Category: What We are Talking About

FDA Approves Mixing COVID Vaccines; Backs Moderna, J&J Boosters

U.S. regulators on Wednesday signed off on extending COVID-19 boosters to Americans who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine and said anyone eligible for an extra dose can get a brand different from the one they received initially. The Food and Drug Administration’s decisions mark a big step toward expanding the U.S. booster […]

Booster shots could soon be recommended for people as young as 40, source says

Booster protection in the US could soon expand to a much broader population, as a source says the US government likely will soon recommend them to people as young as 40 who received either Moderna or Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. “I believe it will happen,” the source familiar with the plan said, adding that there is […]

Democrats abandon free community college as White House warns social safety net bill will shrink below $2T

President Joe Biden told progressive lawmakers Tuesday that the final social spending bill is expected to drop tuition-free community college and curtail the child tax credit program, two sources familiar with the meeting said. The sources said the popular child tax credit is likely to be extended for an additional year. Many Democrats had pushed […]

Jan. 6 Committee Votes To Hold Steve Bannon In Contempt Of Congress

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol voted Tuesday evening to hold Steve Bannon, a former aide to President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress ― a move that could lead to federal criminal charges. The vote was unanimous among the committee’s nine members. “When you think about what we’re […]

Colin Powell, former secretary of state, dies of multiple myeloma coupled with COVID-19 complications

Former secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, died Monday morning due to complications from multiple myeloma, Parkinson’s disease, and COVID-19, his family said in a statement. “He was fully vaccinated. We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment,” the […]

House Democrats Consider Killing The Debt Limit

Democrats in the House of Representatives will consider getting rid of the arbitrary limit on how much money the U.S. government can borrow to fund operations. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a letter to fellow lawmakers over the weekend that “the House will explore options to remove the threat that the debt […]

Trump Sues Jan. 6 Committee To Block Archived Presidential Documents

Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, an attempt to block lawmakers from accessing archived presidential documents. In the Monday complaint that also addressed the National Archives, the former president called the committee’s probe into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol an “illegal […]

Confronting his critics, Christopher Steele defends controversial dossier in first major interview

Former British spy Christopher Steele is stepping out of the shadows to “set the record straight” about his bombshell dossier for the first time since his name splashed across headlines in early 2017, defending his work, his name, and the decision to include some of its most controversial elements. “I stand by the work we […]

Clean energy program likely to be dropped because of Manchin’s objections

The Clean Energy Performance Program, the linchpin of President Biden’s proposed climate change legislation, is likely to be dropped from the Democrats’ spending bill because of opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., multiple sources have told NBC News. The sources say that the program will most likely be removed from the massive spending package known […]

Senate to vote Wednesday on sweeping voting rights bill Republicans promise to filibuster

This week could be the last dance for federal voting rights legislation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is moving Monday to set up a vote on the Freedom to Vote Act, which is likely to take placeWednesday. Schumer, D-N.Y., who said it has the support of all 50 Democratic-voting senators, said the bill is necessary […]

Ex-FBI leader Andrew McCabe wins back pension in Justice Dept. settlement after he was fired under Trump

Former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe won back his pension Thursday after the Justice Department settled rather than face a federal lawsuit asserting he was illegally fired for political reasons in March 2018 for overseeing the FBI’s Russia investigation after becoming the target of a leak investigation himself. The longtime FBI official approved the decision […]

FDA Panel Endorses Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots For Seniors, High-Risk Groups

U.S. health advisers said Thursday that some Americans who received Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine should get a half-dose booster to bolster protection against the virus. The panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously to recommend a booster shot for seniors, adults with other health problems, jobs or living situations that put them […]

Bill Clinton Hospitalized In California, Is ‘On The Mend’

Former President Bill Clinton has been hospitalized in California for several days with a non-COVID-related infection, his spokesperson said Thursday night. Clinton is being treated at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center. “He is on the mend, in good spirits, and is incredibly thankful to the doctors, nurses and staff providing him with excellent […]

Biden Announces Measures at Major Ports to Battle Supply Chain Woes

President Biden announced Wednesday that the Port of Los Angeles will operate around the clock and major companies including Walmart, UPS and FedEx would expand their working hours as his administration struggles to relieve growing backlogs in the global supply chains that deliver critical goods to the United States. Product shortages have frustrated American consumers […]

Vaccination could have prevented 90,000 deaths over four months, study says

Approximately 90,000 covid-19 deaths could have been avoided over four months of this year if more U.S. adults had chosen to be vaccinated, a new study finds, as the disease caused by the coronavirus became the second-leading cause of death in the United States. The estimate from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser […]

White House formally rejects Trump’s request to protect specific documents from being given to January 6 investigators

The White House formally rejected the request by former President Donald Trump to assert executive privilege to shield from lawmakers a subset of documents that has been requested by the House committee investigating January 6, and set an aggressive timeline for their release. The latest letter came after the Biden administration informed the National Archives […]

Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth announced on Tuesday that he will not be seeking reelection after serving thirteen years in Congress and becoming one of the most powerful liberals in Washington DC. Yarmuth’s announcement is a blow for Democrats who hold a slim majority in the chamber and must now field a new candidate for his […]

White House to announce Walmart, FedEx, UPS will increase services to help supply chain

The White House is set to announce Wednesday that three of the largest U.S. goods carriers, Walmart, FedEx and UPS, will be upping their efforts to address supply chain shortagesresulting from the coronavirus pandemic. The carriers “will make commitments towards moving to 24/7 working during off-peak hours,” senior administration officials said on a call Tuesday […]

Southwest, American Airlines Rebuff Texas Gov, Will Comply With Biden Vaccine Mandates

Texas-based Southwest and American Airlines both said Tuesday they would move forward with mandates that employees get vaccinated against COVID-19, despite the state’s governor attempting to ban such requirements across Texas this week. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed an executive order on Monday barring vaccine mandates for any business, government office or other entity […]

Biden calls for businesses to instate vaccine mandates ahead of federal requirement

President Joe Biden made the case for Covid vaccination mandates and urged more companies to require their employees to get vaccinated as the White House tries to get back on the offense over Biden’s handling of the pandemic. “I’m calling more employers to act,” Biden said. “My message is require your employees to get vaccinated. […]

Capitol Police whistleblower blasts two senior leaders for ‘failures’ on Jan. 6

A U.S. Capitol Police whistleblower sent a letter to congressional leaders late last month accusing the agency’s two senior leaders of mishandling intelligence surrounding the Jan. 6 riotat the Capitol. In the letter, obtained by NBC News, the whistleblower accused Sean Gallagher, the acting chief of uniformed operations, and Yogananda Pittman, the assistant chief for […]

Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden resigns over racist, homophobic, misogynistic emails

Jon Gruden has resigned as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after emails he sent before being hired in 2018 contained racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments. Gruden released a statement Monday night, saying: “I have resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. I love the Raiders and do not want to be a […]

Fiona Hill says January 6 was a “dress rehearsal” for future political violence

Foreign affairs and national security expert Fiona Hill warned that the U.S. is in a “dangerous moment” and has already reached a constitutional crisis as political actors try to undermine elections and call for violence.    “I think the moment is incredibly dangerous. I mean we are in a dangerous moment,” Hill said on “Face […]

Southwest Airlines Cancels More Than 1,000 Flights Over Weekend

Southwest Airlines canceled hundreds of flights over the weekend, blaming the woes on air traffic control issues and weather. The airline canceled more than 1,000 flights in total, or 29% of its schedule, as of 7 p.m. ET Sunday, according to flight tracker FlightAware. That was the highest rate by far of the major U.S. […]

GOP Rep. Steve Scalise Still Refuses To Acknowledge 2020 Election Was Legitimate

Rep. Steve Scalise, the House’s second-ranking Republican, still refuses to acknowledge the 2020 presidential election’s legitimacy, nearly a year after the majority of states and Congress elected President Joe Biden. The Louisiana congressman spoke on Sunday with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, repeating a false claim widely spread by GOP members that some states ― especially […]

Pfizer seeks FDA authorization of Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11

Pfizer and BioNTech said Thursday they are seeking US Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization from for their Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. If authorized, this would be the first Covid-19 vaccine for younger children. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is approved for people age 16 and older and has an EUA for […]

January 6 committee issues new subpoenas for 2 leaders of ‘Stop the Steal’ group

The House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol issued a new round of subpoenas on Thursday, targeting two leaders of the “Stop the Steal” group, Ali Alexander and Nathan Martin, who are also affiliated with the planning of the Washington, DC, rally that was a precursor to the attack. In addition […]

Senate votes to raise debt limit after 11 Republicans join Democrats to break filibuster

After weeks of brinkmanship, the Senate voted Thursday night to temporarily raise the debt limit by $480 billion until Dec. 3. The procedural move to break the GOP filibuster, which required 60 votes, was the first hurdle cleared, with a final count of 61-38. At least 10 Republicans needed to side with all Democrats to […]

Biden administration to boost at-home rapid testing with $1 billion investment

It’s about to get faster, easier and cheaper to get an at-home Covid-19 test, the Biden administration says. The administration is set to boost Covid-19 testing in the US by announcing an additional investment in at-home rapid tests. White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients announced on Wednesday a $1 billion investment, which will go toward […]

Los Angeles passes one of the strictest COVID-19 vaccine mandates in US

Los Angeles will soon require that people show proof of full vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test to enter many indoor establishments. It will be one of the strictest vaccine rules in the country when it goes into effect next month. The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved the ordinance, which will apply […]

Senate Republicans Offer Short-Term Deal To Avoid Debt Default

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that Republicans are willing to agree to raise the federal government’s borrowing limit high enough to avert a debt default crisis for two months, a short-term extension Democrats appeared ready to accept on Wednesday. The offer represented the first flinch in a game of chicken that threatened to […]

Johnson & Johnson asks FDA to approve COVID-19 vaccine booster doses

Johnson & Johnson asked the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to allow extra shots of its COVID-19 vaccine as the U.S. government moves toward expanding its booster campaign to millions more vaccinated Americans.   J&J said it filed a request with the FDA to authorize boosters for people who previously received the company’s one-shot […]

Biden looks to move past Capitol Hill drama as he takes infrastructure pitch back on the road

President Joe Biden traveled to mid-Michigan on Tuesday as he looks to regain momentum on his twin economic packages, which remain stalled on Capitol Hill because of sharp divisions within his own party about the size and scope of the plans. During a speech on the trip, Biden argued that both components of his Build […]

Facebook Whistleblower Testifies About Company’s Harms Amid Leak Fallout

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before Congress on Tuesday, telling a Senate subcommittee that the social media giant is putting “profits before people.” Haugen’s claims are supported by tens of thousands of pages of internal Facebook research, which she previously provided to The Wall Street Journal. The paper used the documents to publish a series […]

House January 6 select committee hears testimony behind closed doors

The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has begun hearing from witnesses and expects to continue doing so in the days ahead, a committee aide confirmed to CBS News. The aide would not disclose the identities of those who are being questioned by the committee.  The committee said on […]

Biden administration rolls back Trump-era rule restricting federal funds to clinics over abortion services

The Biden administration on Monday formally reversed a Trump-era rule that barred reproductive health care clinics that provide abortion referrals and services from receiving federal funds. The new rule, which will go into effect Nov. 8, paves the way for major providers like Planned Parenthood to rejoin Title X, the federal family planning program created […]

Facebook blames ‘faulty configuration change’ for major outages

Facebook said it, Instagram and WhatsApp were “coming back online” after a massive outage Monday knocked out service to the social media giants for users around the world for more than six hours. All three platforms, owned and operated by Facebook Inc., based in Menlo Park, California, went out of service at 11:39 a.m. ET. […]

Facebook whistleblower reveals identity, accuses the platform of a ‘betrayal of democracy’

A Facebook whistleblower who brought internal documents detailing the company’s research to The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. Congress unmasked herself ahead of an interview she gave to “60 Minutes,” which aired Sunday night. Frances Haugen, a former product manager on Facebook’s civic misinformation team, according to her website, revealed herself as the source […]

Supreme Court’s new term today pivots to abortion, guns, and death penalty as public approval slides

