A little known but powerful Senate official is being thrust into the spotlight this week as Democrats are eager to see whether an increase to the federal minimum wage will be kept in President Joe Biden’s Covid relief package. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has been advising the chamber on how its rules, protocols and precedents
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The Senate confirmed Tom Vilsack as President Joe Biden’s agriculture secretary, sending the former Iowa governor to the same Cabinet position he served for the entirety of the Obama administration. The vote was 92-7. Vilsack, 70, will now be tasked with helping farmers hard hit by former president Donald Trump’s trade wars and the coronavirus
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two applications to grow medical marijuana will receive licenses after the state initially rejected them. The state Administrative Hearing Commission on Tuesday approved cultivation licenses for Heye Kirksville and Heya Excello. The decision comes after the state denied hundreds of medical marijuana business applications, many of which prompted challenges to
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican-led state House is trying to ban the use of eminent domain for a large wind-energy power line. Lawmakers in a voice vote Tuesday advanced a bill to prevent the use of property owners’ land for the Grain Belt Express power line without their permission. The high-voltage power line would
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South Dakota is hoping to keep the newly revived July 4th celebration at Mount Rushmore going, and the state’s governor is trying to get the message to President Joe Biden’s nominee for Interior Secretary. During Tuesday’s nomination hearing for Interior Secretary nominee Deb Haaland, Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas told Haaland that South Dakota
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SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna took a conciliatory tone toward US senators on Tuesday as he acknowledged his company’s role in unwittingly facilitating a devastating security breach of at least nine federal agencies and dozens of private businesses in a suspected Russian spying campaign. Calling the security breach an “unfortunate and reckless operation,” Ramakrishna said SolarWinds
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Law enforcement officials told lawmakers Tuesday they were prepared for the possibility of limited violence on January 6 at the US Capitol, but the intelligence available ahead of time did not warn of a coordinated attack like the insurrection that overwhelmed officers and led to multiple casualties. “The breach of the United States Capitol was
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Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson has carved out quite a niche for himself in recent weeks: He’s the guy willing to push wild conspiracy theories about what happened before, during and after the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. Johnson has previously suggested that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (California) impeached former President Donald Trump over
Continue Reading Senate Democrats and the White House are not yet abandoning the nomination of Neera Tanden to serve as President Joe Biden’s budget director — even though her confirmation hinges on the backing of two moderate senators who have yet to declare their intentions. Two key Senate committees on Wednesday are expected to vote on whether
Continue Reading President Joe Biden said Tuesday the White House will “probably” move to send face masks directly to Americans as the country continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a plan originally proposed by health officials during the Trump administration but was blocked by the former President. “We’re probably going to be sending out an
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Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson has carved out quite a niche for himself in recent weeks: He’s the guy willing to push wild conspiracy theories about what happened before, during and after the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. Johnson has previously suggested that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (California) impeached former President Donald Trump over
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President Joe Biden’s choice for the nation’s top health official largely avoided hostile fire from Republicans while testifying before the Senate Health Committee Tuesday, though several GOP senators expressed concerns about his lack of direct health care experience as well as his support for abortion rights. Xavier Becerra, who is California’s first Latino attorney general,
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Former Sen. David Perdue has decided against becoming a candidate in the 2022 Georgia US Senate race a week after filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. “After much prayer and reflection, Bonnie and I have decided that we will not enter the race for the United States Senate in Georgia in 2022,” Perdue said
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President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Houston on Friday as Texas works to recover from major winter storms and power outages. The storm, his efforts to get the federal government on the ground in its wake and the Texas trip all come less than two months after Biden’s swearing in.
Continue Reading The upcoming annual Conservative Political Action Conference — where former President Donald Trump will make his first speech since leaving the White House on Sunday — booted a hip-hop artist and right-wing social media figure who was scheduled to appear over anti-Semitic tweets. “We have just learned that someone we invited to CPAC has expressed
Continue Reading The Biden administration is preparing to impose sanctions on Russia in the coming weeks over the poisoning and jailing of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and the SolarWinds hack, according to two administration officials familiar with the Navalny plans and a US official familiar with the hack response discussions. Discussions about the response to the
Continue Reading The Biden administration is preparing to impose sanctions on Russia in the coming weeks over the poisoning and jailing of Russia opposition leader Alexey Navalny, according to two administration officials familiar with the matter. The form the sanctions will take is being firmed up and they will likely be rolled out in coordination with the
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President Joe Biden’s choice for the nation’s top health official is testifying before Senate committees on Tuesday and Wednesday, as Republicans attempt to torpedo the nomination. Xavier Becerra, who is California’s first Latino attorney general, was tapped by Biden to be his Health and Human Services secretary in early December. Becerra, who would be the
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President Joe Biden’s Interior Secretary nominee Deb Haaland faced sharp questioning during a confirmation hearing Tuesday over past comments she has made criticizing Republicans. Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, confronted Haaland about a tweet from October 2020 in which she said that Republicans
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Captain Carneysha Mendoza, one of many US Capitol Police officers injured while responding to the deadly insurrection on January 6, recalled to lawmakers how her face was burned by chemicals used by rioters and her arm nearly broken as they stormed the Capitol. Mendoza’s riveting testimony came Tuesday at the start of the contentious Senate
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