California Plans to Be Abortion Sanctuary if Roe Overturned 

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With more than two dozen states poised to ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court gives them the OK next year, California clinics and their allies in the state legislature on Wednesday revealed a plan to make the state a safe place for those seeking reproductive care, including possibly paying for travel, lodging and procedures for people from other states.  The California Future of Abortion Council, made up of more than 40 abortion providers and advocacy groups, released a list of 45 recommendations for the state to consider if the high court overturns Roe v. Wade, the 48-year-old decision that forbidsmore

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January 6 Panel to Move Forward With Contempt Against Meadows

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The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has “no choice” but to move forward with contempt charges against former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows now that he is no longer complying with a subpoena, the panel’s chairman said Wednesday. In a letter to Meadows’ attorney, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said that Meadows has already provided documents to the committee, including personal emails and texts about former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Yet Meadows did not show up Wednesday for a scheduled deposition after his lawyer, George Terwilliger, told the panelmore

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US House Approves Massive $768 Billion Defense Spending Bill

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Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation Tuesday night that would provide $768 billion for the nation’s military for the 2022 fiscal year.  The bill’s passage by a vote of 363-70 came after weeks of unusually contentious debate over the annual defense spending budget due to a number of issues. The final version, which was crafted in closed-door sessions between leaders from both the House and the U.S. Senate, includes the creation of an independent commission to investigate the United States’ 20-year war in Afghanistan, $300 million in aid to the Ukrainian armed forces, and a statement of support for the defensemore

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US House Passes Bill to Speed Passage of Debt Limit Increase

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The U.S. House of Representatives late on Tuesday approved a measure allowing Congress to fast-track legislation raising the federal government’s debt limit and stave off a potential unprecedented default.  The Senate is expected to take up the measure, which prevents the use of stalling tactics, on Thursday.  That would speed the way for Congress to consider separate legislation to actually increase the current $28.9 trillion limit on federal borrowing authority to a still-to-be-determined level.  The House voted 222-212 in favor of the measure designed to speed approval of a debt limit increase in the often-plodding Senate. Only one Republican backed it.  “Increasing the debt ceilingmore

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US Defense Bill Includes $300 Million for Ukraine, Support for Taiwan

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U.S. lawmakers included efforts to push back against Russia and China in a massive annual defense bill released on Tuesday, proposing $300 million for Ukraine’s military and a statement of support for the defense of Taiwan.  But they omitted some measures that had strong support in Congress, including a proposal to impose mandatory sanctions over the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and a plan to subject women to the military draft for the first time.  The compromise version of the fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, authorizes $770 billion in military spending, $25 billion more than requestedmore

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New York City Poised to Give Voting Rights to Noncitizens

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New York City, long a beacon for immigrants, is on the cusp of becoming the largest place in the country to give noncitizens the right to vote in local elections.  Legally documented, voting-age noncitizens comprise nearly one in nine of the city’s 7 million voting-age inhabitants. Under a bill nearing approval, some 800,000 noncitizens would be allowed to cast ballots in elections to pick the mayor, City Council members and other municipal officeholders.  Noncitizens still wouldn’t be able to vote for president or members of Congress in federal races, or in the state elections that pick the governor, judges andmore

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