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CBO gives Senate case for raising minimum wage through reconciliation
WASHINGTON—The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office in a report Monday found a gradual increase to a $15 federal minimum wage by 2025 would reduce poverty, add $54 billion to the deficit over a decade and increase pay for millions of low-income workers. The report could help Democrats make a strong case for including a gradual federal minimum wage […]
Horsford may have to share committee assignment with QAnon congresswoman
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Rules Committee is set to meet on Wednesday to consider a resolution that would strip Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her two committee assignments. Greene has been denounced for spreading outrageous conspiracy theories – including ones in which she contends the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas, as […]
H.R. 1: Dem measure includes sweeping election/campaign reforms
WASHINGTON—Democrats who control Congress by narrow margins and the White House are making a fresh attempt to move forward a massive package that tackles dark money in campaigns, voter suppression and election security. The architect of the bill, Rep. John Sarbanes, said in an interview that the tumultuous 2020 election was a perfect example of […]
NV conservationists welcome Biden’s pause on oil & gas leases
WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden signed a host of executive orders on climate Wednesday that put a hold on new oil and gas leases on federal property, place environmental justice in the center of climate reform and set goals of conserving nearly a third of the nation’s land and water. “Our plans are ambitious, but we are […]
Biden immigration overhaul would open a door to citizenship
The immigration reform bill President Joe Biden is sending to Congress would lay out a path for nearly 11 million undocumented people to obtain citizenship within eight years. Immigration has been one of the toughest issues for Congress to tackle, and the legislation’s fate is unclear in a House in which Democrats wield narrower control […]
Capitol chaos as pro-Trump mob turns lawless
WASHINGTON – A mob derailed the typically routine process of Congress certifying the presidential election results on Wednesday, with both chambers abruptly recessing after President Donald Trump’s supporters clashed with police and forced their way into the U.S. Capitol. A House office building was evacuated, and the Capitol and surrounding office buildings were locked down […]
What’s in the $900B relief bill—and what’s out
WASHINGTON — Congress passed a bipartisan emergency relief bill intended to aid Americans affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Summaries from House Democratic appropriators say it includes: DIRECT CHECKS —$166 billion in another round of economic impact payments that will go directly to Americans. —$600 direct checks for individuals that begin phasing out at an income […]
Immigration advocates push Biden to not just bring back DACA but expand it
President-elect Joe Biden is promising to reinstate an Obama-era program that shields deportation for some undocumented people who were brought to the United States by their parents when they were children. But immigration advocates are pushing for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to not just be reaffirmed but expanded, and written into law. […]
Hoping for gains, congressional Democrats got setbacks
Tuesday’s election did not go as planned for congressional Democrats, who were expected to pick up nearly a dozen GOP seats in the House but instead lost races while also failing to flip Senate seats held by vulnerable Republicans. The outlook for Democratic control of the Senate did not improve the day after the election, […]
In races that will decide Senate control, Democrats raised more money
If you had to chair the Democratic effort to help U.S. Senate candidates raise money, 2020 was a good cycle to do it. Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee this cycle, (a job has pitted her efforts against those of deep-pocketed resort industry donors right in […]
Trump to stay ‘the next few days’ at military hospital for COVID-19 treatment
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in suburban Maryland late Friday afternoon, where White House officials said he is expected to stay for “the next few days” for treatment of COVID-19. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany described Trump, who disclosed his diagnosis earlier Friday, as having mild symptoms […]
The ‘stand back and stand by’ candidate turns debate into dumpster fire
President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden in Tuesday night’s chaotic and messy presidential debate were each asked how they would deal with the nation’s institutional racism. Trump directly addressed a far-right group, the Proud Boys, telling them to “stand back and stand by,” and failed to answer a question about why Americans should […]