have now received the Covid-19 vaccine. “The Justices have all been fully vaccinated,” public information officer Kathy Arberg wrote in an email Friday. The statement marks the first time the court has acknowledged that all nine justices have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Chief Justice John Roberts received both doses
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The Senate is bracing for a series of politically tough amendment votes Friday that could stretch late into the night and into Saturday, the last major hurdle senators face before voting on President Joe Biden’s sweeping pandemic relief bill, even as lawmakers are still debating whether to make more changes to the legislation before sending
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