Facing an onslaught of political pressure tactics and plunging public approval, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sails into a new term set to decide some of the most divisive cases in decades on abortion, gun rights, the death penalty and religious freedom. By the end of June 2022, the court’s conservative majority has the […]

Major oil spill closes California’s Huntington Beach

A major oil spill off the coast of Southern California has forced Huntington Beach and activities scheduled to take place in the region to shut down. A leak from an offshore oil production facility leaked 3,000 barrels of oil, which is about 126,000 gallons, on Saturday, Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said. The leak is […]

Manchin says $1.5 trillion is his limit on Biden economic agenda amid battle with progressives

Moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia made clear Thursday that $1.5 trillion was the price tag he was willing to settle on for his party’s plan to expand the social safety net, putting him $2 trillion away from the lowest number progressive Democrats have said they would accept. Manchin said he informed President […]

Justice Sonia Sotomayor: ‘There is going to be a lot of disappointment in the law, a huge amount’

Days before the start of a tumultuous term, and after the Supreme Court justices divided bitterly over a Texas law that bars most abortions after six weeks, Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned an audience of law students about the frustration of having to write dissents. “There is going to be a lot of disappointment in the […]

Biden signs last-minute deal to avert government shutdown

President Joe Biden on Thursday evening signed a deal the House and Senate passed earlier in the day to avert a government shutdown that would have affected hundreds of thousands of federal workers and slammed an economy still struggling to recover from the pandemic, all with just hours left to stave off a crisis. “It […]

Jan. 6 committee subpoenas rally organizers, Trump allies

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol issued another batch of subpoenas to Trump allies and several organizers of the rally that preceded the assault. Women for America First, a conservative group, helped organize the Jan. 6 rally, as well as rallies on Nov. 14 and Dec. 12, the panel […]

Britney Spears’ father suspended as her conservator, judge rules

A judge in Los Angeles ruled Wednesday that Britney Spears’ father should be suspended as her conservator, a change that the singer requested and that her attorney hopes will set her on the path to freedom for the first time since 2008. Spears’ father, James “Jamie” Spears, filed the petition to dissolve the conservatorship last […]

Senate reaches deal to avoid government shutdown, Schumer announces

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that senators have reached a deal on a stopgap government funding measure to prevent a shutdown. “We are ready to move forward,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor. “We have an agreement on … the continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown, and we should be voting […]

Pfizer vaccine for kids may not be available until November

Pfizer has submitted research to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine in children but the shots may not be available until November. The company said Tuesday it provided health regulators with data from a recent study of its vaccine in children 5 to 11 years old. Officials had […]

Manchin and Sinema meet with Biden over reconciliation bill concerns

Moderate Democrats Senator Joe Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema held separate meetings with President Biden at the White House Tuesday, as the White House and most Democrats push an up-to $3.5 trillion bill to expand the social safety net.    Mr. Biden’s first-term domestic agenda is packed into the massive bill, which has no Republican […]

Treasury secretary warns of ‘calamity’ if Congress doesn’t raise debt limit

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday that if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling by the deadline it would be a “calamity.” Testifying before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs alongside Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Yellen said the U.S. could hit its debt limit in less than three weeks, as early […]

Biden gets COVID-19 booster shot on camera

President Biden received his COVID-19 vaccine booster shot on Monday, after public health officials recommended boosters for many Americans, including those 65 and older. Mr. Biden, 78, got his third shot on camera, and delivered brief remarks before his jab.  The Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization last week for booster doses […]

R. Kelly found guilty on all counts in sex trafficking trial

R. Kelly, the R&B superstar who has long been trailed by accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse, was found guilty in New York on Monday on all counts in a high profile sex-trafficking case, capping a trial that featured hours of graphic testimony from his accusers. Kelly, who has been in custody for much of […]

Pelosi says Biden’s infrastructure bill can’t wait for social safety net bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats on Monday that passage of the $550 billion infrastructure bill must not wait for President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar safety net bill, saying the larger package is not yet ready for a vote. In a private caucus meeting, Pelosi, D-Calif., said the party must “make difficult choices,” because the dynamics […]

Biden Tells Reporters He’ll Get Covid Booster Shot ‘In Public’ Soon

President Joe Biden talked with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House Sunday after traveling on Marine One back from a weekend trip to Camp David, sharing his plans to get a Covid-19 vaccine booster shot and his thoughts on the ongoing negotiations for the infrastructure bill. CNN Newsroom anchor Jim Acosta introduced the […]

Biden decides it would be inappropriate to assert executive privilege in January 6 investigation

President Joe Biden generally does not expect to assert executive privilege to shield Trump-era records from being seen by a congressional committee investigating the January 6 insurrection attempt, the White House said on Friday. “We take this matter incredibly seriously,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a Friday press briefing. “The President has […]

Liz Cheney: ‘I Was Wrong’ In Opposing Gay Marriage In Past

Rep. Liz Cheney says she was wrong to oppose gay marriage in the past, a stand that once split her family. Cheney, R-Wyo., a fierce critic of fellow Republican Donald Trump, also tells CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that she views her reelection campaign as the most important House race in the nation as forces aligned […]

Schumer, Pelosi announce ‘framework’ to pay for $3.5T infrastructure bill

Democratic House and Senate leaders on Thursday announced they and the White House have reached agreement on a “framework” that will pay for most, if not all, of the massive $3.5 trillion human infrastructure bill — a move meant to mitigate concerns from moderate and centrist Democrats opposed to the hefty price tag. But the […]

Jan. 6 select committee sends first subpoenas to former Trump aides, advisers

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot issued its first subpoenas Thursday to four former senior Trump administration officials, including former President Donald Trump‘s longest-serving aide and last chief of staff. The committee is seeking documents and depositions from Dan Scavino — Trump’s caddy-turned-social media guru and senior White House aide — former […]

Arizona Recount: Draft of Cyber Ninjas election review says Biden won

Maricopa County, Arizona, said Thursday that a draft report from a company in a contentious, partisan review of November’s election has confirmed the winners. The “draft report from Cyber Ninjas confirms the county’s canvass of the 2020 General Election was accurate and the candidates certified as the winners did, in fact, win,” Maricopa County tweeted […]

Democrats introduce post-Trump ethics bill to enforce subpoenas, limit conflicts

House Democrats on Tuesday released a new package of measures to limit presidential power, a rebuke of former President Donald Trump and designed with the Biden White House to prevent future presidents from breaking traditional ethics and governing norms. “Donald Trump made this legislation a necessity, but this is bigger than any one president,” Rep. […]

House committee probing Jan. 6 attack could subpoena Trump aides: Sources

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol could issue its first subpoenas in the coming days, possibly targeting several former high-level aides to President Donald Trump for records and information, sources tell ABC News. Former GOP congressman and Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and White House aides Dan Scavino […]

Joe Biden Seeks To Unite Democrats In Do-Or-Die Moment For His Agenda

President Joe Biden successfully brought his party together to unilaterally pass the American Rescue Plan, their $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill, earlier this year. Now, he must reconcile their differences on an even more ambitious and controversial domestic spending measure, the Build Back Better Act, which seeks to address health care, child care, the changing […]

Trump campaign was aware attorneys’ voting conspiracy theories were baseless, court documents show

Officials working for then-President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign were aware that the voting machine claims being pushed by pro-Trump attorneys were baseless, court documents obtained by The New York Times show. The documents — which were filed last week as part of a defamation lawsuit from a former employee of Dominion Voting Systems — reveal […]

New bombshells show Trump’s coup threat was real and hasn’t passed

A rush of new and shocking behind-the-scenes disclosures about how then-President Donald Trump sought to thwart the Constitution and the will of voters makes a clear case that America came closer to a coup earlier this year than previously known. The fresh evidence also shows what many people in Trump’s inner circle knew in January: […]

House votes to approve bill to avert government shutdown

The House voted along party lines to pass a short-term funding bill to avert a government shutdown next week. The final vote was 220-211. The bill would fund the government through Dec. 3 and it also includes billions in emergency disaster relief and aid for Afghan evacuees. It also suspends the debt limit through December […]

Pfizer says its Covid vaccine is safe and effective for children ages 5 to 11

Pfizer and BioNTech said Monday that the companies’ two-dose Covid-19 vaccine was safe and showed a “robust” antibody response in children ages 5 to 11. Based on data collected in a trial that included more than 2,000 children, Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, said in a press release that the vaccine was “safe, well […]

Texas doctor who defied state’s new abortion ban is sued

A San Antonio doctor who said he performed an abortion in defiance of a new Texas law all but dared supporters of the state’s near-total ban on the procedure to try making an early example of him by filing a lawsuit — and by Monday, two people obliged. Former attorneys in Arkansas and Illinois filed […]

Two Longtime GOP Operatives Charged With Illegally Contributing to Trump Campaign By Funneling Cash From a Russian National

Two longtime Republican operatives have been charged with illegally contributing to former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign by funneling cash from a Russian national. According to a press release put out by the DOJ Monday, the operatives — Jesse Benton and Doug Wead — have been indicted on conspiracy to solicit and cause an illegal […]

Clyburn says there is a ‘possibility’ infrastructure vote could be delayed

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said Sunday that there is a “possibility” the vote on a bipartisan infrastructure package will be delayed, despite Democratic House leaders promising moderate members a vote by September 27. “There’s always a possibility that the vote would get delayed, but the question is, ‘Are we going to work to get […]

Texas doctor says he violated the state’s strict new abortion law in order to test it legally

A Texas doctor is publicly revealing that he violated a state law that bans abortions after six weeks and says he is inviting legal challenges under the controversial law, which has so far withstood efforts by pro-abortion rights supporters to block it. “On the morning of Sept. 6, I provided an abortion to a woman […]

Senate Parliamentarian Rules Against Path To Citizenship In Democrats’ Spending Bill

Democrats’ push to give young undocumented Dreamers a path to citizenship violates Senate rules, according to the Senate’s parliamentarian, who dealt yet another blow on Sunday to long-stalled immigration reform efforts in Congress. “Changing the law to clear the way to [legal permanent resident] status is tremendous and enduring policy change that dwarfs its budgetary […]

ustice Clarence Thomas says judges are ‘asking for trouble’ when they wade into politics

On the verge of a new term in which the Supreme Court will wade back into the culture wars, Justice Clarence Thomas reflected Thursday on the role of the judiciary and warned against judges weighing in on controversial issues that he said are better left to other areas of government. “When we begin to venture […]

What to expect as FDA advisory panel debates Pfizer COVID booster shots

The Food and Drug Administration’s independent advisory committee will convene in open session Friday to review the latest data submitted by Pfizer and discuss whether a booster dose is safe enough for widespread use and whether it’s necessary and effective at improving protection levels against COVID-19. Their vote will be non-binding — the FDA is […]

Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, a Republican who voted to impeach Trump, won’t seek re-election

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez — one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 riot on the Capitol — will not seek re-election to his northern Ohio seat in 2022. “Since entering politics, I have always said that I will do this job for as long as the […]

Milley acted to prevent Trump from misusing nuclear weapons, war with China, book says

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley took steps to prevent then-President Donald Trump from misusing the country’s nuclear arsenal during the last month of his presidency, according to a new book by The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward and Robert Costa obtained by NBC News. Their book, “Peril,” said that in the days […]

COVID-19 cases climbing, wiping out months of progress

COVID-19 deaths and cases in the U.S. have climbed back to levels not seen since last winter, erasing months of progress and potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s argument for his sweeping new vaccination requirements. The cases — driven by the delta variant combined with resistance among some Americans to getting the vaccine — are concentrated […]

Justice Department Asks U.S. Judge To Block Enforcement Of Restrictive Texas Abortion Law

The Department of Justice asked a federal judge on Tuesday to immediately block Texas’ restrictive ban on abortions past six weeks of pregnancy while the case makes its way through the court system. The Justice Department asked the judge to issue a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction, both of which would put the law […]

Key takeaways from Blinken’s Capitol Hill testimony on Afghanistan withdrawal

In his first appearance on Capitol Hill since the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken faced more than five hours of questions from members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He faces more questions from the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Here are […]

