INSIDER
Biden in a hot mic moment shows his growing frustration with Netanyahu over Gaza humanitarian crisis
Read full article: Biden in a hot mic moment shows his growing frustration with Netanyahu over Gaza humanitarian crisisPresident Joe Biden is expressing growing frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Election-year politics threaten Senate border deal as Trump and his allies rally opposition
Read full article: Election-year politics threaten Senate border deal as Trump and his allies rally oppositionA politically treacherous dynamic is taking hold in Congress as negotiators work to strike a bipartisan deal on the border and immigration, with vocal opposition from the hard right and former President Donald Trump threatening to topple the carefully negotiated compromise.
As conflicts rage abroad, a fractured Congress tries to rally support for historic global challenges
Read full article: As conflicts rage abroad, a fractured Congress tries to rally support for historic global challengesWith support for Ukraine slipping in Congress, the United States is once again struggling to assert its role in the world.
Utah's multibillion dollar oil train proposal chugs along amid environment and derailment concerns
Read full article: Utah's multibillion dollar oil train proposal chugs along amid environment and derailment concernsOne of the United States' biggest rail investments in more than a century could be an 88-mile line in Utah that would run through tribal lands and national forest to move oil and gas to the national rail network.
Air Force picks Colorado for more Space Force missions as politics loom over headquarters decision
Read full article: Air Force picks Colorado for more Space Force missions as politics loom over headquarters decisionThe Air Force has announced the permanent location for many more U.S. Space Force units — and none of them are in Huntsville, Alabama.
Walker report puts abortion back at center of Georgia race
Read full article: Walker report puts abortion back at center of Georgia raceIn Georgia’s pivotal U.S. Senate race, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, have each sought to cast the other as an abortion extremist.
Drought in Western US heats up as a Senate campaign issue
Read full article: Drought in Western US heats up as a Senate campaign issueThe consequences of drought and efforts to funnel billions of dollars toward securing water supplies in the West are becoming larger issues in two of the most consequential races for the U.S. Senate.
Schumer sending $15M to Democrats, Senate Campaign Committee
Read full article: Schumer sending $15M to Democrats, Senate Campaign CommitteeSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is transferring $15 million from his campaign account to his party’s candidates, incumbents and political committee for the fall election.
What to watch in primaries in Colorado, Illinois, elsewhere
Read full article: What to watch in primaries in Colorado, Illinois, elsewhereSeven states are set to host primary elections Tuesday as the nation comes to terms with last week’s stunning Supreme Court ruling eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion.
Utah senator blocks internment camp designation, draws ire
Read full article: Utah senator blocks internment camp designation, draws ireUtah Sen. Mike Lee is facing backlash from Japanese Americans and conservation groups after blocking a proposal to create a national historic site at a former internment camp in rural Colorado.
Tribes welcome infusion of money in infrastructure bill
Read full article: Tribes welcome infusion of money in infrastructure billThe massive infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed this week includes billions of dollars to address long-standing issues with water and sanitation on tribal land.
Child tax credit tussle reflects debate over work incentives
Read full article: Child tax credit tussle reflects debate over work incentivesPresident Joe Biden and leading Democratic lawmakers, including Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet and Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, have been fighting to make permanent a child tax credit that would give families at least $300 a month per child.
'Congress should act,' Biden tells lawmakers near and far
Read full article: 'Congress should act,' Biden tells lawmakers near and farThe roar of applause that typically greets a new president entering the House chamber softened to just a few hundred hands clapping as Joe Biden arrived to deliver his first joint address to Congress.
Biden plan would spend $16B to clean up old mines, oil wells
Read full article: Biden plan would spend $16B to clean up old mines, oil wellsHundreds of thousands of “orphaned” oil and gas wells and abandoned coal and hardrock mines pose serious safety hazards, while causing ongoing environmental damage. Biden's plan would not only create jobs, but help reduce methane and brine leaks that pollute the air and groundwater. Biden's plan, which needs approval by Congress, would jump-start the well-capping effort and expand it dramatically. About $8 billion has been disbursed to states for mine-reclamation projects in the past four decades, but Biden's plan would ramp up spending sharply. AdEnvironmental groups hailed the announcement, saying unplugged wells and abandoned mines pose a significant environmental threat.
Inspector general reviews Trump relocation of Space Command
Read full article: Inspector general reviews Trump relocation of Space Command(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)DENVER – The Department of Defense's inspector general announced Friday that it was reviewing the Trump administration's last-minute decision to relocate U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama. “Moving Space Command will disrupt the mission while risking our national security and economic vitality,” the senators said in a joint statement. We fully support the investigation.”Among other duties, the Space Command enables satellite-based navigation and troop communication and provides warning of missile launches. The Space Command differs from the U.S. Space Force, launched in December 2019 as the first new military service since the Air Force was created in 1947. The Space Command is not an individual military service but a central command for militarywide space operations.
