ActBlue CEO invokes Fifth Amendment to lawmakers
ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones did not answer questions from lawmakers at a House Administration Committee hearing Wednesday, invoking her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Wallace-Jones and the Democratic fundraising platform have been under scrutiny for years, as House Administration Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., and other Republicans have pressed her on allegations of fraudulent donations and […]
Transportation safety technology drawing interest in Congress
As advanced safety technologies reach new stages of development across the transportation sector, Congress has been grappling with how to legislate such innovations, trying to balance industry needs against calls to prevent tragic accidents. A subcommittee hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee took up the issue of transportation safety technology Tuesday as […]
Prior authorization bill now eligible for House fast track
Legislation aimed at reducing delays when Medicare Advantage plans require preapproval for care could hit the House floor under fast-track rules for bills that have broad support. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., targets use of prior authorization in Medicare Advantage — in which insurers approve or deny services before they can be delivered. […]
Unhappy independents will decide this election
I’m always astonished when I hear political consultants cling to the notion that winning majorities in the House and the Senate is only about turning out the base. Neither party — neither MAGA nor the progressive left — have the numbers to make that claim anymore. For the doubters out there, according to the Edison […]
Rush to regulate AI divides Democrats in Congress
Recent proposals to regulate artificial intelligence show Democratic paths diverging between cooperation and compromise on the one hand and sweeping regulations on the other. Growing public angst about the new technology and its impact on jobs, communities and the environment has fueled both ends of the spectrum and, even in the case of the most […]
‘Anti-weaponization’ fund challengers question its demise
Challengers to the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” asked a judge on Tuesday to let them seek evidence the Justice Department truly is abandoning the program. The filing came in response to arguments the Trump administration made in filings last week that the lawsuit is unnecessary because the fund “is now not going forward.” […]
GOP immigration funding bill clears House, heads to Trump
House Republicans cleared a $70 billion reconciliation package Tuesday to fund immigration enforcement agencies for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term. On a party-line vote of 214-212, the House cleared the reconciliation bill that the Senate passed last week. Independent Kevin Kiley of California, who caucuses with the Republicans, voted no. Final passage of […]
Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman lose bids for governor in South Carolina
Spurned by President Donald Trump, Republican Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman both fell short Tuesday in their bids to become South Carolina’s next governor. With no candidate taking a majority of the vote, the GOP primary to succeed term-limited Gov. Henry McMaster is heading for a June 23 runoff between Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, […]
Surveillance reauthorization stuck amid Trump’s Pulte pick
Congress spent another day stalled on the renewal of a key surveillance authority Tuesday, as President Donald Trump declined to help clear a legislative path and instead dug in on his temporary choice in Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. Lawmakers and the White House are sliding closer to the deadline Friday when […]
Heavy security in advance of White House 250th festivities
The National Mall is being transformed for almost daily events in the weeks leading up to the nation’s 250th birthday on July 4, with unprecedented security and a request that those planning to participate in some of the main activities register in advance. Events kick off Friday evening near the Capitol with a watch party […]