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U.S. House GOP pushes through debt ceiling increase coupled with massive spending cuts
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday struggled but whipped just enough votes to pass their plan to temporarily raise the nation’s borrowing limit and also cut spending by slashing key parts of President Joe Biden’s climate and tax law, potentially risking some veterans’ health benefits and imposing more work rules on the nation’s safety […]
Federal judge temporarily blocks new Biden WOTUS rule in two dozen states
A federal judge in North Dakota on Wednesday blocked in 24 states the Biden administration’s newly effective definition of waters that can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland, a George W. Bush appointee on retired status in the North Dakota District, issued a preliminary injunction in a case two […]
Biden rule on transgender athletes would set conditions on school sports bans
The Biden administration will advance a rule to make it more difficult for schools to exclude transgender youth athletes from competition based on their gender identity, a senior U.S. Education Department official told reporters Thursday. The proposed rule would prohibit blanket bans of transgender athletes competing in sports consistent with their gender identity. But it […]
Trump hit with 34 felony counts of falsifying New York state business records
Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 New York state felony offenses related to what prosecutors say were hush money payments to an adult film star. In a brief but historic appearance in a Manhattan trial court, Trump, the first former president to face criminal prosecution, learned he was charged with falsifying […]
Trump labels indictment ‘election interference at the highest level’
WASHINGTON — A New York criminal grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed following news reports. A former president has never been indicted before. Trump is also a Republican candidate in the 2024 race for the presidency. “This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender […]
U.S. House passes sweeping energy bill pushing back against Biden climate policies
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House on Thursday approved a bill packed with Republican energy priorities meant to counteract the Biden administration’s approach and boost U.S. oil and gas production. Numbered H.R. 1 as a signal that energy policy is the House majority’s top legislative priority, the bill includes a package of GOP proposals, ranging from […]
U.S. Senate clears measure to undo Biden WOTUS rule on wetlands
WASHINGTON — Both Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the Biden administration’s intensely contested expansion of what qualifies as wetlands that the federal government can regulate. The Senate approved a resolution, sponsored by West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito, that would revoke the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of […]
Trump’s possible arrest by Manhattan DA blasted by U.S. House GOP leaders
Former President Donald Trump’s claim that he would be arrested Tuesday had not materialized by early evening on the East Coast, but U.S. House Republicans harshly criticized any such move as an abuse of prosecutorial authority. In an all-caps post to his social media site, Truth Social, on Saturday, Trump predicted that he would be […]
U.S. Senate leader calls for safety audit into all major railroads after Ohio derailment
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Wednesday for the federal authority responsible for determining the causes of transportation casualties to investigate the safety culture at all major North American freight railroads. Following the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment that caused a toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, Schumer, a New York Democrat, said […]
States to receive $2.5B from feds for electric vehicle charging infrastructure
The federal government will send $2.5 billion over the next five years to states, local governments and tribes to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure, Biden administration officials said Tuesday. The new Charging and Fueling Infrastructure grant program, which was authorized by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, will spend $2.5 billion over five years to build […]
Norfolk Southern CEO apologizes for Ohio crash, but won’t back bipartisan rail safety bill
The CEO of Norfolk Southern, the railroad operating the train that last month derailed and spilled toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, apologized for the derailment at a U.S. Senate hearing Thursday, but declined solicitations to endorse a bipartisan rail safety bill. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw opened his testimony to the Senate Environment and […]
Longtime tensions return at U.S. House hearing on federal wetlands rule
A U.S. House panel renewed the decades-long fight Wednesday over how standing waters on farmland and other private property should be defined and regulated by federal authorities, with Republicans calling for a pause until the U.S. Supreme Court can provide more clarity. The definition of so-called Waters of the United States, or WOTUS — wetlands […]