Child Covid-19 cases increased nearly 240% since July, pediatricians’ group says

Covid-19 infections have risen “exponentially” among children in the US since July, according to data published Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The group reported 243,373 new cases among kids over the past week. While this is a decline from last week, when 251,781 cases were reported, it’s about a 240% increase since […]

Democrats cut deal with Manchin to get party behind long-shot voting overhaul bill

Senate Democrats are proposing new legislation to overhaul voting laws after months of discussions to get all 50 of their members behind a single bill, allowing their caucus to speak with one voice on the issue even though it stands virtually no chance of becoming law. The proposal — announced in a statement by a […]

G.O.P. Seethes at Biden Mandate, Even in States Requiring Other Vaccines

Like other Republican governors around the country, Tate Reeves of Mississippi reacted angrily to the coronavirus vaccine mandates President Biden imposed on private businesses. Declaring the move “terrifying,” he wrote on Twitter: “This is still America, and we still believe in freedom from tyrants.” There is a deep inconsistency in that argument. Mississippi has some […]

Larry Elder, Gavin Newsom gear up for California recall battle

There are still two days to go before California’s gubernatorial recall election, but the current governor’s team and his leading opponent, Larry Elder, have each already indicated they’re ready for legal challenges. In a sit-down interview with ABC News’ Zohreen Shah on Saturday, Elder was asked repeatedly if he would accept the results of Tuesday’s […]

6 Capitol Police Officers Face Disciplinary Action From Jan. 6 Attack

Disciplinary action has been recommended for six U.S. Capitol Police officers following an internal investigation into the deadly Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol, the U.S. Capitol Police said. An investigation by the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) found three cases of unbecoming conduct, one case of failure to comply with directives, one case […]

Flight lands in Qatar after Taliban cleared Americans and others to leave Afghanistan

The first international passenger flight to take off from Afghanistan since the chaotic US military airlift last month landed in Qatar on Thursday, carrying more than 100 foreign nationals, including Americans, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. Passengers on board the chartered Qatar Airways flight that departed from Kabul airport — including […]

Air travelers refusing to wear masks could face up to $3,000 fines

Air travelers who refuse to wear masks could be fined up to $3,000, starting Friday.    The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced Thursday it will double fines for those who flout federal mask mandates for air travel. First-time offenders will be fined $500-$1,000, while repeat offenders will be forced to shell out $1,000-$3,000.  Read the […]

Justice Department sues Texas over restrictive abortion law

The Biden administration is filing a lawsuit against Texas challenging its near-total ban on abortions, which the Supreme Court declined to block last week. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that the Justice Department filed the suit against Texas over its law, which he called “clearly unconstitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent.” “The United States […]

Florida judge orders immediate lifting of DeSantis ban on school mask mandates

A judge on Wednesday ruled that Florida must immediately stop enforcing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on mask mandates in schools, refusing to issue a stay as the state appeals his decision. Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper argued that the state had failed to prove that an appeal would be successful and that delaying […]

Pelosi to hold security briefing ahead of Sept. 18 rally planned by Trump supporters

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has invited her fellow congressional leaders from the House and the Senate to a security briefing about a rally planned at the Capitol in support of people who were arrested during the Jan. 6 riot. Pelosi, D-Calif., invited Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and […]

Biden Ousts 18 Trump Military Academy Board Appointees

The Biden administration on Wednesday removed 18 appointees named to U.S. military academy boards by Donald Trump in the final months of the Republican president’s term in office, according to the White House. Cathy Russell, director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, sent letters to 18 people named to the boards of visitors for […]

White House taps populist message as Biden pushes $3.5T plan

The White House is preparing an urgent and populist message for selling President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion “build back better” agenda, even as House committee leaders begin churning out pieces of the forthcoming measure. In a memo being sent Tuesday to Capitol Hill and obtained by The Associated Press, the administration warns there is no […]

There were nearly 300% more new COVID cases on average this Labor Day than last year

The average weekly number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. was nearly 300% higher this Labor Day weekend compared to the same time last year, data from Johns Hopkins University shows. The average number of deaths was more than 86% higher compared to the same period in 2020.    There were 1.146 million weekly cases […]

Texas Gov. Abbott defends new abortion law, vows to ‘eliminate all rapists’

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott defended the state’s restrictive new abortion law Tuesday, saying it doesn’t force victims of rape to give birth and vowing to “eliminate all rapists.” Abbott, a Republican, took questions from reporters Tuesday morning after an event at which he signed a sweeping election billinto law. Asked whether the abortion law would […]

Ex-FBI official says law enforcement needs to take upcoming right-wing rally in DC ‘very seriously’

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said Monday evening that law enforcement needs to take the upcoming right-wing rally in support of jailed January 6 rioters“very seriously” as concerns mount about more potential violence on Capitol Hill. “I think they should take it very seriously. In fact, they should take it more seriously than they […]

Jobless Americans left scrambling after pandemic unemployment benefits end

Nearly 18 months after Congress came to the rescue of jobless Americans, its historic expansion of the nation’s unemployment benefits system expired nationwide this weekend. Lawmakers, who extended the three pandemic programs in December and March, are not expected to renew them again.   A key component of the relief effort was a federal weekly […]

Wendy Molyneux: “OH MY FU**ING GOD, GET THE FU**ING VACCINE ALREADY, YOU FU**ING FU**S”

Hi, if you are reading this essay then congratulations, you are still alive. And if you are alive, then you have either gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, or you still have the opportunity to get the vaccine against COVID-19. And holy fuck, if you aren’t fucking vaccinated against COVID-19, then you need to get fucking vaccinated […]

Florida governor appeals ruling on masks in schools

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appealed a judge’s ruling that the governor exceeded his authority by ordering school boards not to impose strict mask requirements on students to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The governor’s lawyers took their case Thursday to the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee. DeSantis wants the appeals court […]

GOP Congressman to ask leader to boot Cheney and Kinzinger from conference

Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona plans to send a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday asking him to remove Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger from the GOP Conference because they accepted Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s appointments to the January 6 select committee.    Removal from the conference requires a two thirds vote […]

Officers and paramedics charged in death of Elijah McClain

A grand jury has returned a 32-count indictment against officers and paramedics involved in the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who was put in a chokehold by Aurora police and injected with a sedative during an August 2019 arrest, Colorado’s attorney general announced Wednesday. The charges include manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. […]

At least 8 killed as Ida batters New York, New Jersey with floods and emergencies

At least eight people were killed as the remnants of Hurricane Idabattered New York and New Jersey with tornadoes, record rain and flooding that left both areas deluged and under states of emergency on Thursday. Videos on social media showed cars submerged on highways and water pouring into subway stations and homes after a wind-driven […]

Texas Republicans’ restrictive election bill gets final green light

Texas lawmakers passed a restrictive elections bill out of the state legislature on Tuesday, after a monthslong battle with Democrats who fled the legislature repeatedly to try and block the bill. The bill passed the Texas House and Senate on Tuesday afternoon in a pair of votes with on; it now heads to the desk […]

Hurricane Ida Leaves Louisiana Without Power, Water, Gasoline

Hundreds of thousands of Louisianans sweltered in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida on Tuesday with no electricity, no tap water, precious little gasoline and no clear idea of when things might improve. Long lines that wrapped around the block formed at the few gas stations that had fuel and generator power to pump it. People […]

Supreme Court Allows Extreme Texas Abortion Ban To Go Into Effect

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a restrictive Texas law to go into effect that criminalizes abortion at six weeks and deputizes citizens to enforce the ban. S.B. 8 effectively bans abortion at six weeks, a time at which many people don’t yet realize they’re pregnant. The bill is more extreme than other laws in […]

Biden honors troops killed in Afghanistan as remains arrive in U.S.

President Biden met in solemn privacy Sunday with the families of the 13 U.S. troops killed in the suicide attack near the Kabul airport and became the fourth commander in chief to bear witness as the remains of the fallen returned to U.S. soil from Afghanistan.   First lady Jill Biden joined the president at Dover […]

Rep. Jim Jordan Suddenly Remembers At Least One Other Call With Trump On Jan. 6: Report

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has suddenly remembered another phone call — or more — that he had with then-President Donald Trump while insurrectionists rampaged through the Capitol on January 6, Politico reported Sunday. Some observers speculated that the Ohio congressman may be trying to get his story straight if he’s called to testify before the House Select Committee investigating […]

Ida weakens to tropical storm after knocking out power to New Orleans

Hurricane Ida weakened to a tropical storm Monday after crashing into Louisiana and knocking out power to more than 1 million homes and businesses including the city of New Orleans. Officials earlier warned of “life-threatening” floods. At least one person, a 60-year-old man, died in Ascension Parish after a tree fell on his home. Electric […]

Biden vows revenge for Kabul attack that killed 13 U.S. service members

Thirteen U.S. service members were killed and more than a dozen others injured in an attack outside the airport in the capital of Afghanistan on Thursday, opening a deadly new chapter in the massive U.S. effort to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies ahead of President Biden’s August 31 deadline to withdraw. The Pentagon said a […]

Supreme Court blocks Biden administration’s eviction moratorium

The Supreme Court late Thursday blocked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from enforcing the federal moratorium on evicting renters during the coronavirus pandemic, a defeat for the Biden administration’s effort to continue the moratorium even though the court had signaled that the action lacked the proper legal basis. The current moratorium, which was […]

Officer who shot Ashli Babbitt during Capitol riot breaks silence: ‘I saved countless lives’

In the chaotic minutes before he shot and killed Ashli Babbitt during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, Lt. Michael Byrd focused his attention on the glass doors leading into the lobby of the House of Representatives chamber. About 60 to 80 House members and staffers were holed up inside, and it was Byrd’s job […]

Jan 6. House Select Committee releases sweeping records request, including call logs of Trump

The Jan. 6 House Select Committee has issued a wide-ranging records request to the National Archives and Records Administration and several other agencies, including phone records from members of congress, as a part of their investigation into the Capitol Riot.  The nine-member panel, which held its first hearing around the Jan. 6 Capitol riot last […]

Blinken says up to 1,500 Americans may still need evacuation from Afghanistan

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the U.S. has airlifted 4,500 U.S. citizens and their families out of Afghanistan in the last 10 days, and there may be up to 1,500 Americans who still want to leave the country as part of the massive evacuation effort by the Biden administration in the wake of […]

Judge sanctions Sidney Powell and other attorneys who filed lawsuit challenging 2020 election

A federal judge in Michigan has ordered sanctions against former Trump attorney Sidney Powell, attorney Lin Wood, and several other lawyers who brought a legal challenge seeking to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in the state. In her ruling Wednesday, Judge Linda Parker described the suit as an “historic and profound abuse of […]

House votes to advance Biden’s jobs and infrastructure plans, breaking logjam

House Democrats voted Tuesday to move forward with President Joe Biden’s top legislative priorities after resolving a standoff between their leaders and centrist rebels, who threatened to block the multitrillion-dollar safety net expansion. The House voted 220 to 212 on a key procedural motion to instruct committees to write the $3.5 trillion bill, which can […]

2 Congress Members Fly To Kabul Amid Chaotic Evacuation

Two members of Congress flew unannounced into Kabul airport in the middle of the ongoing chaotic evacuation Tuesday, stunning State Department and U.S. military personnel who had to divert resources to provide security and information to the lawmakers, U.S. officials said. Officials said Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., flew in on […]

Supreme Court denies Biden administration efforts to end ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy

The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied the Biden administration’s request to pause the implementation of a Trump-era immigration policy. The Justice Department asked the court late last week to delay reinstatement of the policy, known as “Remain in Mexico,” arguing in its brief that the policy had been dormant for more than a year and […]

House committee plans to seek phone records in probe of January 6, including from members of Congress

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot is poised to send notices to various telecommunications companies requesting that they preserve the phone records of several people, including members of Congress, multiple sources tell CNN. Preserving communications records is the first step in an investigatory process that could eventually lead to witness testimony. […]

House delays vote to advance Biden’s economic agenda as centrist Democrats derail Pelosi’s plans

