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Federal aviation bill passed by U.S. House, with boost for smaller airports
The U.S. House overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday that would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration for five years, including a big increase in subsidies for airlines providing flights to smaller markets. The chamber voted 351-67 to approve the bill, which would authorize $104 billion for the agency through 2028, increase authorized spending levels for rural […]
Trump says he has been told he is a target of the special counsel’s Jan. 6 investigation
Donald Trump has received a target letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith, he said Tuesday, indicating another indictment of the former president is likely over his role in encouraging the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump posted to his social media site, Truth Social, on Tuesday, announcing that he’d received the target […]
Leader of U.S. House progressives apologizes for Israel comments
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat and the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, apologized Sunday for saying at a progressive activist conference a day prior that Israel is “a racist state.” Jayapal’s impromptu response to pro-Palestine protestors at the Netroots Nation conference in Chicago sparked backlash from members of both parties on Capitol […]
Defense bill that targets abortion access, trans health, racial equity passes U.S. House
The U.S. House approved Friday an annual defense authorization bill loaded with GOP rollbacks of Pentagon policies on abortion and transgender health care, as well as efforts to boost racial equity. Republican amendments targeting social policy issues turned a typically bipartisan measure preserving the nation’s military security into another front for the culture wars, similar […]
U.S. Department of Agriculture to spend $300M to boost climate data in farming, forestry
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will spend $300 million to better measure the effectiveness of techniques to lower carbon emissions in farming and forestry, the department said Wednesday. The funding comes from a $20 billion allocation for climate-smart agriculture in the climate and social policy law Democrats in Congress passed along party lines and President […]
U.S. House Dems want data on impact of Supreme Court ruling on wetlands protection
Top Democrats on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee asked federal agencies Monday to track possible negative effects from a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited federal authority to regulate clean water. Washington’s Rick Larsen, the ranking Democrat on the committee, and Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee ranking member Grace Napolitano of California, […]
Roads, bridges, trails, ports: White House awards $2.2B in transportation grants
The U.S. Department of Transportation will send more than $2.2 billion in grants to state, tribal and local governments under a grant program that was expanded under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. The $2.26 billion for 162 projects provides funds for each of the 50 states, two territories and the District of Columbia. It is […]
Federal public lands rule would be yanked under bill passed by U.S. House panel
The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on a party-line 20-16 vote Wednesday approved a bill to force the Bureau of Land Management to drop its proposed rule that would allow the agency to lease parcels of land for conservation. The committee vote allows the bill, written by Utah Republican John Curtis, to get a vote […]
U.S. judge sets mid-August date for Trump trial in classified documents case
Former President Donald Trump is set to face a jury trial on federal charges of mishandling classified information, after the Miami judge overseeing the case signed an order Tuesday scheduling the trial to begin Aug. 14. U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, whom Trump appointed to her seat on the federal bench in the Southern […]
Republicans from Western states denounce public lands plan in heated U.S. House hearing
U.S. House Republicans and GOP Govs. Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Mark Gordon of Wyoming teamed up Thursday to rail against the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed rule to allow conservation leases on federal lands. Noem and Gordon joined the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee for about half of a 4 1/2 hour hearing […]
Trump pleads not guilty in federal documents case, heads back out on campaign trail
Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in federal court in Miami on Tuesday to 37 felony counts of taking highly classified national security documents from his time in office and obstructing efforts to recover the documents, according to media reports from inside the courtroom. Trump, the first former president charged with a federal crime, […]
Questions and answers about Trump’s indictment on federal criminal charges
A federal judge in Florida unsealed an indictment that accuses former President Donald Trump of hiding classified national security documents after he left the White House, improperly storing them and sharing sensitive information with people who lacked security clearance. Though he’s not the only former federal official to improperly take classified documents with him after […]