Author
Top health officials warn of coronavirus: ‘It’s going to get worse’
WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials painted a dire picture of the novel coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday, warning members of Congress that the public health crisis is far from over. “Is the worst yet to come?” House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious […]
Congress rebukes Trump’s bid to slash CDC funding amid outbreak
WASHINGTON — U.S. House lawmakers resoundingly rebuffed a Trump administration request to cut funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention amid the coronavirus crisis. The CDC director testified Tuesday before the House Appropriations Committee, where Republicans and Democrats alike said Congress won’t comply with the budget cuts requested in Trump’s fiscal year 2021 […]
Liberal Supreme Court justices challenge abortion restrictions in high-stakes case
WASHINGTON — The liberal wing of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared highly skeptical of a Louisiana law that restricts abortion access as the justices heard oral arguments Wednesday in a high-stakes case that could open the door for additional abortion limitations around the country. But the court’s conservative majority — which is likely to determine […]
Ken Cuccinelli, who slammed Obama on executive appointments, on losing end of a similar case
WASHINGTON — When President Barack Obama was in the White House, Ken Cuccinelli accused the executive branch of appointing key officials by circumventing the U.S. Senate. It was 2013 and Cuccinelli, then Virginia’s Republican attorney general, joined other states in submitting a “friend of the court” brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that criticized Obama, […]
Trump EPA chief to Congress: Cut my funding
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s U.S. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler wants Congress to deeply cut funding for his own agency in the next fiscal year. The Trump administration this month asked Congress to slash the EPA’s annual budget by about $2.4 billion for fiscal 2021— that’s a 26% cut from the funding the agency received […]
U.S. House votes on landmark bill to make lynching a federal hate crime
WASHINGTON — Lynching is not considered a hate crime under federal law, but that’s expected to change soon. The U.S. House voted 410-4 on Wednesday to approve a bill called the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. The bill would specifically list lynching as a hate crime, which is identified as a crime that targets people based on their race […]
Disparity in deaths of black mothers gets renewed attention on Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON — Erica McAfee nearly died while giving birth. She had already lost two babies — a son and a daughter — and had experienced complications during her most recent pregnancy. “And then I almost lost my life giving birth to my son,” she told the Mercury in a recent interview. “I had a full […]
U.S. House votes to remove one ERA obstacle
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted on Thursday to remove one barrier to adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but plenty of legal and political obstacles remain. The House voted 232-183 on Thursday — largely along partisan lines — to approve a resolution that would remove an expired congressional deadline for the […]
Trump acquitted, with just one GOP senator joining with Democrats on removal
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has survived impeachment, but he didn’t emerge unscathed. The U.S. Senate on Wednesday acquitted Trump on charges that he abused his power by pressuring a foreign government to interfere in a U.S. presidential election and then obstructed a congressional investigation into his actions. The vote was almost entirely partisan, but […]
Trump made his pitch for four more years. Pelosi ripped up the speech.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump delivered his third — and possibly final — State of the Union address Tuesday night on the floor of the U.S. House, where he was impeached in December. And the partisan animosity that has gripped Washington throughout the impeachment proceedings was on stark display throughout the annual speech by the […]
Dems’ final pitch for ousting Trump: ‘He will do it again’
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats on Monday made their closing arguments for removing President Donald Trump from office, insisting that leaving him in the White House guarantees he’ll cheat in the 2020 presidential election. “He has done it before. He will do it again. What are the odds if left in office, that he will […]
U.S. House votes to limit Trump’s war authority (again). Here’s how Virginia’s representatives voted.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted Thursday to repeal the 2002 authorization for the use of military force that allowed the George W. Bush administration to wage war against Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq. Most House Democrats joined 11 Republicans and one independent to approve a resolution to approve the repeal amid concerns about escalating […]