The House scrapped a planned Monday vote to advance two key economic proposals as centrist Democrats and party leaders failed to break a stalemate over how to proceed with President Joe Biden’s sprawling economic agenda. The chamber will reconvene at noon ET on Tuesday as Democrats try to strike a deal to move forward with […]

G-7 allies in Europe likely to push Biden to extend Afghanistan evacuations timeline

Two months ago, the leaders of the world’s seven major industrialized democracies met in summer sunshine on England’s southwest coast. It was a happy occasion: the first in-person summit of the Group of Seven nations in two years due to the coronavirus pandemic and the welcomed appearance of President Joe Biden and his “America is […]

Trump booed at Alabama rally after telling supporters to get vaccinated

Former President Donald Trump was booed at a rally Saturday in Alabama after he told supporters they should get vaccinated. “And you know what? I believe totally in your freedoms. I do. You’ve got to do what you have to do,” Trump said. “But I recommend take the vaccines. I did it. It’s good. Take […]

Jesse Jackson and wife, Jacqueline, ‘responding positively’ to Covid-19 treatment

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and his wife, Jacqueline, are “responding positively” to medical treatment after having been hospitalized with Covid-19, their family said Sunday. Doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago were “carefully monitoring” their conditions because of their ages, said their son Jonathan Jackson. Jesse Jackson is 79, and Jacqueline Jackson is 77. “Both […]

Biden Touts Evacuations From Afghanistan But Warns ‘A Lot Could Still Go Wrong’

President Joe Biden touted on Sunday the surging number of Afghanistan evacuations carried out so far by the United States, but acknowledged that such a massive operation does not come “without pain and loss.” The White House said that the U.S has evacuated 30,300 people out of Afghanistan since Aug. 14, including more than 13,000 […]

Man claiming to have bomb near U.S. Capitol is in custody after standoff, police say

For the third time in eight months, Washington was brought to a standstill Thursday as the seat of the U.S. government came under the threat of violence, this time from a man who parked a truck near the Capitol, demanded to speak with President Biden about a range of grievances and threatened to destroy two […]

3 Senators Test Positive For COVID-19 On Same Day

Three U.S. senators announced Thursday that they tested positive for COVID-19.  Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Angus King (I-Maine) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) released statements about their diagnoses within hours of each other, all saying they had mild symptoms.  All are fully vaccinated. Their positive tests highlight the vaccinations’ purpose, to prevent serious illness and death. Although the […]

Fox News Employees Ordered To Disclose Vaccine Status Amid COVID Concerns

All Fox News employees were instructed this week to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status to the company, a requirement that flies in the face of public remarks previously made by the network’s conservative hosts ― including Tucker Carlson, who has argued that asking about someone’s vaccination status is as invasive as asking about their favorite […]

Biden says his administration will take on GOP governors blocking masks in schools

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he was directing the Education Department to use its legal authority against Republican governors who are trying to block local school officials from requiring students to wear masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Speaking at the White House, Biden said some politicians are trying to turn public safety […]

U.S. working with Taliban to evacuate Americans and allies out of Afghanistan, Pentagon says

Top Pentagon officials said Wednesday that the U.S. military does not “have the capability” to retrieve all Americans who have been unable to reach the U.S.-secured airfield in Kabul as the State Department continues to negotiate safe passage with the Taliban. The White House said that on Wednesday the military evacuated approximately 1,800 people, bringing […]

Biden to tie vaccines for nursing home staff to Medicare and Medicaid funding

President Biden announced Wednesday he is ordering the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to require nursing homes to have vaccinated staff for them to be able to participate in Medicare and Medicaid and receive funding from the federal programs.   The vaccination requirement will be the first time the federal government has implemented […]

3 Top Senate Democrats Pledge To Probe ‘Flawed’ Afghanistan Withdrawal

Democrats in charge of three Senate committees are vowing to hold hearings on the bungled U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, a reflection of how little political cover the Biden administration is getting from its allies on Capitol Hill as chaos engulfs the Middle Eastern country.  Sen. Bob Mendendez (D-N.J.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign […]

As COVID-19 Cases Soar, More Hospitals Report ICUs Nearing Capacity, With Worst To Come

Hospitals across the nation are buckling under the surge in COVID-19 infections linked to the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus, with some states reporting their intensive care units are rapidly filling with patients, much like winter’s wave of cases before vaccines were readily accessible. More than a quarter of the nation’s ICU beds […]

Texas Governor Greg Abbott tests positive for COVID-19

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced on Tuesday. Abbott is fully vaccinated and so far is experiencing no symptoms.    “The Governor has been testing daily, and today was the first positive test result,” Abbott’s communications director Mark Miner said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “Governor Abbott is in […]

Tropical Storm Grace drenching Haiti as quake death toll tops 1,400

Grace regained tropical storm strength early Tuesday and was dumping extremely heavy rains and causing flooding across parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Those two nations share the island of Hispaniola.   Grace lashed earthquake-damaged Haiti as a tropical depression on Monday with up to 10 […]

Taliban announce ‘amnesty,’ urge women to join government

A Taliban official on Tuesday announced a general “amnesty” for all in Afghanistan and urged women to join the government following the movement’s lightning takeover of the country. Enamullah Samangani, member of Islamic Emirate’s cultural commission, made the comments on Afghan state television, which the militants now control. “The Islamic Emirate don’t want women to […]

U.S. To Recommend COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters At 8 Months, Sources Say

U.S. experts are expected to recommend COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all Americans, regardless of age, eight months after they received their second dose of the shot, to ensure lasting protection against the coronavirus as the delta variant spreads across the country. That’s according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated […]

Secretary Blinken Defends Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal Amid Criticism

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday defended the Biden administration’s decision to pull out American troops from Afghanistan even as the Taliban government overtakes the country, saying that the U.S. completed its initial goal and is keeping a promise to avoid further war. “Like it or not, there was an agreement that the forces […]

COVID-19 Hospitalizations For Americans In Their 30s Hit All-Time High

COVID-19 hospitalizations for people in their 30s have reached a record high in the U.S. in the latest evidence that the dangerous delta variant of the disease poses formidable risks for younger age groups. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a total of 170,852 hospital admissions of those age 30 to 39 from […]

Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocks mask mandates in two counties

The Texas Supreme Court on Sunday temporarily halted lower court rulings that allowed local government entities and school districts to implement mask mandates in defiance of an order from Governor Greg Abbott. A hearing on the earlier temporary injunction is scheduled for Monday.   Sunday’s ruling affects Dallas and Bexar Counties, which had both reinstated […]

Matt Gaetz’s Wingman Has Reportedly Given ‘Thousands Of Photos And Videos’ To Feds

In yet another unpromising turn for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), ABC News reported Thursday that his former wingman Joel Greenberg has been providing extensive information to federal authorities as he cooperates with the sprawling investigation of the Florida lawmaker. Greenberg, a former Seminole County tax collector, has handed over “years of Venmo and Cash App […]

Supreme Court rejects challenge to Indiana University’s vaccination requirement

The Supreme Court refused Thursday to block Indiana University’s requirement that students be vaccinated against Covid-19 to attend classes in the fall semester. It was the first legal test of a Covid vaccination mandate to come before the justices. A challenge to the policy was directed to Amy Coney Barrett, the justice in charge of […]

U.S. to evacuate most staff from embassy in Kabul as Taliban sweep across Afghanistan

President Joe Biden is deploying about 3,000 troops to Afghanistan to help secure the withdrawal of most staff from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul amid growing alarm over a Taliban military offensive, officials said Thursday. One Army and two Marine battalions will head to the Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul “within the next 24 to […]

Florida Requests Hundreds Of Ventilators Amid COVID-19 Surge

The federal government has sent hundreds of ventilators and other oxygen devices to the state of Florida following a request from local health officials as coronavirus cases and related hospitalizations continue to rise across the state. The Strategic National Stockpile sent 200 ventilators, 100 high-flow nasal cannula kits and related medical supplies to the state […]

Rand Paul discloses, 16 months later, wife’s purchase of stock in company behind Remdesivir

Sixteen months late, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday filed a disclosure with the Senate revealing that on Feb. 26, 2020, his wife, Kelley, purchased stock in Gilead Sciences, a company that produces an antiviral drug used to treat COVID-19. Under the STOCK Act, which prohibits members of Congress from using information not available to […]

California requires vaccines, tests for teachers and staff

California will become the first state in the nation to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing, as schools return from summer break amid growing concerns about the highly contagious delta variant, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday. The new policy applies to both public and private schools and […]

Texas House Speaker Signs Arrest Warrants For Democrats Who Fled State Over Voting Bill

Texas’s Republican House speaker, Rep. Dan Phelan, signed arrest warrants Tuesday night for 52 House Democrats who fled the state last month in protest of GOP plans for restrictive new voting rights legislation. The Dallas Morning News first reported that the warrants had been issued, adding that they will be delivered to the Texas House […]

Biden praises Senate passage of bipartisan infrastructure bill

President Joe Biden on Tuesday marked the Senate’s passage of a bipartisan infrastructure plan earlier in the day with a White House speech touting the political win and thanking Republican senators who voted with Democrats for what he said was their “courage” to come together to strike a deal for the American people. “After years […]

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns after sexual harassment allegations, investigation

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that he will resign from office following accusations of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct from a number of women, including former staffers and one current staffer. His resignation will be effective in 14 days, Cuomo said. After a five-month investigation, New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced […]

Senate Judiciary interviewing former DOJ officials about Trump post-election efforts

The Senate Judiciary Committee has interviewed former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue in its investigation into whether former President Donald Trump tried to enlist the Justice Department in his effort to overturn the 2020 election results. A spokesperson for the committee confirmed that it held a closed-door […]

Senate Dems unveil $3.5T budget for social, climate efforts

Senate Democrats unwrapped a budget resolution envisioning a massive $3.5 trillion, 10-year cascade of federal resources, aiming historic sums at family support, health and education programs and an aggressive drive to heal the climate. The measure is a pivotal first step in what will likely be a tumultuous, months-long Democratic legislative march toward a progressive […]

Florida Still Sees Record COVID-19 Surge As School Year Begins, But DeSantis Digs In

Florida continues to be the COVID-19 epicenter of the highly transmissible delta variant, with record new cases and rising hospitalizations as some schools start their new year ― but the deadly dilemma does not seem to faze the state’s Republican governor. Florida recorded an alarming 157,388 new cases between Aug. 2 and Aug. 8, bringing […]

Senate advances bipartisan infrastructure bill in key test vote

With multiple Republicans joining Democrats in the effort, the bipartisan infrastructure bill cleared another hurdle on its way to passing the Senate on Saturday afternoon. By a vote of 67-27, the Senate voted to advance the bill toward final passage. It’s not yet clear when the bill will receive a final vote, but Saturday’s vote […]

Homeland Security warns of ‘increasing but modest’ threat of violence from Trump conspiracy

The Department of Homeland Security said Friday they have observed “an increasing but modest level of activity online” by people who are calling for violence in response to baseless claims of 2020 election fraud and related to the conspiracy theory that former President Donald Trump will be reinstated. “Some conspiracy theories associated with reinstating former […]

Top aide to embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns

A top aide to embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned Sunday, saying in a statement that the last two years have been “emotionally and mentally trying.” Melissa DeRosa resigned as secretary to the governor as Cuomo faces calls to step down after New York’s attorney general released a report less than a week ago […]

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Get your tickets for the Sexy Liberal Survivors’ Tour in Madison WI on October 23rd NOW by going to SexyLiberal.com or BarrymoreLive.com! All FOUR Sexy Liberals will be there!  Stephanie Miller, John Fugelsang, Hal Sparks, and Frangela!!  And if you can’t make it to Madison, a LIVE pay per view of the event will be […]

Senators struggle to amend, finish $1T infrastructure bill

Nearing decision time, senators were struggling to wrap up work on the bipartisan infrastructure plan despite hopes to expedite consideration and voting on the nearly $1 trillion proposal. The package had appeared on track for eventual Senate passage, a rare accord between Republicans and Democrats joining on a shared priority that also is essential to […]

Education secretary warns DeSantis, Abbott on masks: ‘Don’t be the reason why schools are interrupted’why schools are interrupted’

