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U.S. Senate votes to block student loan relief, White House will veto
By: Ariana Figueroa - June 1, 2023
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to overturn the Biden administration’s one-time student debt relief plan that is on hold due to a pending Supreme Court decision. President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the resolution, but the 52-46 vote forced vulnerable Senate Democrats up for reelection in 2024 to take a public […]
Debt limit deal hits turbulence in Congress as leaders prep for vote
By: Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa - May 30, 2023
WASHINGTON — Congress began moving the bipartisan debt limit package forward Tuesday, though frustrations with provisions in the bill could make for narrow passage in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. Conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats both aired their disappointment with the agreement forged over the weekend, but only GOP lawmakers are looking to possibly […]
Biden, McCarthy say they have brokered a debt limit deal to avert U.S. default
By: Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa - May 27, 2023
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced a deal in principle Saturday night that would stave off a first-ever default on the nation’s debt as long as it can clear both chambers of Congress before June 5. The agreement would address the nation’s debt limit and include a “historic” reduction in spending, McCarthy said, though […]
New bipartisan immigration legislation proposed in U.S. House
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 23, 2023
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of six U.S. House lawmakers on Tuesday described details of proposed legislation that would create a legal pathway for citizenship for undocumented people through work requirements, and would also fund border security measures. The two Latinas who spearheaded the bill, Reps. Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat, and María Elvira Salazar, […]
Sinema says Arizona ‘bears the brunt of the crisis’ as Title 42 immigration policy ends
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 11, 2023
WASHINGTON — In a rare sit-down with reporters, U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said Thursday that border states are not prepared for the end of a pandemic-era measure called Title 42 used to expel millions of migrants at the border. Sinema, an independent, was joined at the press event at the U.S. Capitol by […]
U.S. House GOP wants spending cuts — and also $10B in home-state earmarks
By: Ashley Murray and Ariana Figueroa - May 10, 2023
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans have requested more than $10 billion in earmarks to be included in next year’s appropriations bills, despite demanding massive spending cuts as a contingent for raising the nation’s debt ceiling. All but a handful of House Republicans barely pushed through a bill that would temporarily raise the U.S. borrowing limit, […]
Title 42 nears an end, marking a shift in U.S. immigration policy at the border
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 10, 2023
WASHINGTON — A pandemic-era measure that allowed for the swift expulsion of millions of migrants at the Southwest border is set to end Thursday, and the Biden administration and state officials across the U.S. are bracing for a potential increase in asylum seekers. At the same time, House Republicans this week are pushing through a […]
Biden proposal on transgender student athletes met with praise but also questions
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 1, 2023
WASHINGTON — Transgender legal scholars and advocates say they were relieved to see the Biden administration extend some protections for transgender students’ sports participation at a time when bans are being enacted by multiple states. But they say they remain cautious about the effect on high school and college sports. For two years, the U.S. […]
Biden administration warns U.S. House GOP debt limit bill would slash education
By: Ariana Figueroa - April 25, 2023
WASHINGTON — U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Tuesday said House Republicans’ debt limit proposal would cut vital education programs and harm vulnerable students across the U.S., such as those who are low income or have a disability. “It would be taking us backwards,” Cardona said on a call with reporters. U.S. House Speaker Kevin […]
U.S. House approves bill banning transgender student athletes in girls sports
By: Ariana Figueroa - April 20, 2023
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans voted Thursday to prohibit transgender student athletes from competing on girls sports teams consistent with their gender identity, at the same time multiple GOP-dominated states are making similar moves. The bill, H.R. 734, which would apply to K-12 schools as well as colleges that receive federal funding, passed on a […]
Labor exploitation of unaccompanied migrant children probed at U.S. House hearing
By: Ariana Figueroa - April 18, 2023
WASHINGTON — U.S. House members in a hearing on Tuesday questioned the head of a federal agency in charge of unaccompanied migrant children about multiple reports of their exploitation as workers in U.S. meatpacking plants and elsewhere. Republicans and Democrats on the House Oversight & Accountability Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs […]
U.S. judge rules insurers don’t have to cover many free preventive health services
By: Jennifer Shutt, Ariana Figueroa and Ashley Murray - March 30, 2023
WASHINGTON — Health insurance companies may no longer need to cover a wide swath of preventive health care services that were required by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, under a federal judge’s ruling issued Thursday in Texas. The decision could affect millions of Americans’ access to no-cost preventive health care — including pregnancy-related care, cancer […]