Lawsuit seeks records of toxic exposures at Uzbek air base
Veteransโ advocacy groups have sued the U.S. Department of Defense seeking records of toxic conditions at an air base in Uzbekistan blamed for causing cancer and other illnesses among American troops who served there in support of the war in Afghanistan.
Senators ask MLB why antitrust exemption needed in minors
Leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee have asked baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to explain the impact of potential legislation stripping the sportโs antitrust exemption from covering the sportโs relationship with minor league players.
Energy secretary: US offshore wind jobs should be union jobs
The U.S. energy secretary and Danish wind developer Orsted say they want American union workers to build offshore wind farms to dot the U.S. coastlines โ the building trades workers who could otherwise be left out of a transition to renewable resources.
New step to curb tech giants' power advanced by Senate panel
Congress has taken a new step toward reining in the market dominance of Big Tech. Bipartisan legislation advanced by a Senate panel would bar the dominant online platforms from favoring their own goods and services over those of rivals on the platforms.
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Senators to Biden: Waive vaccine intellectual property rules
Ten liberal senators are urging President Joe Biden to back India and South Africaโs appeal to the World Trade Organization to temporarily relax intellectual property rules so coronavirus vaccines can be manufactured by nations that are struggling to inoculate their populations.
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AP survey: ADs fear sharing revenue with college athletes
NCAA basketball administrators apologized to the womens basketball players and coaches after inequities between the mens and womens tournament went viral on social media. โHow does that even work?โ Boston College athletic director Patrick Kraft said. Permitting college athletes to earn money off their name, image and likeness once seemed like a radical idea, but that will soon be a reality. The NCAA is already looking for help from federal lawmakers to set national standards for NIL compensation for college athletes. ___More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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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.
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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.
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Biden eyes $3T package for infrastructure, schools, families
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON โ Fresh off passage of the COVID-19 relief bill, President Joe Biden is assembling the next big White House priority, a sweeping $3 trillion package of investments on infrastructure and domestic needs. Biden's outreach to Senate Democrats comes as the White House is under fire for its handling of the U.S.-Mexico border. An infrastructure package would include roughly $1 trillion for roads, bridges, rail lines, electrical vehicle charging stations and the cellular network, among other items. With the House and Senate under Democratic control, the proposals are expected to draw support from all corners of Congress. A White House official said the president has been very clear about his agenda, even though the details are only just starting to surface.
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Biden eyes $3T package for infrastructure, schools, families
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON โ Fresh off passage of the COVID-19 relief bill, President Joe Biden is assembling the next big White House priority, a sweeping $3 trillion package of investments on infrastructure and domestic needs. Biden's outreach to Senate Democrats comes as the White House is under fire for its handling of the U.S.-Mexico border. An infrastructure package would include roughly $1 trillion for roads, bridges, rail lines, electrical vehicle charging stations and the cellular network, among other items. With the House and Senate under Democratic control, the proposals are expected to draw support from all corners of Congress. A White House official said the president has been very clear about his agenda, even though the details are only just starting to surface.
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Minorities underrepresented in service academy nominations
Minority students are significantly underrepresented when it comes to getting nominations from members of Congress to attend the nation's military service academies, according to an analysis released Wednesday, March 17, 2021. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)Minority students are significantly underrepresented when it comes to getting nominations from members of Congress to attend the nation's military service academies, according to an analysis released Wednesday. The study by the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School included nearly 25 years of admissions nomination data from the Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy involving members of the current Congress. Members of Congress have awarded 6% of their total nominations to Black students and 8% to Hispanic students, according to the report. To be considered for admission, all service academy applicants must receive a nomination from a member of Congress, the president, the vice president, a secretary of a military service, or an academy superintendent.
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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.