With only weeks before schools reopen in much of the country, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said Thursday at the White House that while the Delta variant of the coronavirus is “providing new challenges,” he still anticipates a return to in-class instruction. “We expect our students to be in the classroom every day,” Cardona said […]

Justice official accused Trump of using DOJ to push election fraud claims in draft resignation letter

House investigators have interviewed a former Justice Department official who drafted – but never sent – a resignation letter over what he said were former President Donald Trump’s “direct instructions” to use the department to support his false election fraud claims. Patrick Hovakimian, chief of staff to then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, wrote the resignation […]

Majority of New York state Assembly support beginning process to impeach Cuomo

Over 80 New York state Assembly lawmakers said they would support starting the process of impeaching Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) if he decides not to resign, one day after an independent inquiry found that the governor had sexually harassed at least 11 women. Of the legislative body’s 150 members, at least 86 lawmakers told The Associated Press […]

After Biden proposes, CDC issues new 60-day eviction moratorium

Under heavy pressure from progressive Democrats to extend the eviction moratorium as millions of Americans faced being forced out of their homes, President Joe Biden on Tuesday said his administration would announce a new “safety valve” action. Shortly afterward, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order barring evictions for 60 days in […]

Fauci hopes Pfizer vaccine will get full FDA approval in weeks

Dr. Anthony Fauci said he hopes Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine receives full approval from the Food and Drug Administration within the next couple of weeks. Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, appeared on CNN Tuesday evening to react to the news the FDA was speeding up its timetable for giving final approval to the two-dose […]

10 of the biggest findings from the Cuomo sexual harassment probe

The report issued Tuesday by the New York attorney general’s office graphically detailed numerous accusations of sexual harassment by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The governor forcefully denied the allegations and ignored renewed calls for his resignation after the report was released. To read the rest of the story and see the list, go to NBC News

Biden Administration Seeks to Blunt Effects From End of Eviction Moratorium

With the federal moratorium on evictions having expired over the weekend, the White House on Monday sought to limit the impact, demanding that states speed up disbursement of billions of dollars in bottled-up rental aid while pleading with local governments to enact their own extensions. President Biden — under fire from the left of his […]

Fourth police officer who responded to Capitol insurrection dies of suicide

A Washington, DC police officer who responded to the deadly riot at the US Capitol on Jan. 6 took his own life last month, making him the fourth law enforcement officer who took part in the events of that day to die by his own hand. Officer Kyle DeFreytag helped enforce the curfew put in […]

Sen. Lindsey Graham Says He’s Tested Positive For COVID-19

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced Monday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is showing symptoms of the disease, while expressing gratitude that he has been vaccinated. “I feel like I have a sinus infection and at present time I have mild symptoms,” he tweeted. “I am very glad I was vaccinated because without […]

Rudy Giuliani Is Reportedly Almost Broke And Trump’s Shutting Him Out

Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is almost broke and Trump doesn’t seem to care all that much, sources have told The New York Times. Giuliani is currently struggling under a mountain of legal fees as he attempts to fend off a major federal investigation and answer a $1.3 billion lawsuit. Trump, meanwhile, isn’t […]

Evictions Expected To Spike As Federal Moratorium Ends

Evictions, which have mostly been on pause during the pandemic, are expected to ramp up on Monday after the expiration of a federal moratorium as housing courts take up more cases and tenants are locked out of their homes. Housing advocates fear the end of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium could result […]

Senate introduces text of bipartisan infrastructure package

Senators introduced the long-awaited text of their bipartisan infrastructure bill Sunday, aiming to pass the massive measure this week. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would push forward with amendments to the legislation, which senators were finalizing through the weekend. “Given how bipartisan the bill is, and how much work has already been […]

House passes $2 billion Capitol security bill in response to insurrection, clearing it for Biden’s signature

The House voted 416 to 11 on Thursday to approve a roughly $2 billion Capitol Hill security spending bill in response to the deadly January 6 insurrection, clearing the measure for President Joe Biden’s signature. The House vote came shortly after the Senate voted unanimously to pass the measure by a tally of 98-0. The […]

House Republicans spar with Pelosi over return of mask requirements

A number of House Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, are wrestling with Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the return of a mask mandate in the House, protesting the requirement and even calling for her removal from office. “That is not a speaker for America. That’s a speaker only concerned about her own wealth, her own […]

With eviction moratorium expiring Saturday, Biden calls on Congress to act

The Biden administration on Thursday called on Congress to extend a federal freeze on evictions set to expire on Saturday, arguing its hands are tied by the Supreme Court. The new statement comes as the country grapples with a COVID-19 surge fueled by the highly contagious delta variant. The moratorium, essentially a nationwide ban on […]

Kinzinger says ‘a lot’ of Republicans have privately conveyed support for his January 6 stance

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of just two Republicans on the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, said Wednesday that “a lot” of GOP lawmakers have privately conveyed support to him, as he stressed that “nobody actually believes” the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. “There’s a lot of people, you know. […]

Pelosi calls GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy a “moron” for criticizing mask mandate

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy “a moron” for criticizing the reinstitution of a mask mandate in the House of Representatives.   “He’s such a moron,” Pelosi said as she entered an SUV outside the Capitol Wednesday morning, after a reporter asked her to react to McCarthy’s claim that the mandate was […]

Senate votes to move forward with bipartisan infrastructure bill

The Senate voted to move forward on a bipartisan infrastructure bill after weeks of negotiations on Wednesday, clearing a key procedural hurdle on a bill that includes $550 billion in new spending for infrastructure projects around the country.   The vote to advance the legislation Wednesday night was 67 to 32, with 17 Republicans joining […]

Simone Biles Withdraws From Women’s All-Around Final At Tokyo Olympics

Gymnast Simone Biles will not compete in the women’s individual all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday, USA Gymnastics said. “After further medical evaluation, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition,” USA Gymnastics stated. “We wholeheartedly support Simone’s decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being. Her courage shows, yet […]

Biden Says Vaccine Mandate For Federal Employees ‘Under Consideration’

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that his administration was mulling the possibility of requiring COVID-19 vaccines for all federal employees. Asked during a press conference whether he would impose a vaccine mandate on the federal workforce, Biden said, “That’s under consideration right now.” “But if you’re not vaccinated, you’re not nearly as smart as I thought […]

‘Partisan Pageantry’: Republican Senators Dismiss Emotional Jan. 6 Hearing

Senate Republicans waved off police officers’ emotional accounts Tuesday of battling a violent mob of Donald Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as a partisan escapade not worth paying attention to. “Just more of [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s] partisan pageantry. She loves drama,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), who did not view the testimony. “Just […]

Pfizer And Moderna To Expand Studies Of Vaccines In 5- To 11-Year-Olds

Pfizer and Moderna are expanding the size of their vaccine trials for children 5 to 11 years old, seeking to better detect very rare heart issues among those vaccinated.  The major vaccine makers are increasing the number of children enrolled in their studies at the prompting of the federal Food and Drug Administration, first reported […]

Former Sen. Barbara Boxer Assaulted, Robbed In California

Former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer was assaulted and robbed Monday in Oakland, California, her son said. The assault happened in the Jack London Square neighborhood, according to a tweet on Boxer’s verified Twitter account. “The assailant pushed her in the back, stole her cell phone and jumped in a waiting car,” the tweet said. “She […]

California Will Require State Employees, Health Care Workers To Get Vaccinated

Californians who work for the state, in health care, or in a handful of other high-risk settings will be required to show proof they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing, the governor announced Monday. The policy will take effect for state employees on Aug. 2. Staffers at what the state has deemed “high-risk […]

Growing group of GOP members wants McCarthy to punish Kinzinger and Cheney for joining January 6 committee

A growing group of rank-and-file House Republicans wants House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP leadership to punish Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for accepting a position from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve on the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. The push to seek punishment rose to a new level on […]

Kevin McCarthy Says Pelosi Picking 1/6 Committee Members ‘Who Share Her Pre-Conceived Narrative’ After She Appoints Kinzinger

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy decried the 1/6 select committee after Speaker Nancy Pelosi added a second Republican to it. McCarthy announced five Republicans for the committee last week. Pelosi rejected two of them — Jim Banks and Jim Jordan — so McCarthy pulled all five of them. One of Pelosi’s appointments was Republican Liz […]

Fauci: U.S. Headed In ‘Wrong Direction’ On Coronavirus, Delta Variant

The United States is in an “unnecessary predicament” of soaring COVID-19 cases fueled by unvaccinated Americans and the virulent delta variant, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert said Sunday. “We’re going in the wrong direction,’’ said Dr. Anthony Fauci, describing himself as “very frustrated.” He said recommending that the vaccinated wear masks is “under active […]

Tokyo new virus cases near 2,000 a day before Olympics open

Tokyo hit another six-month high in new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, one day before the Olympics begin, as worries grow of a worsening of infections during the Games. Thursday’s 1,979 new cases are the highest since 2,044 were recorded on Jan. 15. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is determined to hold the Olympics, placed Tokyo […]

Mississippi asks Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade

The state of Mississippi formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to uphold its ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy and overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that gave women the unfettered right to end a pregnancy before a fetus is viable outside the womb. “Under the Constitution, may a State […]

Pelosi says other Republicans “expressed their interest” in serving on January 6 select committee

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that some Republican lawmakers have “expressed their interest” in serving on the select committee investigating the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatened to pull his picks from the panel.   Pelosi has not said whether she would appoint other GOP lawmakers […]

US virus cases nearly triple in 2 weeks amid misinformation

COVID-19 cases nearly tripled in the U.S. over two weeks amid an onslaught of vaccine misinformation that is straining hospitals, exhausting doctors and pushing clergy into the fray. “Our staff, they are frustrated,” said Chad Neilsen, director of infection prevention at UF Health Jacksonville, a Florida hospital that is canceling elective surgeries and procedures after […]

Infrastructure vote fails as senators try to salvage bipartisan deal

Senate Republicans blocked moving forward on a bipartisan infrastructure bill that’s still being negotiated on Wednesday. Surprisingly, members of the group insist they’re unbothered. The vote amounted to a setback to a key priority of President Joe Biden, although members of both parties expect at least one more try in the coming days. GOP centrists […]

Biden Predicts F.D.A. Will Give Final Vaccine Approval by the Fall

President Biden said on Wednesday that he expected the Food and Drug Administration would give final approval quickly for coronavirus vaccines, as he pressed for skeptical Americans to get vaccinated and stop another surge of the pandemic. Speaking to a town hall audience in Ohio, Mr. Biden said he was not intervening in the decisions […]

Senate Republicans warn Schumer they won’t help on Wednesday’s high-stakes infrastructure vote

As the Senate barrels toward a key test vote Wednesday on a bipartisan infrastructure deal, some Senate Republicans involved in trying to nail down the deal are pleading with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to delay the vote until next week. Key Republican negotiators in the bipartisan group of senators who have been trying to work […]

Delta Variant Now Makes Up 83% Of New U.S. COVID Cases: CDC Director

The more transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus now makes up about 83% of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S., with the majority of deaths occurring in unvaccinated people, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. “This is a dramatic increase up from 50%, the week of July 3,” Dr. […]

Fourth Oath Keeper in Capitol riot pleads guilty, cooperates with FBI

A fourth person who joined with members of the far-right Oath Keepers during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot pleaded guilty Tuesday and was cooperating with federal investigators. The man, Caleb Berry, 20, of Tampa, Florida, admitted in federal court in Washington, D.C., that he and other group members planned for Jan. 6 and entered the […]

Delta variant fears send Dow tumbling more than 700 points in worst one-day decline of 2021

Global stock markets swooned Monday, with the Dow slumping more than 700 points, as investors grow increasingly anxious about a delta-led resurgence in coronavirus cases and its potential to derail the economic recovery. Oil prices also fell sharply. The delta variant is now the dominant strain worldwide and surging rapidly, even in countries with high […]

Biden tries to clarify comment that Facebook is ‘killing people’

Days after Facebook publicly rejected President Joe Biden’s message to the platform that it’s “killing people” by allowing the spread of vaccine misinformation, even as COVID-19 infections rise and vaccinations fall around the U.S., he tried to clean up his comment about the social media giant Monday, saying he hopes Facebook doesn’t take it “personally.” […]

