The Biden administration is considering sending some AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine doses stockpiled and waiting for official usage approval in the US over the border to Mexico and Canada, according to a senior administration official. Intense discussions are taking place following a request for doses from both countries and, for Mexico at least, an agreement could
Continue Reading The House of Representatives passed legislation in rare bipartisan fashion Wednesday to award the Congressional Gold Medal to officers of the US Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department for their work protecting the Capitol on January 6. The legislation provides for a third gold medal to be given to the Smithsonian to be displayed
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The Internal Revenue Service plans to delay this year’s tax filing deadline by roughly a month, to mid-May. Democratic Reps. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey and Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said that the new deadline would be May 17. The IRS late Wednesday put out a
Continue Reading The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to renew the lapsed Violence Against Women Act, landmark legislation championed by President Joe Biden. The final tally was 244 to 172 with 29 Republicans voting with Democrats in support. The chamber passed a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the VAWA, as it is known, that was introduced in
Continue Reading US intelligence agencies believe that “narratives of fraud in the recent general election” and “the emboldening impact of the violent breach of the US Capitol” will “almost certainly” spur domestic extremists to try to engage in additional acts of violence this year, according to the unclassified summary of a new joint assessment released Wednesday. That
Continue Reading Many Senate Democrats are preparing for a key moment they believe will help make their case to gut the filibuster once and for all: when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Republican colleagues block a major voting rights bill they say is critical to beat back restrictions imposed in GOP-led states across the country.
Continue Reading President Joe Biden said in an interview aired Tuesday that Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo should resign if an investigation confirms the allegations of sexual harassment against him. Asked by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos if Cuomo should step down if the investigation confirms the allegations, Biden replied, “Yes.” “I think he’ll probably end up
Continue Reading The Internal Revenue Service plans to delay this year’s tax filing deadline by roughly a month, to mid-May, according to an official familiar with the plans. The official said the decision was made in order to allow filers more time to navigate tax situations complicated by the coronavirus pandemic. There has been growing bipartisan support
Continue Reading Domestic violent extremism is the “greatest threat” to the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told lawmakers Wednesday during his first congressional hearing since taking office. The threat comes from so-called lone wolves and individuals with loose associations following ideologies of hate and extremism who are “willing and able to take those ideologies and
Continue Reading The Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Wednesday released an unclassified summary of a joint assessment of the national security threat posed by domestic violent extremism, which was ordered by the White House in January.
Continue Reading The Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Wednesday released an unclassified summary of a joint assessment of the national security threat posed by domestic violent extremism as ordered by the White House in January. The threat assessment, produced by ODNI, the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security, was transmitted to the
Continue Reading President Joe Biden hosted Taoiseach Micheál Martin of Ireland for a virtual bilateral meeting on Wednesday to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and spoke about his own family’s Irish roots. “Everything between Ireland and the United States runs deep, Taoiseach, our joys, our sorrows, our passion, our drive and our unrelenting optimism and hope,” Biden said
Continue Reading Dr. Serena Liebengood, the widow of US Capitol Police Officer Howie Liebengood, who died by suicide after serving on the front lines during the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, is asking that his death be considered “in the line of duty.” In a letter obtained by CNN to Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat
Continue Reading The multitude of tax breaks in the $1.9 trillion relief package signed this month by President Joe Biden will provide one of the biggest one-year tax cuts in modern history, a new analysis has found. The tax breaks are 70% larger than those in any single year of the Republicans’ 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs
Continue Reading The House on Wednesday passed a joint resolution that would remove a deadline for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, after a recent federal court ruling said the deadline for the ERA expired long ago. Proponents of the ERA believe the court ruling signaled that it’s now up to Congress to validate their argument
Continue Reading The US Department of Health and Human Services is funneling $10 billion to states to help implement coronavirus surveillance testing in K-12 schools across the country, the agency announced Wednesday, as part of the Biden administration’s push to help schools reopen safely for in-person learning. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also
Continue Reading Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued a statement on Tuesday outlining the Biden administration’s plans to try to deal with the influx of migrants at the border with Mexico. Mayorkas used the statement to blame the Trump administration for some of the Biden administration’s current immigration challenges. And Mayorkas made a notable projection, saying that
Continue Reading Senate Democrats on Wednesday introduced the sweeping election and voting rights package passed by the House earlier this month, one that, if passed, would counteract Republican efforts at the state level to curb access to the ballot box. The For the People Act, or S1, aims to expand voting access nationwide. Democrats have said the
Continue Reading President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris addressed Tuesday’s lethal shootings at a series of spas in the Atlanta area, expressing concerns about any violence against Asian Americans. Biden said on Wednesday that brutality against Asian Americans is “very troubling.” In her most formal remarks about the ongoing issue of violence against the Asian
Continue Reading Former Trump White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman won’t be allowed to get testimony from former President Donald Trump, former Trump chief of staff John Kelly or a member of the White House counsel’s office in a lawsuit she faces related to her exit from the government, a federal judge in Washington ruled on Wednesday.
Continue Reading West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin rejected major changes to the Senate rules that have long been sought by liberals seeking to gut the filibuster, the latest sign of the high hurdles facing proponents who are eager to weaken the power of the minority party to derail the legislative agenda of the majority. Manchin’s view
Continue Reading WASHIINGTON, DC — About 90 million stimulus payments, totaling more than $242 billion, have been sent as of Wednesday, the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service said. That likely covers more than half of the households eligible for this third round of payments, which were included in the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill signed into
Continue Reading House Republicans on Wednesday voted to reverse their conference-wide ban on earmarks, according to two sources familiar with the vote, marking a change after the spending practice had been banned for a decade. The vote, which was conducted via secret ballot, happened as Democrats are preparing to allow earmarks in upcoming spending and infrastructure legislation.
Continue Reading The House of Representatives is expected to vote on Wednesday to renew the lapsed Violence Against Women Act, landmark legislation championed by President Joe Biden. A bipartisan bill to reauthorize the VAWA, as it is known, was introduced in the House earlier this month by Democratic Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and House Judiciary
Continue Reading The House is pushing forward with a joint resolution to remove a deadline for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, after a recent federal court ruling said the deadline for the ERA expired long ago. Proponents of the ERA believe the court ruling signaled that it’s now up to Congress to validate their argument
Continue Reading President Joe Biden said he is still making a decision on withdrawing all US troops from Afghanistan ahead of a May 1 deadline set by former President Donald Trump, saying it “could happen, but it is tough.” “I’m in the process of making that decision now as to when they’ll leave. The fact is, that
Continue Reading Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told lawmakers Wednesday that the US-Mexico border is secure and repeated that it is “not open,” as the administration faces an ongoing influx of migrants. His appearance before the House Homeland Security Committee comes as the Biden administration struggles to accommodate the growing number of children crossing the US-Mexico border
Continue Reading The Senate confirmed Katherine Tai to serve as US trade representative on Wednesday, giving her a key role to smooth supply chains shaken by the pandemic, implement a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada and address a multitude of challenges with China. Tai, the daughter of immigrants from Taiwan, is the first woman of
Continue Reading Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the recent lethal shootings at a series of spas in the Atlanta area, marking her most formal remarks about the ongoing issue of violence against the Asian American community. “It is tragic. Our country, the President and I and all of us, we grieve for the loss,” said Harris, the
Continue Reading After a year of criticism by health experts, mockery from comedians and blistering critiques from political rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is standing unabashedly tall among the nation’s governors on the front lines of the coronavirus fight. “Everyone told me I was wrong,” DeSantis, a Republican, said in a fundraising appeal on Tuesday, drawing attention
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