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House passes bill to expand background checks for gun sales
The House passed two bills Thursday to require background checks on all firearms sales and transfers and to allow an expanded 10-day review for gun purchases. While enhanced background checks are generally popular with the American public, even with some conservatives, Congress has so far not been able to find compromise on the issue. โThese solutions will save lives.โPresident Joe Biden has called for Congress to strengthen gun laws, including requiring the background checks on all gun sales and banning assault weapons. AdThe second bill, which passed 219-210, would extend the review period for background checks from three to 10 days. While the House bills have Republican cosponsors and won a handful of GOP votes, most Republicans voted against them.
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Biden urges Senate Dems to rally behind $1.9T virus bill
โHe said we need to pass this bill and pass it soon. The Senate bill was expected to largely mirror the House-approved package, with the most glaring divergence the Senate's dropping of language boosting the federal minimum wage to $15 hourly. Schumer said Senate debate would commence as soon as Wednesday and predicted, โWe'll have the votes we need to pass the bill." Progressives, though, were still smarting over the virtual certainty that the Senate bill will lack the minimum wage boost, up from $7.25 hourly locked in since 2009. The funding was removed after some Republican lawmakers had criticized it as an example of a wasteful spending item that should not be part of the COVID relief bill.
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Federal watchdog blasts FAA over certification of Boeing jet
The inspector general issued 14 recommendations to โrestore confidence in FAAโs certification process and ensure the highest level of safetyโ in future passenger planes. While FAA test pilots knew about changes to the flight system, called MCAS, some key FAA personnel, including engineers, did not. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the report indicated concealment by Boeing and negligence by the FAA. AdThe same inspector generalโs office reported last year that Boeing failed to disclose to the FAA changes it made to MCAS. In January, Boeing agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department to avoid prosecution for defrauding the FAA.
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Trump acquitted, denounced in historic impeachment trial
U.S. President Donald Trump walks to the White House residence after exiting Marine One upon his return on January 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. Coming amid the searing COVID-19 crisis, the Biden White House is trying to rush pandemic relief through Congress. Most of them ultimately voted to acquit, doubting whether Trump was fully responsible or if impeachment is the appropriate response. Within a week Biden was inaugurated, Trump was gone and Pelosi sent the article of impeachment to the Senate days later, launching the proceedings. At the same time, this yearโs trial carried similar warnings from the prosecutors that Trump must be held accountable because he has shown repeatedly he has no bounds.
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Trump impeachment trial confronts memories of Capitol siege
(Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool photo via AP)WASHINGTON โ The impeachment trial of Donald Trump is more than an effort to convict the former president of inciting an insurrection. It's a chance for a public accounting and remembrance of the worst attack on the U.S. Capitol in 200 years. Trump is long gone, ensconced at his Mar-a-Lago club, and Democrat Joe Biden is the new president in the White House. "A public trial serves a vital purpose," he said. Pelosi led Democrats in impeaching Trump, the only president twice impeached, and the first in history to face trial after leaving office.
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Trump rejects Dems' request to testify at impeachment trial
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)WASHINGTON โ House Democrats asked Donald Trump to testify under oath for his Senate impeachment trial, challenging him to respond to their charge that he incited a violent mob to storm the Capitol. Hours after the Democrats' Thursday request was revealed, Trump adviser Jason Miller dismissed the trial as โan unconstitutional proceedingโ and said the former president would not testify. Separately, Trumpโs lawyers denounced the request as a โpublic relations stunt.โAdThe impeachment trial starts Feb. 9. He asked that Trump provide testimony about his conduct โeither before or during the Senate impeachment trial,โ and under cross-examination, as early as Monday, Feb. 8, and not later than Thursday, Feb. 11. The Senate could vote to subpoena Trump, or any other witnesses, on a simple majority vote during the trial.