GOP leader Kevin McCarthy makes his picks for Jan. 6 select committee

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has selected five members to join the select committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, two Republican aides said Monday. McCarthy tapped Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Rodney Davis of Illinois, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota and Troy Nehls of […]

3 Texas Dems test positive for coronavirus while in D.C.

Three Texas House Democrats who fled the state have tested positive for coronavirus while in Washington, D.C., the Texas House Democratic Caucus said in a statement on Saturday. Over 50 House Democrats from the state left on Monday to break quorum in the chamber. In doing so, they prevented Republicans from advancing proposals to change […]

Biden says DOJ to appeal DACA ruling he calls ‘deeply disappointing’

President Joe Biden said it’s “deeply disappointing” that a federal judge in Texas has ruled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program as unlawful, and said the Department of Justice will appeal the decision. “While the court’s order does not now affect current DACA recipients, this decision nonetheless relegates hundreds of thousands of […]

Bipartisan infrastructure negotiators scramble for deal as key funding option dropped

The group of 10 bipartisan infrastructure negotiators was already having trouble coming up with ways to pay for nearly $600 billion in planned new spending, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer setting a Wednesday deadline for a key test vote on their bill turned up the heat and pressure significantly. “That’s pretty aggressive. That means […]

Ex-Trump Official Calls The GOP America’s ‘Number One National Security Threat’

A former Homeland Security official under Donald Trump says his own party is a national security threat. Miles Taylor, who served as the agency’s deputy chief of staff and then chief of staff from 2017 to 2019, told MSNBC’s Jason Johnson that he’s not a political operative, just someone who works in national security. “And […]

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) Arrested During Protest For Voting Rights

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) was detained by U.S. Capitol Police on Thursday while protesting for voting rights alongside other Black women at a Senate office building in Washington, D.C.  Beatty, who is chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, tweeted a photo of herself being zip-tied by police with the message: “Let the people vote. Fight […]

Los Angeles County reinstates indoor mask mandate as delta variant spreads

Public health officials will reinstate an indoor mask mandate for residents of the most populous county in the nation as coronavirus cases rise just one month after the state reopened its economy. Fueled by the quickening spread of the delta variant, the mask ordinance will go into effect late Saturday and will apply to everyone […]

Dispiriting setback: COVID deaths, cases rise again globally

COVID-19 deaths and cases are on the rise again globally in a dispiriting setback that is triggering another round of restrictions and dampening hopes for a return to normal life. The World Health Organization reported Wednesday that deaths climbed last week after nine straight weeks of decline. It recorded more than 55,000 lives lost, a […]

Liz Cheney Reportedly Tore Into Jim Jordan At The Capitol On Jan. 6

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) reportedly called out Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to his face on Jan. 6 as the insurrection unfolded and lawmakers were forced to flee as supporters of then-President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol.  “You fucking did this,” she told him, according to an upcoming book, “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald […]

Child tax credit payments will start hitting bank accounts today. Here’s what you need to know.

Most eligible families in the U.S. will get their first monthly payments of the expanded child tax credit Thursday. The payments, which were included in the American Rescue Plan, change an existing tax credit by expanding the eligibility pool and increasing the money families get. Under the expanded credit, the IRS, also for the first […]

Texas Democrats defy arrest threats after fleeing to block voting law

More than 50 Democrats flew to Washington DC on Monday, in a move intended to paralyse the state’s House of Representatives ahead of the vote. At least two-thirds of the chamber’s 150 members must be present for a vote. On Tuesday, Republican Governor Greg Abbott threatened the missing politicians with arrest. He said they would […]

Democratic senators move toward ending the federal prohibition on cannabis

For the first time in Senate history, Democrats on Wednesday will move toward ending the federal prohibition on cannabis, removing it from the federal list of controlled substances. It’s a move sponsors hope will also end the disproportionate harm that has been done to communities of color. To date, some 18 states have legalized the […]

Biden blasts GOP voting restrictions push: ‘The big lie is just that — a big lie!’

President Joe Biden on Tuesday decried Republican efforts to limit ballot access across the country as a “21st century Jim Crow assault,” while warning Americans that the GOP push to restrict voting and “selfish” challenge of the 2020 election results were “the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.” “There is an […]

Facing possible sanctions, Sidney Powell defends 2020 election lawsuit during heated hearing

Former Trump attorney Sidney Powell and her legal team clashed repeatedly with a federal judge Monday during a hearing to determine if sanctions are warranted against her and other attorneys who filed a lawsuit in Michigan based on false claims of election fraud in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. […]

After meeting with Pfizer, U.S. health agency reiterates that Covid vaccine booster not necessary

U.S. health officials, after meeting with vaccine maker Pfizer, reiterated on Monday that Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need to get a booster shot, a spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Department said. Pfizer said last week it planned to ask U.S. regulators to authorize a booster dose of its COVID-19 […]

Indicted Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg removed from top roles at subsidiaries

Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization chief financial officer indicted on tax fraud charges this month, has quietly been removed from top positions at more than two dozen Trump subsidiaries, NBC News has confirmed. Weisselberg, 73, was removed from positions with at least 28 Trump subsidiaries, according to filings with the Florida State Department that were […]

Texas GOP advances voting restrictions as hundreds push back

Texas Republicans advanced bills Sunday that would make voting harder in a state that already has some of the nation’s toughest restrictions after hundreds spoke against the proposals — with some waiting to speak for almost 24 hours. Republicans made clear they intended to advance a new election bill — which would prohibit 24-hour polling […]

Weapons cache at Denver hotel near MLB All-Star game venue uncovered by police

A tip from a housekeeper led police to uncover a large arsenal of weapons at a hotel in downtown Denver about a block from Coors Field, where Major League Baseball‘s All-Star Game is set to be played on Tuesday. Three men and a woman were arrested and 16 long guns, body armor, hundreds of rounds […]

Trump Wins CPAC Straw Poll As Conservatives Urge Him To Run Again In 2024

Former President Donald Trump handily won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday as attendees said they would overwhelmingly like to see him run for another term in the White House in 2024.  The poll, a hypothetical survey asking respondents who they would vote for in the Republican primary if it […]

Kamala Harris announces DNC investing additional $25 million in voting rights initiative

Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Thursday that the Democratic National Committee is investing an additional $25 million in its voting rights initiative, underscoring the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to a cause that has become a rallying cry for the party. “This campaign is grounded in the firm belief that everyone’s vote matters — that your […]

Biden announces U.S. military mission in Afghanistan will end August 31

President Biden said the withdrawal from Afghanistan of U.S troops after 20 years of war will conclude on August 31, ahead of the September 11 deadline he announced in mid-April.    “We are ending the nation’s longest war,” the president said in remarks at the White House Thursday. At the time he announced the September […]

Finding survivors in Florida condo collapse ‘no longer possible’; search and rescue halted

Officials announced Wednesday evening that the search and rescue efforts at the collapsed Miami Beach-area condo building would shift to a recovery operation, signaling the formal end of the search for survivors. With 86 people still unaccounted for, crews have not found anyone alive since shortly after half of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, […]

‘Stupid On So Many Levels’: Trump’s Social Media Lawsuits Raked Over The Coals

Lawyers, reporters and other people who still have access to social media went to town Wednesday on former President Donald Trump’s moonshot lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter and Google. Trump announced he’s seeking class-action lawsuits against the tech giants for what he claims is an infringement of his First Amendment rights. He says the companies violated his […]

Pelosi taps GOP Rep. Liz Cheney for House select committee to investigate Jan. 6

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced Republican Rep. Liz Cheney will serve on the House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. “We are very honored and proud she has agreed to serve on the committee,” Pelosi said Thursday. At her press conference on Capitol Hill, Pelosi also announced House Homeland […]

Surfside building collapse: Search and rescue efforts resume following structural concerns

One week after a 12-story residential building partially collapsed in South Florida‘s Miami-Dade County, at least 18 people have been confirmed deadwhile 145 others remain unaccounted for, officials said. The massive search and rescue operation, now in its eighth day, was halted for much of Thursday due to structural concerns, as officials worried about the […]

Supreme Court Allows Arizona To Keep Voting Restrictions

The Supreme Court dealt another blow to the Voting Rights Act on Thursday, ruling in favor of Republicans that Arizona can maintain restrictions that critics say discriminate against nonwhite voters.  The ruling was a 6-3 vote and written by Justice Samuel Alito. Alito’s opinion was joined by the five other conservative justices. Justice Elena Kagan […]

President Biden to visit site of Florida building collapse today

President Joe Biden will visit Surfside, Fla., on Thursday following the collapse of a condo building in the coastal suburb, a departure from the White House’s position a day earlier that the president had no immediate plans to visit the site of the disaster. The president told reporters of his plans to visit South Florida […]

Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary During Iraq War, Is Dead at 88

Donald H. Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense for Presidents Gerald R. Ford and George W. Bush, who presided over America’s Cold War strategies in the 1970s and, in the new world of terrorism decades later, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, died on Tuesday at his home in Taos, N.M. He was 88. The cause […]

Bill Cosby released after assault conviction overturned by Pennsylvania Supreme Court

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the indecent assault conviction of Bill Cosby on Wednesday and ordered his release from prison after finding that he was denied protection against self-incrimination. The court said that a prosecutor’s decision not to charge Cosby, 83, in an earlier case opened the door for him to speak freely in a […]

House Votes To Remove Confederate Statues From Capitol

The House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to remove statues and busts of Confederate leaders, white supremacists and supporters of slavery from the Capitol. Only Republicans voted against the measure, which passed 285 to 120.  Even though opposition to the bill came from within their own party, Republicans took it as an opportunity to attack […]

Tucker Carlson claimed the NSA is spying on him. Even his own colleagues don’t seem to believe it

Fox News host Tucker Carlson made an explosive claim on his show Monday night: That he had learned through a whistleblower that the National Security Agency is spying on him and planning to leak his communications in a bid to take him off the air. “The Biden administration is spying on us,” Carlson declared to […]

Condo board president warned of deterioration, need for repairs months before collapse

A letter sent in April to residents of the Miami Beach-area condo that collapsed last week said the building’s “concrete deterioration is accelerating” and warned that damage “would begin to multiply exponentially.” The letter, sent by Champlain Towers South Board President Jean Wodnicki, explained to residents why a renovation that had originally been estimated to […]

Court says FTC hasn’t provided evidence Facebook is a monopoly, dismisses lawsuit

A Washington federal judge on Monday handed Facebook a major victory in its battle against government regulators, dismissing two antitrust lawsuits against the social media giant and questioning assertions that Facebook is a monopoly. In dismissing one of the lawsuits, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg said the Federal Trade Commission had failed to offer […]

Transgender student wins bathroom battle after Supreme Court rejects school board appeal

A transgender man from Virginia has won a years-long legal battle against his former high school over its refusal to let him use boys bathrooms when he was a student. The U.S. Supreme Court Monday rejected the Gloucester County School Board’s appeal of a lower court decision that found its transgender bathroom ban is unconstitutional. […]

Collapsed Florida building residents told it was safe, despite ‘major structural damage’

Officials assured residents of the Miami Beach-area condo that collapsed last week that their building was safe, despite a report that strongly indicated otherwise, while also disregarding residents’ concerns that nearby construction might compromise the stability of the beachside high-rise. The revelations come as the official death toll in the collapse climbed to 11 and […]

Biden seeks to walk back perceived veto threat on bipartisan infrastructure deal

The road to passing the bipartisan infrastructure deal negotiated by senators and agreed to by the White House this week is already proving to be a rough one. On Saturday, President Joe Biden issued a statement seeking to walk back his perceived ultimatum that his support for the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal was dependent […]

Surfside building collapse latest: Death toll climbs to 9, more victims identified

The death toll has climbed to nine from the partial collapse of a 12-story condominium building in Surfside, Florida, as a massive search and rescue mission continued into its fourth day on Sunday, officials said. Four more bodies were recovered overnight from the rubble of the Champlain Towers South condominium that buckled and gave way […]

