Tom Ramstack

WASHINGTON -- The Defense Department is consulting with health officials and the Joint Chiefs of Staff about the possibility of making COVID-19 vaccinations a requirement of military service. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Thursday he is trying to "determine how and when to... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Congress took a stab Thursday at improving the nation’s cybersecurity as the federal government mobilizes more resources against ransomware and hackers. Both President Joe Biden and members of a House Homeland Security subcommittee described threats to U.S. computer systems as a potentially devastating economic... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Federal law enforcement personnel tried to convince sometimes skeptical members of Congress Wednesday they are making adequate efforts to control transnational crime along the U.S. southern border. However, they also acknowledged a “crisis” as illegal immigrants and drug gangs overwhelm resources intended to keep... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. dollar risks losing its preeminence in international transactions unless the Federal Reserve moves promptly to sponsor a digital currency, economists told Congress Tuesday. Once again, the main competitive threat to U.S. currency comes from China, according to witnesses at a House Financial... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Cuban Americans made a plea for the United States to help the people of their home country Monday during a protest in Washington, D.C.  From a rally at the White House and during a march to the nearby Cuban Embassy, more than a thousand... Read More

Electric utility company FirstEnergy Corp. agreed to settle a Justice Department complaint Thursday by paying $230 million to avoid a federal wire fraud conspiracy charge. Company officials admitted they conspired with former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to pay millions of dollars to his political nonprofit... Read More

A coalition of state attorneys general reached a $26 billion settlement with opioid maker Johnson & Johnson and three of its distributors this week. They blame the companies for a half-million deaths in the United States from overdoses and addictions to powerful painkillers. "Our country's opioid... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Tracy Harden, owner of Chuck’s Dairy Bar in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, told a Senate panel Thursday about how a 2019 flood along the Mississippi River Delta devastated her community. High waters inundated 548,000 acres, nearly half of it cropland. Hundreds of residents in the... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The million acres of forest that burned in western states in the past week were a lesser concern for a congressional panel that discussed the hazards of high heat caused by climate change Wednesday. “It’s becoming a routine part of life on the West... Read More