US Senate Approves $50 billion Postal Service Relief Bill

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The U.S. Senate voted 79-19 on Tuesday for a bill that would provide the Postal Service (USPS) with about $50 billion in financial relief over a decade and require its future retirees to enroll in a government health insurance plan.  The action, after the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the measure in early February, sends the bill to President Joe Biden for his signature. USPS has reported net losses of more than $90 billion since 2007, and on Tuesday reported a net loss of $1.5 billion for the quarter ending Dec. 31.  USPS has been struggling with diminishing mailmore

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US Supreme Court Rejects GOP Redistricting Plans in 2 States

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In a victory for Democrats, the Supreme Court has turned away efforts from Republicans in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to block state court-ordered congressional districting plans. In separate orders late Monday, the justices are allowing maps selected by each state’s Supreme Court to be in effect for the 2022 elections. Those maps are more favorable to Democrats than the ones drawn by the states’ legislatures. In North Carolina, the map most likely will give Democrats an additional House seat in 2023. The Pennsylvania map also probably will lead to the election of more Democrats, the Republicans say, as the twomore

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Jury to Begin Deliberating in 1st Trial Over Capitol Riot

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An armed Texas militia member led a “vigilante mob” that overwhelmed police officers and became the first group of rioters to breach the U.S. Capitol last year, a federal prosecutor said Monday at the close of the first criminal trial over the riot. A 12-member jury is scheduled to begin deliberating on Tuesday for Guy Wesley Reffitt’s trial on charges that he stormed the Capitol with a holstered handgun strapped to his waist and interfered with police officers guarding the Senate doors. He also is charged with threatening his teenage children if they reported him to law enforcement after themore

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Momentum Grows in US for Russian Oil Ban 

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U.S. lawmakers stepped up calls Monday to ban the import of Russian oil, cutting off Russian President Vladimir Putin from a key source of revenue in retaliation for the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. “How can we possibly be importing Russian oil and gas and giving the profits of those transactions to Vladimir Putin to pay for his war machine?” Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said on the Senate floor Monday. Dubin introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday along with 11 other senators that would temporarily ban Russian oil imports along with suspending U.S.-Russia trade relations. He said that if passed, the result ofmore

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Republicans Make Headway in Texas’ Booming Latino Communities

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Democrats have long dreamed of flipping Texas from a bedrock Republican state to one that elects more Democrats to Congress and awards its mother lode of electoral votes to a Democratic presidential contender, something that hasn’t happened since 1976. That dream has been buoyed by dramatic demographic changes in Texas, where the population has grown at more than twice the national average for the last 20 years, and people of Latin American descent account for 60% of that growth. But Democrats have a problem. Latino voters, regarded as a key Democratic Party constituency, are showing a greater willingness to votemore

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White House Disavows Senator’s Call for Assassination of Putin 

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The Biden administration is not advocating for regime change in Russia, the White House said Friday, after a U.S. senator called for Russians to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. “That is not the position of the U.S. government and certainly not a statement you’ll hear from — coming from the mouth of — anybody working for the administration,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in response to a question from Voice of America. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, suggested in a televised interview Thursday evening that “somebody in Russia” should assassinate Putin. He repeated hismore

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US Lawmakers Race to Agree on Russia Sanctions Legislation 

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Back at work this week following a holiday recess, U.S. lawmakers are feeling the pressure to agree on legislation sanctioning Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. While Democratic lawmakers praised the executive actions taken by U.S. President Joe Biden to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for bombarding the independent Eastern Europe nation, some Republicans said the actions came too late and suggested harsher additional steps. “It is time we dropped the hammer and completely shut down the economy in Russia and that we do more to assist Ukrainian defenses,” Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreignmore

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Transcript: President Biden’s State of the Union Address

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AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY Madam Speaker, Madam Vice President, our First Lady and Second Gentleman. Members of Congress and the Cabinet. Justices of the Supreme Court. My fellow Americans.   Last year COVID-19 kept us apart. This year we are finally together again. Tonight, we meet as Democrats Republicans and Independents. But most importantly as Americans. With a duty to one another to the American people to the Constitution. And with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny. Six days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the foundations of the free world thinking he could makemore

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Texas Primary: O’Rourke, Abbott Win Nominations for Governor

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Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott easily bested a group of conservative challengers to lock up his party’s nomination Tuesday and will face Democrat Beto O’Rourke in the November general election.  O’Rourke, who nearly ousted Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018, will get the chance to try for an even bigger upset in November. He’ll be an underdog against Abbott, who began the campaign with more than $50 million and hardline positions on abortion guns and immigration.  Some of those casting ballots, however, said they were worried that new restrictions on abortion, the toughest in America, go too far.  “That’s wheremore

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Many Capitol Riot Cases Could Hinge on 1st Trial’s Outcome

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The Justice Department launched one of the largest and most complex criminal investigations in its history after a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol over a year ago. Now it’s time for a jury to hear some of the government’s evidence about the unparalleled attack on American democracy. The first trial for one of the hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions begins this week, with jury selection starting Monday in the case against Guy Wesley Reffitt. The Texas man is charged with bringing a gun onto Capitol grounds, interfering with police officers guarding the building, and threatening hismore

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Capitol Ditches Mask Requirement Ahead of State of the Union

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Face coverings are now optional for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday, as Congress is lifting its mask requirement on the House floor after federal regulators eased guidelines last week in a rethinking of the nation’s strategy to adapt to living with a more manageable COVID-19. Congress’ Office of the Attending Physician announced the policy change Sunday, lifting a requirement that has been in place for much of the past two years and had become a partisan flashpoint on Capitol Hill. The change ahead of the speech will avoid a potential disruptive display of national tensions andmore