U.S. launches airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq, Syria

U.S. military forces carried out what a Pentagon official called “defensive” airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Sunday against Iran-backed militia groups that were behind drone attacks on American personnel. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a statement that the airstrikes targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one […]

Pelosi Announces House Select Committee On Jan. 6 Attacks

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Thursday that she will create a House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attack after Senate Republicans blocked legislation to create a 9/11-style bipartisan commission last month. The announcement comes with “great solemnity and sadness,” Pelosi told reporters. Investigators will have “as long as it takes.” “Again, January […]

Biden Announces Agreement for Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal

After weeks of talks, a bipartisan group of 10 Senators, including Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Susan Collins (R-ME), have come to an agreement about a historic infrastructure package. In a press conference outside the White House, President Joe Biden announced that there were “serious compromises on both ends” and that he had signed on […]

Trump urged military to ‘crack skulls’ while suppressing George Floyd protests at White House: book

  On Thursday, CNN reported that an upcoming book on former President Donald Trump by Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender alleges he demanded that military and law enforcement groups “crack skulls” during efforts to control the George Floyd protests last summer. “Titled “Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump […]

Oath Keeper Reaches Plea Deal, Will Cooperate In Major Jan. 6 Conspiracy Case

  A Florida man who went into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as part of a group of Oath Keepers pleaded guilty on Wednesday in a large criminal conspiracy involving more than a dozen other defendants charged in connection with the Capitol attack.  Graydon Young is the first Oath Keeper charged in the large […]

White House to announce strategy to tackle gun violence amid sharp increase in crime

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday will lay out his plan for addressing the surge in gun violence that has impacted cities around the country in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The president’s strategy will address five key areas: stemming the flow of firearms used to commit violence; providing law enforcement with more […]

Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley Fiercely Defends Teaching Critical Race Theory

Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley used his Wednesday congressional appearance to defend teaching critical race theory to members of the military, saying that he found criticism of it “offensive.” “I do think it’s important for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and be widely read,” Milley said, responding to a request from […]

CDC: Nearly every adult COVID-19 death is now “entirely preventable” thanks to vaccines

  Adult deaths from COVID-19 are “at this point entirely preventable” thanks to vaccines, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House coronavirus briefing on Tuesday. Why it matters: Deaths from the virus have dramatically decreased since their peak in early 2021, but the U.S. is still currently reporting […]

Harris to preside over Senate for voting rights debate

Vice President Harris will preside over the Senate when the chamber votes Tuesday on whether to proceed with a sweeping voting rights bill that is guaranteed to fail to advance, a White House official said. The Senate will vote Tuesday night on the For the People Act, which would overhaul federal elections and comes as GOP-led state legislatures […]

Biden’s Justice Dept may defend Trump in Capitol riot lawsuits

  WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump may have an unlikely ally to defend him against lawsuits alleging he incited the U.S. Capitol insurrection: President Joe Biden’s Justice Department. The Biden administration paved the way for that possibility, say constitutional scholars and lawyers in the cases, by arguing in an unrelated […]

Donald Trump’s Former Bodyguard Under Scrutiny in New York Probe

New York prosecutors are investigating whether a top Trump Organization executive, Matthew Calamari, received tax-free fringe benefits, as part of their probe into whether former President Donald Trump’s company and its employees illegally avoided paying taxes on such perks, according to people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors’ interest in Mr. Calamari, once Mr. Trump’s bodyguard, […]

FBI agent acknowledges in court filing that Trump backers discussed ‘revolution’ before Jan. 6

WASHINGTON — The FBI director and other senior officials have consistently downplayed the intelligence value of social media posts by Trump supporters prior to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, suggesting the bureau had no “actionable” warning that the Capitol would be targeted by a mob. But according to a document entered into court records last […]

Donald Trump’s Chances of Staying Out of Prison Are Not Improving

If you asked Donald Trump what he thinks the next several months will hold for him, he’d likely tell you that he’ll be holding some rallies, playing some golf, and getting ready to head back to the White House. He’d tell you that because he’s a disturbed man who apparently thinks that a president who […]

President Biden’s dog, Champ, passes away

The White House Saturday announced the passing of their dog Champ. “He was our constant, cherished companion during the last 13 years and was adored by the entire Biden family,” the Biden family said in a statement. “He loved nothing more than curling up at our feet in front of a fire at the end […]

Mike Pence Pilloried After Heckling Incident: ‘Still Clinging to His Dream of Leading the Hang Mike Pence Party’

Former Vice President Mike Pence is being roundly mocked on Twitter after he was heckled by attendees of Friday’s Faith & Freedom Coalition Summit — a conference that once welcomed him with open arms. Forbes political reporter Andrew Solender posted a video of Pence’s summit speech to Twitter, in which audience members can be heard booing and chanting […]

The Delta Variant Could Soon Become the Dominant COVID-19 Strain. Here’s What You Need to Know

The COVID-19 pandemic is increasingly becoming an arms race among the emerging variants of the virus, and at the moment, there’s no question which one is winning: the Delta variant—formally known as B.1.617.2—one of four strains to have emerged originally in India. It was just last month that the World Health Organization labeled Delta a […]

1 dead, 12 people injured stemming from drive-by shooting spree in Arizona: Police

One person is dead and a dozen people injured after an apparent drive-by shooting spree near Phoenix, authorities said. Police are investigating at least eight different shooting incidents that occurred over the course of a 90-minute period Thursday morning throughout the West Valley, according to Sgt. Brandon Sheffert, a spokesperson for the Peoria Police Department, […]

House repeals 2002 Iraq War authorization

The House voted to repeal the 2002 authorization for the use of military force in Iraq on Thursday, a rare and historic effort by lawmakers to rein in presidential war powers. Thursday’s vote brings the U.S. one step closer to ending the so-called Forever Wars in the Middle East that have defined the post-9/11 presidential […]

Obamacare Survives Again, Supreme Court Rejects Latest GOP Lawsuit

The Supreme Court has rejected the latest constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act, which means that 31 million Americans won’t lose their health insurance and protections for people with preexisting conditions won’t go away. Yes, Obamacare has survived again. This time, the threat was a lawsuit that 20 state Republican officials originally filed in 2018 and […]

11 GOP senators back infrastructure deal as Democrats plot two-track approach to passage

Bipartisan support for an infrastructure deal grew Wednesday, as 21 senators — including 11 Republicans — publicly backed the proposal, a signal that talks have progressed as the White House-imposed deadline looms. “We support this bipartisan framework that provides an historic investment in our nation’s core infrastructure needs without raising taxes,” the group said in […]

Cop Beaten In Capitol Riot Slams ‘Coward’ GOP Lawmaker Who Refused His Handshake

Michael Fanone, a D.C. police officer who was repeatedly beaten and electroshocked by the insurrectionist mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, called Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) a “coward” on CNN Wednesday for refusing to face him about the ordeal. Clyde famously tried to characterize the deadly riot as “a normal tourist visit,” even though he was […]

Congress passes legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday

For the first time in nearly 40 years, Congress has moved to establish a new national holiday, this time for Juneteenth, and just in time for Saturday’s156th anniversary of the day which marks the last African American slaves being freed in Texas in the wake of the Civil War. The House voted Wednesday night to […]

Democrats plot a path forward on infrastructure — with or without Republicans

Democrats set a timeline Tuesday to move ahead with a sweeping infrastructure and jobs bill that wouldn’t require Republican support, making it clear that they believe a bipartisan deal wouldn’t sufficiently deliver on President Joe Biden’s top legislative priorities. The process would allow Democrats to avoid the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, but it wouldn’t […]

No. 3 Senate Republican John Barrasso vows to make Biden a ‘one-half-term president’

The No. 3 Senate Republican, John Barrasso of Wyoming, told a group of voters that he wants to make President Joe Biden a “one-half-term president.” “Mitch McConnell’s come under a lot of criticism for saying, at one point, he wanted to make sure that Barack Obama was a one-term president,” Barrasso said last Thursday at […]

Trump Executive Allen Weisselberg Could Face Charges as Soon as This Summer

The Manhattan district attorney’s office appears to have entered the final stages of a criminal tax investigation into Donald J. Trump’s long-serving chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, setting up the possibility he could face charges this summer, according to people with knowledge of the matter. In recent weeks, a grand jury has been hearing […]

McConnell: I’d block Biden SCOTUS nominee in 2024

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made clear Monday that he would block a Supreme Court nominee in 2024 if Republicans take back the chamber — a comment certain to increase liberal pressure on Justice Stephen Breyer to step down before next fall. In an interview with conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt, McConnell vowed that […]

Biden declines to preview what he wants from Putin in brief press conference

President Biden wouldn’t say much about his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, though it was the topic of several questions posed by reporters at his news conference Monday after meetings with NATO leaders in Brussels.   The president’s meeting Wednesday is perhaps the most-anticipated aspect of his week-long foreign trip to the United […]

Cashier Killed After Mask Dispute At Georgia Supermarket, Authorities Say

A cashier was killed and three others injured following a dispute over face masks at a Georgia supermarket, according to authorities. The shooting took place on Monday afternoon at the Big Bear Supermarket in Decatur, a suburb east of Atlanta, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said in a news release.  Authorities said a man […]

Biden says Putin is right about US-Russia relations being at ‘a low point’ ahead of summit

President Joe Biden said Sunday he agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin that relations between the US and Russia are at a “low point,” days before the two leaders are scheduled to hold a highly anticipated summit in Geneva. “I think he is right, it’s a low point. And it depends on how he responds […]

Apple Tells Ex-White House Counsel McGahn That Trump DOJ Sought His Records In 2018: Reports

Apple informed former White House counsel Don McGahn and his wife last month that their records were sought by the Justice Department in February 2018 while McGahn was still serving as then-President Donald Trump’s top lawyer, The New York Times and CNN reported Sunday. The U.S. government barred Apple from telling McGahn about the move at […]

Biden at NATO today: Ready to talk China, Russia and soothe allies

President Joe Biden makes his entrance at a NATO summit aiming to consult European allies on efforts to counter provocative actions by China and Russia while highlighting the U.S. commitment to the 30-country alliance that was frequently maligned by predecessor Donald Trump. The summit Monday comes as Biden tries to rally allies for greater coordination […]

Biden touts ‘monumental commitment’ to send 500M Covid vaccine doses abroad

President Joe Biden on Thursday formally announced U.S. plans to procure and donate 500 million Covid-19 vaccine doses while making his first overseas trip, as part of a speech steeped in the imagery of World War II and other eras defined by their need for urgent collective action. “This is a monumental commitment by the […]

G-7 leaders to discuss Covid, global minimum tax rate at first day of summit

President Joe Biden and other world leaders are expected to focus on the global response to the coronavirus pandemic Friday, the first day of the G-7 meeting in Cornwall, England, while making the case for democratic institutions’ unique ability to respond to economic crises and disparities, senior administration officials said. The Group of Seven, an […]

Bipartisan negotiators strike tentative agreement on infrastructure deal; difficult pitch to White House, Congress remains

Bipartisan Senate negotiators have reached an agreement on an infrastructure deal that would spend hundreds of billions in new federal dollars while also not increasing taxes, a key GOP red line. But lawmakers face an uphill struggle as they work to sell this to the White House and their fellow lawmakers. Conservatives previously opposed the […]

Biden administration buys 500 million Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses for global use

The Biden administration is purchasing 500 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to donate to the global supply, the White House said Thursday. That will provide enough shots to fully vaccinate 250 million people.   The U.S. is donating 200 million doses this year and 300 million doses in the first half of 2022, the […]

Beef supplier JBS paid ransomware hackers $11 million

JBS, the largest beef supplier in the world, paid the ransomware hackers who breached its computer networks about $11 million, the company said Wednesday. The company was hacked in May by REvil, one of a number of Russian-speaking hacker gangs, leading meat plants across the U.S. and Australia to shut down for at least a […]

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Delta Variant On The Rise In U.S., Prompting New Warnings To Get COVID-19 Vaccination

The highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 is quickly spreading throughout the United States, the Biden administration said on Tuesday in a renewed effort to persuade Americans to get vaccinated. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told reporters that the Delta strain, which was first identified in India, now accounts for about 6% […]

