Politics Election category, Page 245
Congress OKs $1.9T virus relief bill in win for Biden, Dems
A Congress riven along party lines approved a landmark $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill Wednesday, as President Joe Biden and Democrats claimed a triumph on a bill that marshals the government’s spending might against twin pandemic and economic crises that have upended a nation. The House gave final congressional approval...
GOP struggles to define Biden, turns to culture wars instead
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and the Democrats were on the brink of pushing through sprawling legislation with an eyepopping, $1.9 trillion price tag. But many Republican politicians and conservative commentators had other priorities in recent days. A passionate defense of Dr. Seuss. Serious questions about the future of Mr....
Biden’s first 50 days: Where he stands on key promises
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden laid out an ambitious agenda for his first 100 days in office, promising swift action on everything from climate change to immigration reform to the coronavirus pandemic. He hits his 50th day in office on Wednesday as his administration eyes a major milestone: final congressional...
House to vote Wednesday on massive coronavirus aid billVideo
WASHINGTON — The House will vote to clear the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package for President Joe Biden’s signature on Wednesday, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters. House lawmakers received the paperwork on Tuesday from the Senate after that chamber’s marathon “vote-a-rama” that ended Saturday afternoon, resulting in numerous changes...
House approves pro-union bill despite dim Senate oddsVideo
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-led House on Tuesday approved legislation that would invigorate workers’ unions, following decades of court defeats and legislative setbacks that have kneecapped the labor movement’s once formidable ability to organize. The measure, which union leaders and labor allies have presented as a cure for decades of working-class...
Arkansas governor signs near-total abortion ban into law
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday signed into law legislation banning nearly all abortions in the state, a sweeping measure that supporters hope will force the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit its landmark Roe v. Wade decision but opponents vow to block before it takes effect later...
Senate Republicans paint DOJ nominee Vanita Gupta as ‘strident’ partisanVideo
WASHINGTON — Civil rights lawyer Vanita Gupta told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that she would abandon some of the harsh partisan rhetoric she used over the past four years if confirmed for the No. 3 position at the Justice Department. Committee Republicans aired their concerns at the confirmation...
Biden won’t put his name on relief checks, unlike TrumpVideo
President Joe Biden will not be attaching his signature to the $1,400 relief checks that are expected to be mailed soon — a break with his predecessor who last year had “President Donald J. Trump” printed on the economic impact payments approved by Congress. The next round of paper checks...
Jimmy Carter says he’s sad, angry over Georgia voting bills
ATLANTA — Former President Jimmy Carter declared his opposition Tuesday to a slate of restrictive voting proposals moving through his native Georgia’s General Assembly, saying he is “disheartened, saddened and angry” over moves to “turn back the clock” on ballot access after Democratic successes in 2020. Carter, a Democrat, said...
Pentagon approves extending Guard deployment at Capitol
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has formally approved an extension of the National Guard deployment at the U.S. Capitol for about two more months as possible threats of violence remain, the Pentagon said Tuesday. According to a statement issued by the department, close to 2,300 Guard troops will continue...
Wave of retirements signals battles ahead for Republicans
This is not the way Republicans wanted to begin the year. Missouri’s Roy Blunt on Monday became the fifth Republican senator to announce he will not seek reelection, a retirement wave that portends an ugly campaign season next year and gives Democrats fresh hope in preserving their razor-thin Senate majority....
Twitter sues Texas AG Ken Paxton, claiming retaliation for Trump ban
DALLAS — Twitter has filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claiming the Republican used his office to retaliate against it for banning the account of former President Donald Trump following the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Days after the deadly January insurrection, Paxton announced an investigation into...
RNC maintains right to use Trump’s name in fundraising
WASHINGTON — The Republican National Committee is defending its right to use former President Donald Trump’s name in fundraising appeals after he demanded they put an end to the practice. In a Monday letter to Trump attorney Alex Cannon, RNC chief counsel J. Justin Riemer said the committee “has every...
GOP Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri won’t seek reelection in 2022Video
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri said Monday he will not seek reelection, making him the fifth Republican in the Senate to bow out rather than seek another term in a party searching for direction after President Donald Trump. Blunt, who turned 71 in January, was widely expected...
Georgia Senate passes bill to nix no-excuse absentee voting
ATLANTA — Georgia’s state Senate narrowly passed a Republican-backed bill that would end no-excuse absentee voting Monday, the deadline that bills must generally pass out of one chamber to remain alive for the session. Senate Bill 241 would limit absentee voting to people 65 and older, those with a physical...
Biden order could change how colleges handle sex misconduct
WASHINGTON — In a first step toward reversing a contentious Trump administration policy, President Joe Biden on Monday ordered his administration to review federal rules guiding colleges in their handling of campus sexual assaults. In an executive order, Biden directed the Education Department to examine rules that the Trump administration...
GOP pushes bills to allow social media ‘censorship’ lawsuits
Republican state lawmakers are pushing for social media giants to face costly lawsuits for policing content on their websites, taking aim at a federal law that prevents internet companies from being sued for removing posts. GOP politicians in roughly two dozen states have introduced bills that would allow for civil...
Biden marking ‘Bloody Sunday’ by signing voting rights order
WASHINGTON — A new executive order from President Joe Biden directs federal agencies to take a series of steps to promote voting access, a move that comes as congressional Democrats press for a sweeping voting and elections bill to counter efforts to restrict voting access. His plan was being announced...
Trump offers early endorsement for loyal S.C. governor
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former President Donald Trump on Friday endorsed South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster’s bid for a second full term in 2022, continuing their yearslong alliance in a move to strengthen ties with the early-voting state that Trump won twice. In a statement through his Save America PAC, Trump...
Biden White House: Message discipline, no news conference
WASHINGTON — No news conference. No Oval Office address. No primetime speech to a joint session of Congress. President Joe Biden is the first executive in four decades to reach this point in his term without holding a formal question and answer session. It reflects a White House media strategy...
Minimum wage hike falls short as Senate debates virus bill
WASHINGTON — The Senate seemingly killed progressives’ last-ditch effort to include a minimum wage hike in the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill Friday, as the chamber began climactic votes on the huge package embodying President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority. Senators voted 58-42 against the increase, though the vote...
California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell sues Trump, allies over Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — Rep. Eric Swalwell, who served as a House manager in Donald Trump’s last impeachment, filed a lawsuit Friday against the former president, his son, lawyer and a Republican congressman whose actions he charges led to January’s insurrection. The California Democrat’s suit was filed Friday in federal court in...
Senate begins considering Democrats’ $1.9T coronavirus relief billVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted by the slimmest of margins Thursday to begin debating a $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill, after Democrats made eleventh-hour changes aimed at ensuring they could pull President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority through the precariously divided chamber. Democrats were hoping for Senate approval of the...
West Virginia sales tax would top U.S. states under income tax cut planVideo
West Virginia’s consumer sales tax rate would increase from 6% to 7.9% under a proposal submitted Thursday to the Legislature to eliminate the state’s personal income tax. The sales tax increase would give West Virginia the highest rate among all U.S. states. Puerto Rico has a double-digit sales tax. Republican...
CBO expects federal debt to double over next 30 years
The Congressional Budget Office estimated Thursday that persistent budget deficits will cause the federal debt to double in size over the next 30 years. Following the 2008 financial crisis and the pandemic, the government has depended heavily on borrowing and low interest rates to help an ailing economy. But as...
