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Biden meets with county leaders in D.C., promotes Build Back Better plan
By: Ariana Figueroa - February 15, 2022
President Joe Biden during a Tuesday meeting with county leaders called on Congress to pass his stalled social spending package as a way to fight inflation, saying it would help with expenses families face.
Black women in the U.S. House push for Supreme Court pick with a civil rights track record
By: Ariana Figueroa - February 10, 2022
U.S. Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri Thursday led a coalition of Black women members of the U.S. House in a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to pick a Black woman for the Supreme Court — which he has promised — who has a track record of protecting civil rights.
HBCU leaders decry waves of bomb threats as federal investigators probe origin
By: Ariana Figueroa - February 8, 2022
Hours before the Southern Poverty Law Center held a virtual panel Tuesday about recent bomb threats made to dozens of historically Black colleges, yet another bomb threat was reported — this one to Spelman College, a historically Black institution in Georgia.
Biden says answer to gun violence ‘is not to defund the police’
By: Ariana Figueroa - February 3, 2022
Biden seemed to take a swipe at progressive Democrats and activists who have criticized police misconduct. He suggests officers need "...the tools, the training, the funding to be partners, to be protectors...”
Biden cites 40-day timeline for Supreme Court confirmation
By: Ariana Figueroa and Jacob Fischler - February 1, 2022
The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dick Durbin, and the panel’s top Republican, Chuck Grassley, met with the president Tuesday afternoon to discuss a 40-day confirmation timeline for a new Supreme Court pick.
Governors attempt to bridge deep political divides in big D.C. meeting
By: Jennifer Shutt, Ariana Figueroa and Jacob Fischler - January 31, 2022
Governors of both parties from throughout the United States met here over the weekend to try to speak on a unified front about what their states need from the federal government.
Meet a top contender for the U.S. Supreme Court open seat
By: Ariana Figueroa - January 27, 2022
WASHINGTON — With the retirement of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer by this summer, President Joe Biden has said he will fulfill a campaign promise of appointing a Black woman to an open seat on the highest court in the land. A top contender, who was even vetted by the Obama administration in 2016 […]
Reports: Supreme Court Justice Breyer to step down
By: Ariana Figueroa, Jacob Fischler and Jennifer Shutt - January 26, 2022
The decision by the 83-year-old justice, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1994, would give President Joe Biden his first chance to nominate a member of the Supreme Court, though the evenly divided Senate could significantly affect that choice.
With voting rights stalled, some senators mull an update to the Electoral Count Act
By: Ariana Figueroa - January 21, 2022
Backers of stalled voting rights legislation in Congress are lukewarm on the effort as a substitute
Agriculture secretary pressed about pandemic relief funds for farmers
By: Ariana Figueroa - January 20, 2022
WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack faced questions on how his agency is doling out emergency pandemic relief for farmers and fostering collaboration with historically Black colleges during a Thursday hearing before the House Agriculture Committee. Committee Chairman David Scott, a Georgia Democrat, asked Vilsack for “critical updates on the implementation of pandemic relief programs, […]
U.S. Senate blocks change in the filibuster for voting rights bills
By: Ariana Figueroa - January 19, 2022
In a 48-52 vote, two Democrats — Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — voted against weakening the Senate’s 60-vote threshold specifically to advance two voting rights bills, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.
Online orders for free at-home COVID tests to begin Jan. 19
By: Ariana Figueroa - January 14, 2022
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday launched a new website for Americans to request up to four free COVID-19 tests per household. The administration is buying 1 billion at-home rapid COVID-19 tests, and Americans will be able to begin ordering the tests online on Jan. 19 at COVIDtests.gov. This is part of the administration’s effort […]