US House Passes $40 Billion Bill to Bolster Ukraine Against Russian Invasion

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The U.S. House of Representatives approved more than $40 billion more aid for Ukraine on Tuesday, as Congress races to keep military aid flowing and boost the government in Kyiv as it grapples with the Russian invasion. The House passed the Ukraine spending bill by 368 to 57, with every ‘no’ vote coming from Republicans. The measure now heads to the Senate, which is expected to act quickly. President Joe Biden had asked Congress to approve an additional $33 billion in aid for Ukraine two weeks ago, but lawmakers decided to increase the military and humanitarian funding. “This bill willmore

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McConnell, Utah Leaders Honor ‘Larger Than Life’ Orrin Hatch

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell paid tribute to the late Sen. Orrin Hatch on Friday, celebrating the Utah icon as a principled conservative, committed public servant and man of faith. Two weeks after Hatch died at age 88 from complications stemming from a stroke, McConnell joined Hatch’s family, friends, former colleagues and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to memorialize the seven-term U.S. senator at a ceremony held at a chapel at the Institute of Religion in Salt Lake City. “Each piece of legislation Orrin crafted was like a handwritten note. Every bill was an Orrinmore

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US Judge Dismisses Trump’s Lawsuit Challenging His Twitter Ban

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A U.S. judge on Friday dismissed former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter Inc. that challenged his suspension from the platform. In a written ruling, U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco rejected Trump’s argument that Twitter violated his right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Twitter and other social media platforms banned Trump from their services after a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in a deadly riot on Jan. 6, 2021. That assault followed a speech by Trump in which he reiterated false claims that his election lossmore

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White House Announces New Press Secretary

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Karine Jean-Pierre will be the new White House Press Secretary starting May 13, the White House announced Thursday.  Jean-Pierre, who is currently deputy press secretary, will replace Jen Psaki who has served as press secretary since President Joe Biden became president.  “Karine not only brings the experience, talent and integrity needed for this difficult job, but she will continue to lead the way in communicating about the work of the Biden-Harris Administration on behalf of the American people. Jill and I have known and respected Karine a long time and she will be a strong voice speaking for me andmore

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US Voters Predict Republicans Will Make Gains in Midterm

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With rising inflation, an ongoing pandemic, a Russian war in Ukraine and now a looming Supreme Court ruling on abortion, the stakes are high as Americans prepare to go to the polls in November for midterm elections. “I have so many friends who are struggling right now,” said Brandon Legnion, a nurse in New Orleans, Louisiana. “Friends who can barely afford the gas they need to get themselves to job sites. I think a lot of them are going to be eager to vote and express displeasure at the way the country is being run.” The midterms not only markmore

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Explainer: The Leak of Supreme Court’s Draft Roe v. Wade Reversal

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Late Monday, the American news website Politico dropped a bombshell: A draft of a Supreme Court majority opinion it had obtained revealed that the court was set to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion in the United States in 1973. The leak of a highly anticipated court opinion, unprecedented in modern history, set off a political firestorm in Washington and protests across the country. Democrats denounced the leaked draft decision as “the greatest restriction of rights in over 50 years” and vowed to pass legislation to protect abortion rights. Republicans cheered the reported opinion written bymore

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DC Reaches $750,000 Settlement in Trump Inauguration Lawsuit

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Former President Donald Trump’s businesses and inaugural committee have reached a deal to pay Washington, D.C., $750,000 to resolve a lawsuit that alleged the committee overpaid for events at his hotel and enriched the former president’s family in the process, according to the District of Columbia’s attorney general.  Attorney General Karl Racine announced the settlement agreement in the case against the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the Trump Organization and the Trump International Hotel in Washington in a tweet on Tuesday. The document had not yet been signed by a judge.  The agreement says the case is being resolved “to avoid themore

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Report: Draft Opinion Shows US Supreme Court to Overturn Abortion Rights

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In a rare leak from the highest court in the U.S., Politico reported it has obtained a draft Supreme Court opinion showing a majority of the court in favor of striking down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.  The document, labeled as a “1st Draft” by Justice Samuel Alito and circulated among the other justices in February, represents a breach in the highly secretive deliberation process among the justices in which their decisions are unknown until the rulings are officially issued.  Those positions can change during the deliberation process, even after the drafting of a majoritymore

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Trump: Republican Political Kingmaker or Political Meddler?

