In The News
After suspending most of its operations in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Census Bureau announced Monday it plans to restart some of its fieldwork in rural areas around the country. Those operations had been delayed through early June,... Read More
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has fixed his sights on getting a payroll tax cut in the next coronavirus stimulus bill, but it’s unclear whether he can get Republicans — much less Democrats — to go along with such a... Read More
BALTIMORE — Twenty-four years after leaving the U.S. House, Baltimore Democrat Kweisi Mfume returns to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to be sworn in as Maryland’s newest congressman, succeeding his friend, the late Elijah Cummings. The swearing-in will occur on the... Read More
WASHINGTON — An internal projection created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the U.S. coronavirus outbreak vastly accelerating by June to more than 200,000 new cases and 2,500 deaths per day — far more than the country... Read More
MIAMI — Last month, police departments in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Connecticut unveiled what was initially touted as a potential new tool against a pandemic: drones capable of taking a person’s temperature from 300 feet in the air. Both agencies... Read More
WASHINGTON – Ron Klain, U.S. Ebola response coordinator from 2014 to 2015, recently spoke to diplomats convened virtually by the Meridian International Center to share his lessons learned about pandemic management from the ongoing Ebola crisis. Klain, informally dubbed... Read More
WASHINGTON – Guidelines announced last week for reopening U.S. federal courts are likely to leave the nation’s biggest cities as late-comers. The guidelines from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts depend heavily on conditions of the epidemic in each... Read More
The threat of the COVID-19 pandemic is concerning to most Americans, but it is particularly critical for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and those with acquired disabilities as seen in people with brain and spinal cord injuries or... Read More
AUSTIN, Texas — Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday said that election officials in Texas who offer mail ballots to people who normally wouldn’t qualify but are afraid of catching the coronavirus could be subjected to criminal punishment. Paxton’s guidance... Read More
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court gave the Trump administration 10 more days to seek U.S. Supreme Court intervention to block House Democrats from gaining access to confidential materials from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. If the high court doesn’t... Read More
LANSING, Mich. — A trailblazing legal dispute over the powers of a Michigan governor to take emergency actions could wind up before the state’s highest court, say legal experts. Multiple lawyers said Friday they believe Gov. Gretchen Whitmer would have... Read More
SEATTLE — In 2017, about three-quarters of the stuff Seattleites dumped in their blue recycling bins — from grocery store ads and crumpled cracker boxes to shampoo bottles and yogurt tubs — was shipped to China. These days, virtually none... Read More
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is about to go where it has never gone before. And the country will get to listen in live. The court will hear its first-ever argument by telephone Monday, opening a two-week remote session... Read More
WASHINGTON — The sight of anti-shutdown protesters crowded together in public, often unmasked, is “devastatingly worrisome,” the White House coronavirus task coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, said Sunday. But Birx, whose boss President Donald Trump has called the protesters “very good... Read More
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said “enormous evidence” shows the novel coronavirus outbreak began in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and that Beijing has refused to give international scientists access to learn what happened. “I can tell... Read More
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is forging ahead with plans to hold the nation's first in-person election in more than a month, despite health concerns about the coronavirus pandemic and allegations that political motivations are fueling opposition to an all-mail... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic is forcing big changes at the tradition-bound Supreme Court. Beginning this coming week, the justices will hear arguments by telephone for the first time since Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention in 1876. Audio of the... Read More
WASHINGTON - Higher education advocacy groups are suing the U.S. Education Department for continuing to garnish the wages of persons who default on student loan payments during the coronavirus epidemic. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced March 25 her department would... Read More
WASHINGTON - House Democrats urged the Trump administration on Friday to resume funding to the Pan American Health Organization, a regional branch of the World Health Organization that operates in Latin America. In a letter to Secretary of State... Read More
WASHINGTON — An overlooked voting bloc is emerging as a potential problem for Democrats: young men of color. Male African American and Latino voters — particularly those under the age of 35 — are showing a surprising openness to President... Read More
Two-thirds of Americans recently polled say the coronavirus outbreak will significantly impact the ability to vote in this fall’s presidential election. The same poll by Pew Research Center also shows people have high support for the right to vote in... Read More
WASHINGTON — Last month, in Austin, Texas, just as the pandemic was starting to wreak havoc, city officials came to clear the encampment where Britton Ellis was living with her friend and a dozen or so other homeless people. City... Read More
WASHINGTON — In mid-March, Jenine Clements’ boss asked her to set aside at least 24 hours out of her work week to call people who’ve tested positive for COVID-19. The goal was to locate people who had been in close... Read More
BEIJING — The novel coronavirus ground the world to a halt, and restive Hong Kong was no exception. Protests dwindled, social distancing took hold, and the city’s tear-gassed streets and incendiary politics seemed to fade from the world’s attention. In... Read More
WASHINGTON - The Library of Congress may be closed due to the coronavirus, but its manuscript division has just added the digitized papers of three presidents to its online collection. The presidencies of each of the men, Andrew Johnson, Chester... Read More
WASHINGTON - The Blue Dog Coalition has endorsed the Inspectors General Independence Act, which establishes seven-year terms for the position and protects those who hold it from politically-motivated firings by only allowing removal for cause. The bill was introduced by... Read More
WASHINGTON - The University of Virginia's Center for Politics made a key change Friday to its rating of the race for the Alaska Senate Seat currently occupied by GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, moving the seat from "Safe" to "Likely" Republican... Read More
WASHINGTON -- GOP lawmakers in Michigan’s state legislature want to take Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer to court over her decision to invoke emergency powers during the coronavirus crisis. The dispute started in March when Whitmer declared a state of emergency... Read More
WASHINGTON - The House Judiciary Committee on Friday asked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to testify after both Republicans and Democrats on the panel expressed concerns his deputies may have lied to Congress. The letter, which is signed by four Democrats... Read More
WASHINGTON - A wealthy homeowners association on exclusive Kiawah Island in South Carolina is returning a $1 million federal loan intended to help small businesses and nonprofits after being taken to task by Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C. Cunningham, who is... Read More
