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Upcoming U.S. Supreme Court cases could curb colleges’ use of affirmative action
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Supreme Court dominated by conservative justices could fundamentally reshape the college admissions process later this year when it takes up two landmark cases challenging affirmative action in higher education. The court recently agreed to hear two cases that challenge race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, […]
U.S. Senate Republicans again block debate on voting rights legislation
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans blocked the advance of voting rights legislation Wednesday, the second time this year — thwarting again Democrats’ attempts to pass federal protections for voters amid a slew of new state elections laws. “When we are faced with a coordinated effort across our country to limit the freedom to vote, we […]
Democrats seek support services for survivors of Native American boarding schools
WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers are pushing federal agencies to provide support for survivors of and communities affected by American Indian boarding school policies, the decades-long practice of forcibly sending Native American children to faraway boarding schools that rejected their tribal cultures. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, sent a request this month […]
Federal investigation seeks to uncover the painful history of Native American boarding schools
WASHINGTON —The Native American children travelled on trains, thousands of miles from their homes, to Pennsylvania’s Carlisle Indian Industrial School in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many had been forcibly taken from their parents and communities. Once there, they had to hand over their belongings, put on uniforms, cut off their braids, adopt new […]
New funding to curb wildfires pushed in Congress as another fire season looms
WASHINGTON — As wildfires across the United States grow in size, intensity and duration each summer, members of Congress from the West are pushing for massive new investments in ecosystem management and wildfire mitigation. House lawmakers called for more attention to wildfire management and support for wildland firefighters at a hearing Thursday before a House […]
Confederate statues would be removed from national parks under new push by McCollum
WASHINGTON — Minnesota Democrat Betty McCollum is pushing the federal government to get rid of confederate statues and memorials in national parks — and she’s gaining some traction this year as opposition to the public display of confederate symbols grows. McCollum, who leads the House subcommittee that oversees spending for the Interior Department, included language […]
Top Homeland Security official vows federal agents ‘will not back away’ from protests
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s number two at the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday defended federal law enforcement officers’ intervention in protests in Portland, Ore., and other cities this summer. Characterizing some of the protests as “mob rule,” Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told lawmakers that federal agents could exert force in […]
Vaccine makers deny political pressure in race for safe, effective shot
Leaders of the companies working on some of the top candidates for COVID-19 vaccines predict they should have shots available by early 2021, but said they will rely on the federal government to determine how to distribute them. The heads of five biopharmaceutical companies with promising vaccine candidates told members of Congress Tuesday that they […]
Sen. Smith to feds: Will COVID-19 vaccine have an October surprise?
WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, warned lawmakers the United States is headed in the “wrong direction” with COVID-19 and could soon reach 100,000 new cases per day if the country does not get a handle on the pandemic. Speaking before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on […]
Attorney General Keith Ellison to Trump Administration: Quit it with regulatory rollbacks during pandemic
WASHINGTON — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and 20 other attorneys general from across the country are pressing the Trump administration to freeze pending regulations so officials can focus on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The attorneys general sent a letter Tuesday to the White House Office of Management and Budget requesting that the […]
Rep. Betty McCollum’s effort to stop Twin Metals mine near Boundary Waters divides fellow Democrats
WASHINGTON — As the Trump administration pushes to allow mining near Minnesota’s iconic Boundary Waters, Rep. Betty McCollum is waging an attempt to thwart the plans. But the Minnesota Democrat lacks broad support from the rest of the state’s congressional delegation. Only two other Minnesota lawmakers have publicly backed the legislation she introduced earlier this […]
Native American women are missing and murdered. Will the federal government act?
WASHINGTON — Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind was 22, eight months pregnant, and looking forward to her baby shower the following day when she went missing on a sunny August afternoon in 2017. She had gone to a neighbor’s apartment in Fargo, N.D., where she had been asked to help with a sewing project. She never went home. […]