Biden’s infrastructure talks with GOP collapse amid irreconcilable differences

President Joe Biden’s infrastructure talks with Republicans collapsed Tuesday, the lead GOP negotiator said. “I spoke with the president this afternoon, and he ended our infrastructure negotiations,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said in a statement. The end of the talks will increase pressure on Democrats to pass a sweeping package using a special process […]

Richest Americans pay almost no income taxes, report finds

The 25 richest Americans paid little to no federal income taxes, according to a report released Tuesday by the nonprofit news organization ProPublica, a claim that has reignited debate about the tax code and sparked an investigation by the IRS into the leak of private tax documents. NBC News has not independently verified the documents, […]

Kamala Harris Tells Migrants ‘Do Not Come’ To U.S. Border In Guatemala Speech

Vice President Kamala Harris offered an optimistic outlook for improved cooperation with Guatemala on addressing the spike in migration to the U.S. after her meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday. She also delivered a direct warning to migrants considering making the trek: “Do not come. Do not come.” Her comments, during a press conference after […]

Biden’s Justice Department Has Decided To Defend Trump In E. Jean Carroll Rape Case Defamation Suit

President Joe Biden’s Justice Department has made the surprising decision to continue the previous administration’s efforts to defend Donald Trump against a defamation suit brought by woman he’d accused of lying about being raped by him. As a presidential candidate, Biden had criticized the agency’s involvement in the case. In its latest brief on Monday, Justice […]

New Audio Shows Aggressive Giuliani Trying To Pressure Ukraine For Biden Investigation

Newly released audio shows how Rudy Giuliani repeatedly suggested Ukraine could have a “better relationship” with the United States if the country’s president opened an investigation into Joe Biden and his son in 2019. CNN said Monday it obtained audio of the July 2019 phone call between Giuliani and U.S. diplomat Kurt Volker, and Andriy […]

VP Harris heads to Guatemala, Mexico to address migration and manage expectations for quick results

Vice President Harris will depart Sunday for Guatemala and Mexico, a two-day trip crafted to highlight the Biden administration’s efforts to remedy what it calls the “root causes” of mass migration from Central America to the United States. Traveling abroad for her first time as vice president, Harris will arrive Sunday evening in Guatemala bearing […]

Energy secretary says adversaries have capability of shutting down US power grid

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Sunday warned in stark terms that the US power grid is vulnerable to attacks. Asked By CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” whether the nation’s adversaries have the capability of shutting it down, Granholm said: “Yeah, they do.”   “There are thousands of attacks on all aspects of […]

Liz Cheney: Trump inciting January 6 riot ‘the most dangerous thing’ a president has ever done

Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney accused former President Donald Trump of having committed the worst violation of a president’s oath of office by inciting the January 6 Capitol insurrection — and taking a jab at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy over his subsequent visit to Trump at Mar-a-Lago. “I was stunned. I could not imagine […]

Joe Biden Makes Key Concession On Corporate Taxes In Attempt To Woo Republicans On Infrastructure

President Joe Biden made a key concession on corporate taxes during a meeting this week with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the top Republican negotiator on a legislative package aimed at overhauling national infrastructure. Instead of raising the corporate tax to 28%, from its current 21%, to pay for new infrastructure projects, Biden proposed doing […]

Conservative Publication “National Review” Confirms ‘Startling’ Report On Trump’s Current Grasp Of Reality

A conservative writer has confirmed a report that former President Donald Trump is telling associates that he expects to be reinstalled as president this summer.  “The scale of Trump’s delusion is quite startling,” National Review senior writer Charles C.W. Cooke wrote on the magazine’s website. Cooke said “an array of different sources” confirmed a report […]

DOJ investigating Postmaster General DeJoy over ex-employees’ political donations

The Department of Justice is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in connection with campaign contributions of former employees who worked for him when he was in the private sector, NBC News confirmed Thursday. DeJoy’s spokesman, Mark Corallo, said in a statement to NBC that DeJoy, who has been a major Republican fundraiser and donor, has […]

White House prepared to announce next steps in global vaccination effort after months of debate

President Joe Biden has finalized his plan to distribute millions of coronavirus vaccinesworldwide after months of deliberation, according to multiple sources familiar with the plans. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted earlier that an announcement was imminent, and the sources familiar with the plans said that officials could reveal it as soon as Thursday or […]

President Biden, Sen. Capito to continue bipartisan infrastructure talks Friday

President Joe Biden will reconnect with Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito on Friday to further discuss a possible bipartisan compromise on an infrastructure bill. The two met in the Oval Office for just over an hour Wednesday afternoon to talk about the $928 billion GOP infrastructure proposal unveiled last week, but announced no major breakthroughs […]

Ominous Sign For Rep. Matt Gaetz As Investigation Reportedly Takes New Turn

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is reportedly being investigated to see if he engaged in obstruction of justice during a phone call with a witness in an ongoing probe, Politico reported late Wednesday.   Citing two sources, Politico said Gaetz took part in a call with an ex-girlfriend and the witness. That witness later spoke with prosecutors, who […]

Meat Producer JBS Says Most Plants Will Be Working Wednesday After Ransomware Attack

The world’s largest meat processing company is getting back online after production around the world was disrupted by a cyberattack just weeks after a similar incident shut down a U.S. oil pipeline. Brazil’s JBS SA said late Tuesday that it had made “significant progress” in dealing with the cyberattack and expected the “vast majority” of […]

Joe Biden Becomes First U.S. President To Commemorate Tulsa Race Massacre

President Joe Biden delivered remarks from Tulsa, Oklahoma, on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre on Tuesday, making him the first U.S. president to participate in the remembrance of one of the darkest days in America’s racist history. “For much too long, the history of what took place here was told in silence, […]

Democrat Melanie Stansbury wins N.M. special election, holding narrow U.S. House majority

Democratic state Rep. Melanie Stansbury won the New Mexico special congressional election Tuesday, beating back Republican challenger Mark Moores to fill the seat of Deb Haaland, President Joe Biden’s interior secretary. The race to represent New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, which includes Albuquerque, was called by The Associated Press after polls closed at 9 p.m. […]

GOP embrace of $1 trillion infrastructure package could help make a deal: Buttigieg

Senate Republicans’ potential embrace of a $1 trillion infrastructure package is an encouraging sign a bipartisan deal could be reached, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “They seem to be embracing the idea that about a trillion is appropriate. So there’s movement in the right direction,” he told “This Week” co-anchor […]

Biden Proclaims Day Of Remembrance For Tulsa Race Massacre

President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on Monday marking 100 years since a “violent white supremacist mob” descended on the thriving Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 31, 1921, wrecking businesses, destroying homes and killing hundreds of Black people. In the proclamation, Biden pointed to the racist mob that “raided, firebombed and […]

Texas Gov. Abbott says he’ll target legislator pay after Democrats block strict voting bill

Democrats vowed to continue to fight a Texas bill that would add restrictions on voting as Republican Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to cut off funding for the Legislature if they do so. “I will veto Article 10 of the budget passed by the legislature. Article 10 funds the legislative branch,” Abbott tweeted Monday. “No pay […]

Disgraced Rep. Matt Gaetz eyes presidential run in 2024 to deflect from troubles

Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican who is currently the subject of a Justice Department investigation into whether he had sex with a 17-year-old girl and transported her across state lines in violation of sex trafficking laws, is considering a run for president in 2024.  Gaetz made that disclosure Wednesday in a text message to […]

New York Times: Intelligence officials said to have untapped evidence on Covid-19 origins

President Joe Biden’s instructions to the US intelligence community to redouble its efforts in investigating the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic came on the heels of intelligence officials informing the White House that they possessed unreviewed evidence necessitating greater computer analysis that could potentially provide answers, The New York Times reportedThursday. The paper cited senior […]

Joe Biden Calls Out Republicans Who Voted Against Stimulus But Tout Its Benefits

President Joe Biden isn’t giving a pass to Republicans in Congress who voted against his pandemic relief package but are now touting its benefits to their constituents. During remarks at a community college in Cleveland on Thursday, Biden held up a list of those lawmakers, calling them out for their hypocrisy around the American Rescue Plan.  […]

Republicans poised to quash creation of Jan. 6 commission

Senate Republicans are poised to quash an effort Thursday to establish a bipartisan, independent commission to study the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol that that left five people dead. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his opposition last week — along with his House GOP counterpart, Kevin McCarthy — ahead of the House […]

Death toll rises in San Jose rail yard shooting

The death toll rose late Wednesday night from the morning shooting at a San Jose, California light rail yard.   Authorities initially said an employee killed eight co-workers and wounded several others when he opened fire, but later said a ninth victim had succumbed to his wounds after being hospitalized in critical condition. Officials said […]

Biden says he’s asked intelligence community to “redouble” efforts in examining origins of COVID-19

President Biden said Wednesday he has ordered the U.S. intelligence community to “redouble” its efforts to investigate the origins of COVID-19 after a new report fueled questions about whether the virus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China.   Mr. Biden said in a statement he is giving the intelligence community 90 days to “collect […]

Senate Set To Vote This Week On Jan. 6 Commission

The Senate will vote Thursday on legislation creating a special commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump supporters.  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday moved to open debate on the bill despite uncertainty over the outcome, with only a few Republicans signaling their support. “We all […]

Half Of U.S. Adults Now Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19

Half of U.S. adults are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday. The country crosses this milestone just five months after it first began distributing doses. Some 61% of American adults have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, putting the U.S. on track to meet […]

McCarthy condemns Marjorie Taylor Greene’s comparison of Covid rules to Holocaust

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joined a quick chorus of outrage at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Tuesday after she double-down on her comparison of Covid-19-related rules to the Holocaust. “Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling,” McCarthy said in a statement, […]

Blinken visits Middle East in bid to solidify fragile Israel-Gaza truce

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel on Tuesday, beginning a tour of the Middle East aimed at solidifying the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. At least 253 Palestinians, including 70 children, and 14 people in Israel were killed during the 11-day conflict that was halted early on Friday by a tenuous […]

On Anniversary Of George Floyd’s Killing, Demonstrators Call For More Police Reform

It’s been one year since George Floyd was killed at the hands of police in Minneapolis, sparking a wave of protests around the world and a reckoning over systemic racism and law enforcement’s mistreatment of Black people in America. Floyd’s family attended one of many remembrances on Sunday, gathering with activists, citizens and others who […]

Fauci Addresses Reports Of Ill Wuhan Researchers, COVID Lab Theory

Dr. Anthony Fauci is skeptical of the theory that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, escaped from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. Nevertheless, Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told CBS’ Weijia Jiang that he would support a more thorough investigation into the origins of the virus, just as he always has. “Dr. Fauci tells […]

In the U.S., new COVID cases and deaths drop to the lowest levels in nearly a year.

For the first time since June of last year, there are fewer than 30,000 new daily coronavirus cases in the United States, and deaths are as low as they’ve been since last summer. In much of the country, the virus outlook is improving. Nearly 50 percent of Americans have received at least one vaccine shot, […]

Biden to meet with George Floyd’s family 1 year after his death as policing bill stalls

President Joe Biden will mark the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death on Tuesday by meeting with members of the Floyd family at the White House as Congress is poised to miss the president’s deadline for passing police reform legislation named in Floyd’s memory. Floyd died a year ago Tuesday after former Minneapolis police officer […]

Rudy Giuliani Reportedly Called Arizona Official About Getting Election Challenge ‘Fixed Up’

Rudy Giuliani called an Arizona county official after the presidential election last year to discuss getting challenges to Joe Biden’s win “fixed up,” the Arizona Republic revealed on Sunday. Giuliani introduced himself in the Christmas Eve call to Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates as then-President Donald Trump’s attorney. “Bill, it’s Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s lawyer,” Giuliani said […]

Arizona Official Says Voting Machines Are Now Unusable Because Of Recount Firm’s Control

Arizona’s secretary of state informed Maricopa County officials Thursday that hundreds of the state’s vote-tabulating machines should no longer be used because of their handling by the inept, partisan company hired by Senate Republicans to recount ballots cast in November’s presidential election. The machines should not be used again because there is no way of […]