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Latest bill would bar NCAA limits on athlete NIL rights
The College Athlete Economic Freedom Act is the third piece of legislation related to name, image and likeness compensation for college athletes introduced in Congress since December and second sponsored by Democrats. Iowa became the latest state to get in the game, with lawmakers introducing a bill Wednesday they hope will go into effect July 1. The bill would give college athletes unfettered access to the free market, allow them to organize and make group licensing deals, and hand oversight to the Federal Trade Commission. ), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, put forth an NIL bill that is narrowly focused like Murphy's, but with numerous restrictions that critics consider too NCAA-friendly. Wicker's bill would provide antitrust protections to the NCAA, shielding the association from legal challenges to its NIL rules, and allow the association to limit the types of financial agreements for athletes.
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Russian hack brings changes, uncertainty to US court system
The new rules for filing sensitive documents are one of the clearest ways the hack has affected the court system. AdThe Administrative Office of U.S. Courts confirmed the court system breach on Jan. 6, joining a victims' list that includes the State Department, the National Institutes of Health, tech companies and an unknown number of Fortune 500 companies. Targets could include not just court staff, but also โsoft targetsโ such as law firms that upload files to the case management system, known as CM/ECF. Criminal, civil and bankruptcy filings are believed to have been compromised, but not the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court system, which handles national security surveillance warrants, according to the court employees. Senators are pressing court officials and the Justice Department for a clear assessment of the damage to the legal system.
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Democrats ask ethics panel to investigate Sens. Cruz, Hawley
Thousands had gathered that day as Congress voted to formally certify President Joe Bidenโs victory over Trump in November. Hawley and Cruz led objections in the Senate to Bidenโs victory, despite the widespread recognition that the effort would fail. And both senators used their objections for political fundraising,โ the Democratic senators said in their letter. Cruz helped force a vote on Biden's victory in Arizona, while Hawley helped force one on Biden's victory in Pennsylvania. โThis latest effort is a flagrant abuse of the Senate ethics process and a flagrant attempt to exact partisan revenge."
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EXPLAINER: Can Trump be impeached after leaving office?
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)WASHINGTON โ President Donald Trump might argue the calendar is his friend when it comes to a second impeachment trial. In 2019, the last time Trump found himself impeached by the House, he had nearly a year left in his presidency. But on Wednesday, with the inauguration of Joe Biden, Trump will be out of office by the time any Senate trial gets started. On Tuesday, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said she doesnโt think a post-presidency impeachment trial is constitutional. The consequence the Constitution sets up for a president who is impeached and convicted is removal from office.
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With Trump silent, reprisals for hacks may fall to Biden
But President Donald Trump, long wary of blaming Moscow for cyberattacks has so far been silent. But President Donald Trump, long wary of blaming Moscow for cyberattacks, has been silent. Speaking to reporters Friday, Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow did not commit to blaming the Kremlin, saying, โPeople are saying Russia. The Trump administration and Western allies similarly expelled diplomats over Moscow's alleged poisoning of an ex-intelligence officer in Britain. Exposing Kremlin corruption, including how Russian President Vladimir Putin accrues and hides his wealth, may amount to even more formidable retaliation.
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Booker, Democratic lawmakers introducing NCAA reform bill
The College Athletes Bill of Rights is sponsored by U.S. The College Athletes Bill of Rights is sponsored by Sens. Booker and Blumenthal's bill, however, goes way beyond NIL rights for athletes and is not nearly as NCAA-friendly. Bohannon said during the pandemic college athletes, who are tested multiple times a week for COVID-19, have become essential workers. โ Establish a nine-member Commission on College Athletics, appointed by the president, that would include at least five former college athletes and individuals with legal expertise.
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Biden makes pitch for retired general to be Pentagon chief
Biden countered the concerns by arguing that Austin knows that a Pentagon chief's duties are different from those of a military officer. But the requirement for a congressional waiver makes getting him installed as Pentagon chief more complicated than usual. Austin retired in 2016 after 41 years in the Army and has never held a political position. Some prominent Democrats opposed the Mattis waiver, and among those who voted for it, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island expressed doubts. Biden has known Austin at least since the general's years leading U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq while Biden was vice president.