President Biden awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 politicians, activists, athletes and others
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers and actor Michelle Yeoh are among a diverse group of 19 people who have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.
Pro-Biden super PAC launches ad featuring Rep. Clyburn ahead of South Carolina's lead-off primary
A super political action committee supporting President Joe Bidenโs reelection is aiming to boost the Democratโs primary campaign in lead-off South Carolina with a television ad featuring Rep. Jim Clyburn.
Harris files paperwork putting Biden on South Carolina's ballot to kick off 2024 Democratic primary
Vice President Kamala Harris has flown to South Carolina to file paperwork putting President Joe Biden on the 2024 presidential ballot of the state that will lead off the Democratic presidential primary.
House panel says lax screening helped facilitate PPP fraud
A House investigations panel says financial technology firms โabdicatedโ their responsibility to screen out fraud in applications for a federal program designed to help small businesses stay open and keep workers employed during the pandemic.
Jeffries makes historic bid to lead House Dems after Pelosi
A day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she would step aside, congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York has announced his history-making bid to become the first Black person to helm a major political party in Congress as leader of the House Democrats.
New Jan. 6 footage shows Pelosi, leaders as crisis unfolded
Never-before-seen video footage played Thursday by the House Jan. 6 committee shows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders, including Republican allies of Donald Trump, responding anxiously โ and angrily โ to the insurrection at the Capitol.
Haaland: 'Traumatic' history shown in Brown v. Board schools
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has joined House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn in visiting a rural South Carolina school that is now part of a National Park Service program to safeguard institutions connected to the Supreme Courtโs 1954 Brown v.
Report: Trump officials, meat companies knew workers at risk
A new Congressional report says that at the height of the pandemic, the meat processing industry worked closely with political appointees in the Trump administration to stave off health restrictions and keep slaughterhouses open even as COVID-19 spread rapidly among workers.
Veterans Day legislation targets GI Bill racial inequities
In honor of Veterans Day, a group of Democratic lawmakers is reviving an effort to pay the families of Black veterans who fought on behalf of the nation during World War II for benefits they were denied or prevented from taking full advantage of when they returned home from war.
Trump-backed Carey, centrist Brown win Ohio US House races
Mike Carey, a Donald Trump-backed coal lobbyist, topped Republicans in central Ohio, while Cuyahoga County Council member Shontel Brown scored a victory for the Democratic establishment in Cleveland, in two primary elections for open House seats Tuesday.
Federal holiday pressures companies to give Juneteenth off
The declaration of Juneteenth as a federal holiday is putting the pressure on more U.S. companies to give their employees the day off, accelerating a movement that took off last year in response to the racial justice protests that swept the country.
Democrats vow vote on gun bills; Biden says 'we have to act'
They are not even united themselves, as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told reporters Tuesday that he opposes the House legislation on background checks. The gun debate also highlights a larger difficulty for Senate Democrats as they try to move forward on gun legislation and other policy priorities of the Biden White House. Schumer has not said when he will bring the House legislation up for a vote. Democrats say they feel the environment around gun legislation has evolved, especially since that last major push in 2013. Many in the GOP base are still strongly opposed to gun control of any kind.
Clyburn: COVID relief bill will boost Dems in 2022 midterms
โWhat weโre going to do this time is let people know exactly what theyโve got,โ House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn told The Associated Press in a recent interview. In Clyburnโs home state of South Carolina, that means more than $2 billion for state government coffers to be allocated by state legislators. โThatโs where we made the big mistake withโ both 2010 relief packages, Clyburn said. Under the plan, Badger will receive a $4,200 direct payment and a $6,600 child tax credit, as well as an increase in food assistance vouchers. AdโItโs going to help take care of some bills,โ Badger said.
Biden says 'we have to act' after Colorado mass shooting
WASHINGTON โ Democrats say they are pushing toward a vote on expanded gun control measures as the nation reels from its second mass shooting in a week. They are not even united themselves, as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told reporters Tuesday that he opposes the House legislation on background checks. It is unclear whether any of the bills up for consideration โ most of them involving more restrictive background checks โ would have made a difference in that case. Republicans have argued that background checks would not stop most mass shootings and would prevent some lawful gun owners from purchasing firearms. A second bill would extend a review period for background checks from three to 10 days.
Breyer mum as some liberals urge him to quit Supreme Court
FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2018, file photo, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer sits with fellow Supreme Court justices for a group portrait at the Supreme Court Building in Washington. Scott Applewhite, File)WASHINGTON โ Forgive progressives who aren't looking forward to the sequel of their personal โNightmare on First Street," a Supreme Court succession story. Other liberal voices have said Breyer should retire when the court finishes its work for the term, usually by early summer. Among the names being circulated are California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and U.S. District Court Judge Michelle Childs. Breyer's departure wouldn't do anything to change the conservatives' 6-3 edge on the Supreme Court.
Advocates seek Biden push on gun bills, but prospects iffy
The House recently passed legislation that would require background checks for gun purchases, a signature Democratic issue for decades. AdIn the early months of Biden's presidency, even popular proposals like background checks are lower on his list of priorities and their prospects in the Senate cloudy. The two bills that passed the House last week would expand background checks on gun purchases, the first significant movement on gun control since Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. That leaves gun-control advocates hoping that the politics of gun control have shifted enough that more Republicans may be open to legislation that advocates argue is widely popular with the American public. Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a moderate, have worked together for years to find compromise on background checks.