Trial highlights: Trump grievances, angry outbursts and more
Read full article: Trial highlights: Trump grievances, angry outbursts and more"The Senate cannot ignore the First Amendment," said van der Veen. In a letter signed last week they wrote that “the First Amendment does not apply in impeachment proceedings, so it cannot provide a defense for President Trump." van der Veen bristled and inquired who had asked. Sanders responded, “I did.” van der Veen retorted: “irrelevant.”“No, it isnt!” Sanders angrily shot back from his desk, adding: “You represent the president of the United States!”He scoffed audibly when van der Veen avoided answering the question. “This is not whataboutism," said Michael van der Veen.
Biden hails transportation nominee Buttigieg as 'new voice'
Read full article: Biden hails transportation nominee Buttigieg as 'new voice'Mayor Pete Buttigieg, President-elect Joe Biden's nominee to be transportation secretary reacts to his nomination as Biden looks on during a news conference at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. – President-elect Joe Biden has introduced his one-time Democratic primary rival Pete Buttigieg as his nominee for transportation secretary, saying the 38-year-old can be “a new voice" in the fight against economic inequality, institutional racism and climate change. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, would be the first openly gay person confirmed by the Senate to a Cabinet position. Emanuel was mentioned as a potential candidate for several Biden Cabinet posts but drew strong backlash from progressives. Biden’s selection of Buttigieg for transportation secretary drew praise from LGBTQ rights groups.
Biden set to introduce Buttigieg as his transportation pick
Read full article: Biden set to introduce Buttigieg as his transportation pickPresident-elect Joe Biden is expected to pick former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg to head the transportation department. – President-elect Joe Biden is set to introduce former presidential rival Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday as his nominee for transportation secretary, adding a youthful voice to an incoming administration so far dominated by people with decades of Washington experience. The 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, would also be the first openly gay person confirmed by the Senate to a Cabinet post. During the Democratic presidential primary, Buttigieg was initially written off as the leader of a relatively small town competing against far more established figures. As the primary moved into more diverse states such as South Carolina, Buttigieg faltered and quickly withdrew from the race.
New political group tries to rescue Hickenlooper in primary
Read full article: New political group tries to rescue Hickenlooper in primaryHickenlooper was supposed to be Democrats' worry-free solution to the Colorado Senate race, but he's stumbled badly in the weeks leading up to the party's June 30 primary. John Hickenlooper's standing in the Colorado Democratic Senate primary, a new political group is spending at least $1 million on a scathing attack ad against Hickenlooper's rival in the race. Romanoff is the underdog in the June 30 primary, running as a populist insurgent against the establishment's choice, Hickenlooper, who has raised significantly more money. Privately, Colorado Democrats have been concerned about how Hickenlooper will perform in the primary. Hours later, the attack ad against Romanoff, which Let's Turn Colorado Blue described as a seven-figure buy, began to circulate.
'A hot mess': Hickenlooper stumbles into Democratic primary
Read full article: 'A hot mess': Hickenlooper stumbles into Democratic primaryHickenlooper defied a subpoena from the Colorado Ethics Commission, only testifying after the nonpartisan panel found him in contempt. Then the commission found he'd violated state ethics laws by accepting free travel while governor. This guy they put on a pedestal, he's a hot mess, said Democratic former state Rep. Joe Salazar, who often clashed with Hickenlooper in the statehouse. On Tuesday, both Gardner and the National Republican Senatorial Committee released ads bashing Hickenlooper, an unusual move during a Democratic primary. Then Senate Democrats, alarmed at an unwieldy primary for the party's nomination to challenge Gardner, recruited Hickenlooper to run for the Senate instead.
Trump admin opposes extending enhanced unemployment benefit
Read full article: Trump admin opposes extending enhanced unemployment benefitThe payments are set to expire July 31, and Democrats have pushed a plan that would extend the enhanced benefit through January. Unemployment benefits will still be needed in August and beyond, but the circumstances that originally called for the $600 plus-up will have changed,'' Scalia said. Democrats challenged that view, saying the unemployment rate is likely to remain at historically high levels through the summer at least. Grassley said he hears from Iowans every day who wonder why they are earning less than others they know who are getting unemployment benefits. With the unemployment rate expected to remain in the mid-teens through July, lawmakers will face pressure to compromise on some form of renewed benefits for the jobless.
Buckle up: What to watch as impeachment trial takes off
Read full article: Buckle up: What to watch as impeachment trial takes offThat maroons 100 chatty senators including four Democrats in the heat of a nomination fight for the serious constitutional business of the impeachment trial, for hours at a time. Senate rules say the trial must proceed six days a week all but Sunday until it is resolved. But here again, there's precedent for Trump to consider: Clinton delivered his State of the Union speech in the midst of his Senate trial. ___THE PROSECUTORSThey could be heard practicing speeches in the shuttered Senate chamber late into Monday night. 51: The number of senators who must agree on almost anything to make it happen during an impeachment trial.