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US Offshore Wind Rights Auction Generates Record Bids 

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The use of wind to generate electricity for the United States has been thrust forward with the largest-ever offering by the federal government of offshore development rights. Three days of bidding, which ended Friday, for the 197,000 hectares of the New York Bight — an area of shallow waters between the coasts of Long Island (in New York state) and the state of New Jersey — attracted record-setting prices, according to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.  “This week’s offshore wind sale makes one thing clear: the enthusiasm for the clean energy economy is undeniable and it’s here to stay,” said Interior Secretarymore

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Experts Skeptical of GOP Claim that a Second Trump Term Would Have Prevented Ukraine Invasion

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In the days since it became clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin was about to order a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many Republican politicians in the United States have taken the opportunity to suggest that if Donald Trump were still president, Putin would not have taken such a cataclysmic step.    It’s an argument that some experts on Russia policy agree with – just not for the reasons being put forward by critics of President Joe Biden, a Democrat.   The dominant narrative among many in the GOP was articulated Wednesday by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said on Foxmore

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Source: Biden Interviews Trio of Candidates for Supreme Court 

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President Joe Biden has interviewed at least three candidates for the Supreme Court, according to a person familiar with the matter, and the White House is reiterating that he remains on track to make a final selection by Monday. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that Biden had not decided whom to nominate. But the president has interviewed Judges Ketanji Brown Jackson, J. Michelle Childs and Leondra Kruger, according to a person familiar with the matter. A second person familiar said Biden had interviewed at least three candidates for the post. The people spoke on the condition ofmore

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US Lawmakers: Russia Incursion Into Ukraine Is Assault on Democracy 

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Top U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s incursion into the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine an assault on democracy. “It’s stunning to see – in this day and age – a tyrant rolling into a country. This is the same tyrant who attacked our democracy in 2016,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a press conference, recalling Putin’s interference in U.S. elections. Pelosi and other top Democrats returning from participation in the Munich Security Conference this week praised President Joe Biden for working with European allies to maintain a united front in deterringmore

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Judge Rules Trump, Eldest Children Must Testify in Fraud Case

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A New York State Supreme Court judge on Thursday ruled that former President Donald Trump and his two oldest children will have to submit to questioning by the state’s attorney general in a civil investigation into potential fraud at the Trump Organization. Attorneys representing Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and his daughter Ivanka Trump had moved to have subpoenas for their testimony canceled. They contended that it was improper for New York Attorney General Letitia James to be pursuing both a civil and a criminal investigation at the same time. James is cooperating in a criminal case that wasmore

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Judge Rejects Effort by Trump to Toss January 6 Lawsuits

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A federal judge on Friday rejected efforts by former President Donald Trump to toss out conspiracy lawsuits filed by lawmakers and two Capitol police officers, saying in his ruling that the former president’s words “plausibly” led to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta said in his ruling that Trump’s words during a rally before the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol were likely “words of incitement not protected by the First Amendment.” “Only in the most extraordinary circumstances could a court not recognize that the First Amendment protects a president’s speech,” Mehta wrote. “But themore

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National Archives: Trump Took Classified Items to Mar-a-Lago

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Classified information was found in the 15 boxes of White House records that were stored at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, the National Archives and Records Administration said Friday in a letter that confirmed the matter had been sent to the Justice Department.  The letter from the agency followed numerous reports about Trump’s handling of sensitive and even classified information during his time as president and after he left the White House. The revelation could also interest federal investigators responsible for policing the handling of government secrets, though the Justice Department and FBI have not indicated they will pursuemore

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Republican Lawmakers in Several US States Bar Journalists From House Floors

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Republican lawmakers in several states are scaling back access to government business, extending pandemic-era rules that restrict when journalists can report from the floors of state legislative chambers and, in effect, making it easier to dodge the press.  As the public returns to the corridors of state capitols, new rules approved in Iowa last month and in Utah this week critically limit reporters’ access to lawmakers, sparking an outcry from media organizations and press advocates. “It is critical that there is some accountability with respect to those who have tremendous power, such as you,” Lauren Gustus, the executive editor ofmore

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Biden Visits Ohio to Tout Infrastructure Investments, Court Voters

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President Joe Biden on Thursday visited a small, deindustrialized Ohio steel town to tout his ambitious multi-trillion-dollar proposed spending plan, to announce a $1 billion initiative for environmental cleanup and restoration, and to court voters in a crucial state ahead of this year’s tightly contested midterm elections. “Today, we’re announcing an investment of $1 billion — $1 billion — from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill,” he said, speaking to about 60 invited guests, including members of Congress, local elected officials and labor leaders at a shipyard in the lakeside town of Lorain, Ohio. “It’s going to allow the most significant restorationmore

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Senate Sends Biden Bill Averting Federal Shutdown

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The Senate gave final approval Thursday to legislation averting a weekend government shutdown, sending President Joe Biden a measure designed to give bipartisan bargainers more time to reach an overdue deal financing federal agencies until fall.  Final passage was by a bipartisan 65-27 vote, five more than the 60 votes needed. The House easily approved the legislation last week. Each party had concluded that an election-year shutdown would be politically damaging, especially during a pandemic and a confrontation with Russia over its possible invasion of Ukraine.   Yet as with virtually all must-pass bills, politics hitched a ride. Before passage,more

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