Politics Election category, Page 226
Manchin’s opposition may doom clean-power plan Biden backs
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin has told the White House and congressional leaders that he will not support including a key clean-power provision in the Democrats’ spending package, putting at risk a central element of the legislation designed to fight climate change, according to a person familiar with the matter....
Jan. 6 panel moving swiftly as it sets Bannon contempt vote
WASHINGTON — A congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has moved aggressively against close Trump adviser Steve Bannon, swiftly scheduling a vote to recommend criminal contempt charges against the former White House aide after he defied a subpoena. The chairman of the special committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.,...
Pa. lawmakers hand out millions in public contracts to law firms that fill their campaign coffers
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A host of politically connected law firms are pouring millions of dollars into the campaigns of Pennsylvania legislators, who...
Supreme Court commission talks positively of shorter terms
WASHINGTON — A commission tasked with studying potential changes to the Supreme Court has released a first look at its review, a draft report that is cautious in discussing proposals for expanding the court but also speaks approvingly of term limits for justices. The 36-member bipartisan commission, largely composed of...
Biden to reinstate Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy next month
SAN DIEGO — The Biden administration said it plans to reinstate a Trump-era border policy next month to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court, complying with a judge’s order. It hinges on approval of the Mexican government, which has raised concerns that U.S. officials are...
Steve Bannon defies Jan. 6 panel’s subpoena, faces contempt charge
WASHINGTON — A congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection could soon prepare criminal contempt charges against former White House aide Steve Bannon as he defies a subpoena for documents and testimony about his interactions with President Donald Trump ahead of the violent siege of the Capitol. The committee scheduled...
Judge denies Parnell motion to seal custody case, but grants protections for children’s medical records
The judge presiding over the divorce and child custody case involving Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sean Parnell on Thursday denied a motion by his attorney to seal the entirety of the case and upcoming trial, as well as a motion for a gag order on the parties. Senior Common Pleas...
New wind farms would dot U.S. coastlines under Biden plan
WASHINGTON — Seven major offshore wind farms would be developed on the East and West coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico under a plan announced Wednesday by the Biden administration. The projects are part of President Joe Biden’s plan to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030,...
Analysis: Ahead of holidays, Biden tries to untangle supply chain messVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden wants to save Christmas — but he may not be able to. He announced Wednesday that the Port of Los Angeles would operate around the clock to alleviate a logistical bottleneck that has left dozens of container ships idling off the California coast and Americans...
Georgia Senate hopeful Herschel Walker cancels event over swastika
ATLANTA — Georgia Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker has called off a fundraiser in Texas because an organizer was displaying a swastika made of syringes in her social media profile to protest mandatory covid-19 vaccination. The Walker campaign said Wednesday that it had canceled the event, which had been...
Alaska GOP legislators urge easier ivermectin access for covid
ANCHORAGE — Several Republican state lawmakers are urging easier access for Alaskans to ivermectin amid the pandemic, though ivermectin is not authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for preventing or treating covid-19. Senate Majority Leader Shelley Hughes of Palmer said she urged Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the state...
Judge dismisses Fulton County ballot review case in Georgia
ATLANTA — A judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit alleging fraud in Georgia’s most populous county during the 2020 election. The suit sought a review of some 147,000 absentee ballots to see if any were illegitimate. The lawsuit was originally filed in December and alleged evidence of fraudulent ballots and...
White House scolds Abbott for trying to ban Biden’s federal vaccine mandate in TexasVideo
WASHINGTON — The White House scolded Gov. Greg Abbott for trying to bar Texas companies from enforcing a federal covid-19 vaccine mandate, accusing him Tuesday of pandering to GOP primary voters at the expense of public health. “It’s important to remember we’re in the middle of a pandemic,” said White...
Congress raises nation’s debt limit, but thorny December deadlines loom
WASHINGTON — The House raised the nation’s debt ceiling on Tuesday, averting a default for about three months but setting up a tougher political hurdle for Democrats at the end of the year. The bill was packaged with several other measures so there was no stand-alone vote on the unpopular...
Gainey, Moreno debate housing, environment and more in lengthy Pittsburgh mayoral debate
In a wide-ranging debate that lasted nearly three hours, mayoral candidates Ed Gainey, a state representative, and Tony Moreno, a retired Pittsburgh police officer, delved into topics ranging from housing and the economy to the environment and voter identification. If elected, Gainey would become the city’s first Black mayor. Moreno...
BP, Shell leaders to face Congress over alleged climate cover-up
WASHINGTON — Executives from BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc will testify before a House committee investigating allegations that oil giants misled the public about the role of fossil fuels in causing global warming. The hearing planned for later this month by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee...
Florida fines key county $3.5 million for mandating vaccines
TALLAHASSEE — The county government that is home to Florida’s capital was fined $3.5 million on Tuesday by state health officials for requiring its employees to get covid-19 vaccines and for firing 14 workers who failed to get the shots. The Florida Department of Health issued the fine for Leon...
Pa. lawmakers spend millions of tax dollars on private lawyers but often don’t reveal why
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania legislature spent nearly $10 million during the last two years on private lawyers but routinely shielded the...
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issues executive order banning vaccine mandates by private entities
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday issued an executive order prohibiting any entity in Texas from mandating covid-19 vaccinations for employees or consumers, an expansion of a prior order limited to government entities. Abbott also asked lawmakers to tackle the issue during the current special legislative session, ensuring that...
GOP wants personal voter data to root out fraud, but Pa. already uses a more secure system
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania has spent nearly half a million dollars over the past six years to find and remove outdated registrations...
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson under attack over anti-LGBT viewsVideo
RALEIGH — North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is facing calls to resign from elected officials and LGBTQ advocacy groups over comments he made criticizing sexual education and likening gay and transgender people to “filth.” “There’s no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality,...
Pa. attorney general Josh Shapiro jumps into ’22 governor’s race
Pennsylvania’s high-profile attorney general, Josh Shapiro, will formally announce his candidacy for governor on Wednesday, entering the 2022 race months after making his intentions known and effectively clearing the field of potential rivals for the Democratic nomination. Shapiro, a familiar presence on cable TV news who has spent nearly two...
Congress off the rails? Lawmakers barrel toward fall fights
Year-end pileups of crucial legislation and the brinkmanship that goes with them are normal behavior for Congress. This autumn, lawmakers are barreling toward battles that are striking for the risks they pose to both parties and their leaders. Though few doubt that Congress will again extend the government’s borrowing authority...
No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise refuses to say election wasn’t stolenVideo
WASHINGTON — The House’s second-ranking Republican, Rep. Steve Scalise, repeatedly refused to say on Sunday that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen, standing by Donald Trump’s lie that Democrat Joe Biden won the White House because of mass voter fraud. More than 11 months after Americans picked their president and almost...
Biden won’t invoke executive privilege on Trump Jan. 6 docs
The White House said Friday that President Joe Biden will not block the handover of documents sought by a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, setting up a showdown with former President Donald Trump, who wants to shield those White House records from investigators. The...
