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U.S. House votes to bar use of public lands for housing migrants
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Thursday passed a bill to bar the use of public lands for temporary housing for migrants applying for asylum. The bill, H.R. 5283, passed with a majority of Republicans in support, 224-203. Six Democrats voted with Republicans: Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of […]
Gun violence as a public health crisis explored by U.S. Senate Democrats
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Tuesday discussed how to treat gun violence as a public health crisis, in hopes of building upon last year’s federal gun safety legislation. “Across the country, gun violence is a public health epidemic,” Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, the chairman of the committee, said in his opening remarks. […]
Democrats’ struggle to keep U.S. Senate majority complicated by Manchin decision
WASHINGTON — U.S. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III announced Thursday he does not plan to run for reelection come 2024, giving Republicans an opportunity to pick up a seat and increasing their chances of flipping Senate control. A centrist who has long frustrated his party’s leadership and outside advocacy groups with his views on fossil […]
Tribal leaders ask Congress for help with fentanyl crisis in Native American communities
WASHINGTON — Leaders of Native American tribes detailed the fentanyl crisis in Indigenous communities during a Wednesday U.S. Senate hearing. “This growing crisis is rooted in the longstanding structural inequities in Native communities,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, who chairs the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she […]
U.S. Supreme Court considers case dealing with gun rights and domestic violence
WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court justices during Tuesday’s oral arguments seemed to lean toward upholding a federal law that prevents the possession of firearms by a person who is subject to a domestic violence protective order. Liberal and conservative justices appeared to side with the Biden administration’s position that the 1994 federal law is in […]
Mike Johnson of Louisiana elected speaker of the U.S. House after three weeks of stalemate
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday voted for Louisiana’s Mike Johnson as speaker in a chamber that has been frozen for more than three weeks after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted. In a 220-209 party-line vote, all Republicans present backed Johnson, 51, a strongly conservative lawyer who represents northwest Louisiana’s 4th District. All […]
Emmer nominated for U.S. House speaker but drops out after Trump opposition
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans Tuesday voted to tap Minnesota’s Tom Emmer as speaker following five rounds of ballots — but Emmer quit the race just four hours later, after he was attacked by the GOP’s most powerful figure, former President Donald Trump. After beating six candidates, Emmer, the No. 3 Republican, faced an uphill […]
U.S. House Republicans mull eight new candidates for speaker in advance of votes
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans Monday night gathered behind closed doors to hear the pitches of eight candidates for the speaker’s gavel, as the chamber approaches three weeks without a speaker. Monday’s nearly three-hour meeting was meant to produce a leading GOP candidate, so that when Republicans vote behind closed doors on Tuesday, there will […]
Jim Jordan’s bid to be U.S. House speaker ends after rejection by GOP in closed meeting
WASHINGTON — Ohio Republican Jim Jordan is no longer the Republican nominee for speaker of the U.S. House. Shortly after a failed floor vote Friday on Jordan’s bid, Republicans held a closed-door meeting where Jordan failed to garner enough votes from his fellow GOP lawmakers to stay in the race as their nominee. “I told […]
U.S. House gripped by paralysis again after GOP punts proposal for speaker pro tem
WASHINGTON — A resolution meant to temporarily allow U.S. House Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry of North Carolina to move critical legislation won’t be acted on and there is no new floor vote scheduled for speaker nominee Jim Jordan, House Republicans said following a tense, closed-door meeting on Thursday. “We made the pitch to members […]
U.S. House stalled again after rejecting Jim Jordan as speaker a second time
WASHINGTON — Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan in his second bid for U.S. House speaker on Wednesday failed to win enough support from his fellow Republicans, leaving the party deadlocked with no clear path to govern the chamber. Jordan’s 200 votes on a first ballot on Tuesday dropped Wednesday to 199, a signal from centrist Republicans […]
Independent immigration court system advocated in U.S. Senate hearing
WASHINGTON — An immigration judge and lawyer told a U.S. Senate Judiciary panel on Wednesday that an independent immigration court would help ease a backlog of more than 2 million pending cases. Because the immigration court system is an arm of the U.S. Justice Department — the Executive Office for Immigration Review — each presidential […]