Author
Biden, Harris vow to restore protections for abortion rights as 2024 campaign launches
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris moved abortion access to the forefront of their reelection bid Tuesday by making it the centerpiece of their first joint campaign rally of the 2024 election cycle. “With your voice, with your power, with your vote, we can restore the protections that have been around for over […]
Florida’s DeSantis withdraws from Republican presidential race, endorses Trump
WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis withdrew from the Republican race for the presidential nomination on Sunday, less than two days before Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. DeSantis, who came in second in the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucuses on Jan. 15, released a nearly five-minute video on social media announcing that he had suspended his campaign and […]
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson rallies with anti-abortion advocates at March for Life
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged to continue pressing for the core values of the anti-abortion movement during a speech to the March for Life on Friday. The Louisiana Republican didn’t commit to bring any legislation instituting a nationwide ban on abortion to the House floor during his tenure, though he advocated support […]
Patients struck by long COVID plead with U.S. Senate panel for more research funding
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators pledged Thursday to press for more funding to research long COVID-19 during a hearing that highlighted patients suffering from the diagnosis as well as experts studying its impacts. “Long COVID stripped away my daughter’s life as she knew it,” said Nicole Heim, the mom of a long COVID patient in Winchester, […]
Congress speeds through short-term government funding bill before Friday shutdown deadline
WASHINGTON — Congress will have until early March to finish work it was supposed to complete last fall — and will avert a partial government shutdown — under a bill both chambers approved with broad bipartisan support Thursday. The 77-18 vote in the Senate and 314-108 vote in the House sent the bill to President […]
No deal on Ukraine, Israel aid after White House meeting with top congressional leaders
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s White House gathering with lawmakers to find a compromise on foreign aid and immigration was “productive,” U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday, but a deal has still not been reached. Biden hosted congressional leaders and other lawmakers to discuss the administration’s stalled $106 billion national security supplemental request, which […]
Members of U.S. Senate, advocates discuss problems in states that limit abortion access
WASHINGTON — Abortion rights advocates and Democrats in the U.S. Senate pressed for a return to legal, safe access throughout the country during a briefing Wednesday. The nearly three-hour conversation, held in the Capitol Visitors Center, featured doctors speaking about the challenges they and their patients face in states that have implemented restrictions on abortion […]
Country music singer ‘Jelly Roll’ pleads with Congress to act on fentanyl crisis
WASHINGTON — Country music star Jason “Jelly Roll” DeFord stepped out of the recording studio and into a Capitol Hill hearing room on Thursday to urge Congress to take action to curb both the supply of illicit fentanyl and the demand for it. “I could sit here and cry for days about the caskets I’ve […]
Another stopgap spending bill in the works as Congress struggles to avert shutdown
WASHINGTON — Congress on Wednesday appeared to be on track to pass a third deadline extension for at least some of the government funding bills that were supposed to become law more than three months ago — putting off a potential government shutdown. The move, while not final, would give the Republican House, Democratic Senate […]
U.S. Capitol Police union says not enough done to improve security after Jan. 6 attack
WASHINGTON — The union representing U.S. Capitol Police is warning that the federal law enforcement agency doesn’t have enough manpower to address threats to members of Congress and is criticizing the Architect of the Capitol for not implementing some of the changes proposed following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack. “We’ve never seen a threat environment […]
Presidential candidates largely mum about details on how to ‘save’ Social Security?
WASHINGTON — The winner of this year’s presidential election could very well be holding the reins when it comes time to address Social Security’s complicated financial situation. The program, which millions of retirees depend on for income stability, will see benefits cut by nearly a quarter in 2033 if Congress and the White House haven’t […]
Fight for congressional majorities launches against backdrop of presidential campaigns
WASHINGTON — The 2024 battle for control of Congress is underway in the states, accompanying the accelerating race for the presidency. Republicans are preparing to funnel money and staff into a select few Senate races in an effort to flip that chamber back to their control, while Democrats are looking toward the districts President Joe […]