Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
William Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee he wouldn’t be intimidated by anyone, including President Donald Trump, who nominated him to serve as attorney general. “I am not going to do anything that I think is wrong, and I will not be bullied into doing anything I think is wrong. By anybody. Whether it be…
A poll released Tuesday just ahead of the 46th March for Life demonstration in Washington, D.C, shows the majority of Americans support tighter restrictions on abortion, and would even like to see the landmark Roe v. Wade decision “reinterpreted” to allow more restrictions. The annual survey conducted by Marist in partnership with the Knights of…
President Donald Trump celebrated low unemployment numbers for veterans Tuesday on Twitter while simultaneously taking a jab at the media. “Just announced that Veterans unemployment has reached an 18 year low, really good news for our Vets and their families,” Trump wrote. “Will soon be an all time low!” The president appears to be referencing recent media…
Environmental Protection Agency acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the agency, is preparing for what could be the toughest congressional hearing of his life Wednesday. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold Wheeler’s confirmation hearing as Democrats and environmentalists push for a delay. Committee Democrats tried to derail Wheeler’s hearing…
The new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee says he will do all he can to investigate President Donald Trump and his administration over the next two years. “We are in a fight for the soul of our democracy,” Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that…
President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general faces a Senate committee Tuesday in what could turn into a proxy fight and speechifying over the probe of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. Nominee William Barr, who was attorney general 27 years ago, will act to head off some questions from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary…
The West Virginia House of Delegates convened Wednesday with a record-setter in its midst—freshman Del. Caleb L. Hanna, who became the nation’s youngest black legislator following his election at age 19 in November 2018. “I always knew that I was not satisfied with the leadership I was getting within my own house district,” Hanna told…
Services typically suspended during government shutdowns have continued to operate under the Trump administration, with insiders pointing to acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought as the reason why. Agencies impacted by government shutdowns are forced to severely cut back on operations, suspend services, and often send workers home without pay. The Office of Management…
President Donald Trump placed the blame for the partial government shutdown at the feet of “Nancy and Cryin’ Chuck” in a tweet Monday. “Nancy and Cryin’ Chuck can end the Shutdown in 15 minutes. At this point it has become their, and the Democrats, fault!” he wrote. The government shutdown hit Day 24 Monday, setting a U.S….
Newly elected Sen. Marsha Blackburn announced Thursday that she has introduced her first bill in the Senate, one that would end federal funding to all abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood. “Tennesseans and the American people do not want their tax dollars funding abortions,” Blackburn, R-Tenn., said in a statement posted on her Twitter page Friday….
The government is shut down over border wall funding, but only a month ago Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked President Donald Trump to support billions in green energy subsidies. Schumer, a New York Democrat, in early December asked Trump to support “permanent tax incentives for domestic production of clean electricity and storage, energy efficient homes and…
President Donald Trump shared an image of a “very high, strong and beautiful” portion of wall on the U.S. border with Mexico via Twitter Friday. “The Fake News Media keeps saying we haven’t built any NEW WALL,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Below is a section just completed on the Border. Anti-climbing feature included. Very high, strong and…
KYIV, Ukraine—Orthodox Christians celebrated Christmas on Jan. 7, according to the Julian calendar. This year’s holiday was the first for Ukraine’s newly unified, national Orthodox Church, independent from Russian control for the first time since the 17th century. Monday’s milestone marked a major step forward in Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to diminish Russian influence, highlighting an…
Conservatives say Democrats’ new rules, pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will stifle conservative lawmakers. “House Democrats are using parliamentary rules to consolidate power in Speaker Pelosi’s hands, push forward a liberal agenda, and deny conservatives an equal voice in what is supposed to be a legislative body that represents all Americans,” Jessica Anderson, vice…
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s recovery from a lung cancer operation is proceeding apace and there are no signs of further disease, the Supreme Court announced Friday afternoon. Ginsburg had two cancerous nodules removed from her lungs at the Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center on Dec. 21. The procedure is called a pulmonary lobectomy. “Justice Ginsburg will continue…
MADISON, Wis.—Dozens of conservative organizations are receiving late Christmas presents years after the IRS handed them a lump of coal. The federal government in recent days has been issuing settlement checks to 100 right-of-center groups wrongfully targeted for their political beliefs under the Obama administration’s Internal Revenue Service, according to an attorney for the firm…
In what could be the largest labor-related case since Janus v. AFSCME, policy groups from around the country are expressing support for a lawsuit that would prohibit forced representation from public-sector unions. The lawsuit, litigated by the Ohio-based, free-market Buckeye Institute, received support from 21 different policy groups who filed a joint amicus brief with the…
Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines introduced a bill on the Senate floor Thursday that would withhold the pay of members of Congress during future government shutdowns. Daines’ introduction of the bill, sponsored by Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn, comes hours after Daines announced he sent a letter requesting the secretary of the U.S. Senate withhold…
President Donald Trump released a statement on Wednesday via Twitter signaling he would order the Federal Emergency Management Agency to withhold funding for California’s wildfire recovery. The president cites previous funding as a “waste of money” because of the state’s recurring forest fires, which he attributes to poor state-level land management. “We should not be…
A conservative lawmaker says Congress should appropriate money for a barrier along the southern border so that President Donald Trump does not feel forced to declare a national emergency in order to secure funding for it. “I think we should do [a border wall] legislatively. I think we should actually appropriate the dollars for a…