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Is former U.S. President Donald Trump a Republican political kingmaker or just a political meddler?  The first answers are coming in the month of May.   The United States is about to get its first significant reading on how much political clout Trump retains over the Republican Party 16 months after he played a role in hundreds of his supporters storming the U.S. Capitol to protest his 2020 election defeat and then left Washington as Democrat Joe Biden became president.  Trump, who retains a wide Republican following, to this day claims he was cheated out another four-year term in themore

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Biden Calls Former VP Mondale ‘Giant’ of Political History 

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President Joe Biden saluted his “friend of five decades” Walter Mondale on Sunday, traveling to the University of Minnesota to remember the former vice president and Democratic Party elder whose memorial service was delayed for a year due to the pandemic.  Mondale died in April 2021 at age 93. He is credited with transforming the office of the vice presidency — which Biden himself held for eight years under President Barack Obama — expanding its responsibilities and making himself a key adviser to President Jimmy Carter.  Mondale “was a giant in American political history,” Biden said of Mondale, known tomore

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Biden Roasts Trump, GOP, Himself at Correspondents’ Dinner

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The White House press corps’ annual gala returned Saturday night along with the roasting of Washington, the journalists who cover it and the man at the helm: President Joe Biden. The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, sidelined by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, featured Biden as the first president in six years to accept an invitation. Donald Trump shunned the event while in office. “Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year,” Biden told an audience of 2,600, among them journalists, government officials and celebrities. “Now that would really have been a real coup.” The presidentmore

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White House Correspondents Dinner Returns, With Biden Headlining

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U.S. President Joe Biden will resume a Washington tradition by speaking at the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday night, the first president to speak at the annual event since 2016. After being canceled for two years due to COVID-19 pandemic and boycotted by Donald Trump during his presidency, the event returns with gusto this year, featuring remarks by comedian Trevor Noah. More than 20 WHCA-related parties are being staged around Washington before and after the major event on Saturday night and several senior administration officials will attend as well as a smattering of celebrities from the entertainment world.more

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US Seeks Authority to Give Seized Russian Assets to Ukraine

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The Biden administration is asking Congress for additional legal authority to make it easier for the U.S. government to seize Russian government and oligarch assets and transfer the proceeds to Ukraine. The White House released the package of legislative changes Thursday as President Joe Biden asked Congress for $33 billion in additional aid for Ukraine as it seeks to fend off a devastating Russian invasion, now in its third month. If enacted, the proposed measures would “establish new authorities for the forfeiture of property linked to Russian kleptocracy, allow the government to link the proceeds to support Ukraine, and furthermore

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 Biden to Visit South Korea, Japan in May

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U.S. President Joe Biden is set to travel to South Korea and Japan next month to meet with leaders and discuss economic and security ties.  The White House announced the trip Wednesday, saying Biden would go to the region May 20-24.  In South Korea, Biden will hold talks with President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was elected in March.  In Japan, Biden is due to meet with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and to hold talks with leaders from the Quad group of countries that includes Japan, Australia, India and the United States. …

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Bill to Help Taiwan Regain WHO Status Passes Congress

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The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation Wednesday calling on the State Department to submit a plan to help Taiwan regain its observer status at the World Health Organization, seeking to boost the island as it faces pressure from China. The House passed the bill 425-0, sending it to the White House because it passed the Senate in August. Congressional aides said they expected President Joe Biden to sign the measure into law. Taiwan is excluded from most global organizations such as the WHO, the U.N. health agency, because of the objections of China, which considers the island onemore

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House 1/6 Panel Wants to Hear from McCarthy after New Audio 

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The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol is redoubling its efforts to have GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy appear for an interview amid new revelations concerning his private conversations about the deadly attack, the chairman said Tuesday. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the panel expects to decide this week about issuing a second request to McCarthy, who has declined to voluntarily appear before the panel. The committee is also looking at summoning a widening group of House Republicans for interviews, Thompson said, as more information emerges about their conversations with the Trump White House in themore

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Harvard Pledges $100 Million to Atone for Role in Slavery

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Harvard University is vowing to spend $100 million to research and atone for its extensive ties with slavery, the school’s president announced Tuesday, with plans to identify and support direct descendants of dozens of enslaved people who labored at the Ivy League campus. President Lawrence Bacow announced the funding as Harvard released a new report detailing many ways the college benefited from slavery and perpetrated racial inequality. The report, commissioned by Bacow, found that Harvard’s faculty, staff and leaders enslaved more than 70 Black and Native American people from the school’s founding in 1636 to 1783. For decades after, itmore

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Biden to Deliver Eulogy for Madeleine Albright

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President Joe Biden will eulogize former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at her funeral Wednesday at the Washington National Cathedral.   The invitation-only service will be livestreamed beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern time.   “When I think of Madeleine, I will always remember her fervent faith that ‘America is the indispensable nation,’” Biden wrote in a statement after Albright’s death last month.  Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also will give speeches, along with Albright’s three daughters. Musicians Chris Botti, Judy Collins, and Herbie Hancock will perform.   Albright, who died last month at age 84, was appointedmore

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