Political News

BRUSSELS (AP) — Weary but relieved, European Union leaders finally clinched an unprecedented 1.82 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) budget and coronavirus recovery fund early Tuesday, somehow finding unity after four days and as many nights of fighting and wrangling over... Read More

N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and members of the state's COVID-19 task force traveled to Savannah, Ga., Monday to help officials there cope with a surge in coronavirus cases. While in Savannah, Cuomo will host a roundtable meeting with the New... Read More

Georgia Democrats have selected state Sen. Nikema Williams, chair of the state party, to replace Rep. John Lewis on the ballot in November. The executive committee of the Democratic Party of Georgia voted overwhelmingly on Monday for Williams to take... Read More

WASHINGTON - Members of the largest ideological caucus in the House threw down the gauntlet on a new coronavirus relief package Monday, calling on their colleagues on Capitol Hill to strike a deal extending existing benefits now while ensuring continued... Read More

A federal appeals court placed part of the federal funding for sanctuary cities in jeopardy with a ruling last week that endorses a policy of punishing cities and states that refuse to cooperate in deporting illegal immigrants. The ruling advances... Read More

Donald Trump said he plans to approve a health care plan, an immigration plan and “various other plans” in coming weeks as polls show the president trailing Democrat Joe Biden. “Nobody will have done what I’m doing in the next... Read More

ATLANTA (AP) — John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, has... Read More

WASHINGTON - More than 100 U.S. companies, including Microsoft, Estee Lauder and Target have committed to engage in nonpartisan efforts to bolster participation by their employees and customers in the 2020 elections. The initiative, called the Civic Alliance, was founded... Read More

WASHINGTON — With coronavirus cases in Florida surging, the Republican National Committee announced Thursday morning that it would limit attendance at the Jacksonville convention in August. The RNC raised expectations last month that President Donald Trump would accept the GOP... Read More

WASHINGTON – Members of the Blue Dog Coalition issued a letter urging congressional leaders to include measures to further protect taxpayer dollars in the next round of pandemic response funding.  The coalition, founded on fiscal responsibility and centrist-ideals, highlighted the... Read More

Results of a recent Gallup poll show 34% of Americans believe that there should be more immigration, rather than less, the highest in the poll’s 55-year history. Support for immigration is up from the 27% found in the same poll... Read More

WASHINGTON - Small business representatives made a plea to Congress Thursday for assistance in getting Americans back to work after millions of workers lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. They said that without financial assistance and retraining of the... Read More

RICHMOND, Va. – Due to the lack of federal workplace guidelines in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Wednesday emergency occupational safety standards to be implemented statewide. The rules, instituted via an executive order, mandate... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Republican National Committee is reducing the size of its planned presidential nominating convention in Jacksonville, Fla., in August in the face of a continued surge in the number of coronavirus cases in the state. The GOP’s plans... Read More

WASHINGTON - Whether due to office closures, fear of seeking medical assistance during the pandemic, or simply for convenience, the nation has seen a rise in telemedicine over the last four months. While telemedicine isn’t new, barriers to adoption, such... Read More

WASHINGTON - Democrats and Republicans agreed Wednesday during a congressional hearing that the U.S. government needs a more proactive strategy for protecting against cyberattacks but disagreed how to accomplish it. Democrats want a new agency to address cyberthreats while Republicans... Read More

WASHINGTON - A week before Congress turns its attention to the next coronavirus relief bill, advocates for the nation's restaurants are urging lawmakers to include a number of provisions to specifically bolster the struggling industry. “In just the past two... Read More

President Donald Trump announced he is loosening the National Environmental Policy Act in a bid to speed up permitting of federal infrastructure projects ranging from highway upgrades to the construction of oil and natural gas pipelines. The president announced the... Read More

WASHINGTON - Reps. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., and Bill Posey, R-Fla., have introduced legislation that would create Centers of Excellence on Harmful Algal Bloom research, prevention, response, and mitigation to aid in the fight against harmful outbreaks of red tide and... Read More

The city of Berkeley in Northern California will become the first U.S. city to remove police from traffic stops in an effort to reduce racial profiling and avoid deadly run-ins between law enforcement and Black drivers. On Wednesday morning, the... Read More

Challenges faced by residents of rural and underserved communities regarding barriers to health care were analyzed in a report released by the House Ways and Means Committee. The report, entitled “Left Out: Barriers to Health Equity for Rural and Underserved... Read More

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia agreed to work collaboratively on hastening the switch to all-electric fleet vehicles in an effort to suppress toxic air pollution Tuesday. Their goal, according to a joint memorandum signed by the states’ governors,... Read More

WASHINGTON - U.S. experts on European financial and political policy added their voices to an international call for greater cooperation to combat the COVID-19 pandemic during a congressional hearing Tuesday. They described the struggle to find a vaccine and to... Read More

WASHINGTON - The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved the fiscal year 2021 defense spending bill on a vote of 30 to 22.  The legislation funds the Department of Defense, including operations and maintenance, readiness activities, research and development, equipment... Read More

PHILADELPHIA — There was a time when the election was supposed to be the big story of 2020. With all that attention and energy, voter registration numbers would go through the roof. Parties, campaigns and advocacy groups planned to knock... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer or leave the country if their schools held classes entirely online because of the pandemic. The decision was announced at the start of... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., is leading a bipartisan coalition that wants to add a comprehensive solution to PFAS contamination to the Fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment -- originally proposed by Dingell and passed with bipartisan... Read More

WASHINGTON - A summer series partnership between the District of Columbia’s Heurich House Museum and the Bipartisan Policy Center is exploring the immigrant experience in America.  Last week’s discussion, the second in the series, focused specifically on immigrants’ arrivals and... Read More

WASHINGTON - The recent passage of the first significant expansion of the Affordable Care Act provided House Democrats with a high profile opportunity to draw distinctions between how they and their Republican colleagues differ on the health care law. It... Read More

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday unveiled an unusual plan to encourage Chicagoans to participate in the U.S. government’s once-a-decade push to count every U.S. resident: a cowboy on a horse.  The mayor was speaking at a press conference when... Read More