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As opioids overdose deaths keep rising, report urges lawmakers to develop new approaches
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers should view America’s staggering opioid crisis, including the rise of illicit fentanyl, through an “ecosystems” approach, argues a massive RAND Corporation report published Thursday. That means they should examine the gaps and interconnections among emergency response, data collection, education, treatment, housing and law enforcement, the report advises. The 600-page volume — which […]
Biden in State of the Union address draws boos and shouts from a combative GOP
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden began his State of the Union address Tuesday — his first to a divided Congress — with an appeal to bipartisan priorities, but later criticized parts of the GOP agenda and got a sense of Republicans’ appetite for conflict during one combative stretch. Biden opened the 72-minute speech with an […]
U.S. House Oversight chair’s agenda: Hunter Biden, COVID origins, classified documents
WASHINGTON — House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer on Monday previewed his priorities for this Congress, which he says will include a heavy focus on the handling of classified documents, the origins of the COVID-19 virus, and what he described as possible “influence peddling” by Hunter Biden. The Kentucky Republican addressed reporters and […]
White House says DOJ had ‘unprecedented access’ to Biden home during search
WASHINGTON — Department of Justice officials had “unprecedented access” to every room in President Joe Biden’s Delaware home Friday during a search that followed several days of disclosures that classified material from the Obama era had been found in Biden’s garage and think tank office, White House officials said Monday. The historic 13-hour search of […]
U.S. House Republicans roll out a slew of new committee chairs to steer agenda
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans filled their top committee seats this week, choosing the leaders who will set the course for bills and issues for the new majority in the 118th Congress. Veteran GOP lawmakers from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri were among those who won the right to head up […]
U.S. House GOP backs rules plan without disclosing deals made with hard-right members
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House adopted rules for the 118th Congress on Monday, though several of the concessions Speaker Kevin McCarthy made with more conservative members of the Republican Party to secure the gavel weren’t included in the document, or publicly circulated ahead of the vote. The 55-page rules package the House voted nearly party-line […]
U.S. House GOP backs McCarthy as speaker after tense and chaotic late-night session
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House elected Kevin McCarthy speaker early Saturday after most of the chamber’s Republicans finally gathered behind him, ending a four-day stalemate that led to the most rounds of voting for a speaker since before the Civil War. The California Republican was able to clinch the gavel on the 15th ballot by […]
U.S. House stuck for a third day as Republicans struggle to unite around a speaker
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House adjourned Thursday again without a speaker, racking up five more ballots throughout the day before members left the floor shortly after 8 p.m. Eastern, with some decamping to closed-door negotiations and others leaving the Capitol. “I am not a part of any negotiations,” Colorado’s Lauren Boebert, a leading opponent of […]
U.S. House paralyzed following second day of GOP failure to elect a speaker
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans’ stalemate over who should lead the chamber for the next two years dragged on Wednesday, with Kevin McCarthy failing to get the votes needed to become speaker on three more ballots. The 216-214 vote to adjourn until noon on Thursday came after the House adjourned from around 4:30 p.m. to […]
Conservatives in U.S. House tank McCarthy bid to be speaker on multiple ballots
WASHINGTON — Republican control of the U.S. House got off to a rocky start Tuesday when the party was unable to decide who should become speaker amid a sharp disagreement within the party’s more conservative faction. California Rep. Kevin McCarthy didn’t clinch the backing of the 218 lawmakers he needed to become the head of […]
U.S. House Jan. 6 panel report finds Trump incited insurrection, demands accountability
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Jan. 6 committee late Thursday published its findings in a nearly 850-page report that accused former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection and recommended Congress consider how to determine whether those found to be insurrectionists should be barred from holding office ever again. The report caps 18 months of […]
Zelenskyy pledges a fight for ‘common victory’ against Russian tyranny in visit to U.S.
WASHINGTON — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy evoked images of the “great American soldiers” of World War II as he appealed to Congress Wednesday night to continue U.S. assistance in defending Ukraine from deadly Russian shelling and targeting of civilian infrastructure. The historic and surprise visit to the United States by the wartime Ukrainian leader marked his […]