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U.S. Justice Department to ask Supreme Court to reject limits on access to abortion pill
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday it will ask the Supreme Court on an emergency basis to keep access to the abortion medication mifepristone exactly as it is now, amid the appeals process in a much-watched case out of Texas. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement the department “strongly disagrees” with […]
How Medicare prescription drug coverage would change under U.S. Senate Democrats’ bill
WASHINGTON — A major spending bill from U.S. Senate Democrats would allow Medicare for the first time in its history to begin negotiating the prices of certain high-priced prescription drugs — a proposal that’s been around for years but has never come so close to the finish line. Under the legislation, Medicare would start negotiating […]
How Congress will attempt the biggest expansion of U.S. social programs since FDR
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate this week passed a massive bipartisan infrastructure bill and an even larger budget blueprint that would pave the way for historic changes in U.S. health, education, climate and tax policies. The two measures are roped to each other, reflecting Democrats’ strategy to pass what could be bipartisan with Republicans—and to […]
Cindy McCain picked by Biden as UN food ambassador
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday tapped Arizona’s Cindy McCain, the widow of former U.S. Sen. John McCain, as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, with the rank of ambassador. Earlier this year, Arizona Republicans voted to censure Cindy McCain and two other members of the state’s GOP, […]
Biden to meet with Western governors about wildfires, vows to raise firefighter pay
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he will host a meeting next week of Western governors, Cabinet members and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials “to prepare for heat, drought and wildfires in the West.”
Biden signs law making Juneteenth a new federal holiday
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law legislation declaring a legal public holiday annually on June 19, the date of the end of slavery in the U.S. known as Juneteenth.
U.S. House OKs commission to probe Jan. 6 Capitol attack, but McConnell objections may doom it
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted Wednesday 252-175 to give the go-ahead to the formation of an independent, bipartisan commission that would investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, despite objections from Republican leaders that the scope of the commission was not wide enough and other investigations are ongoing.
Senate confirms Haaland as first-ever Native American to serve in the Cabinet
U.S. Rep. Debra Haaland made history on Monday when she became the first Native American to ever be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to hold a position in a president’s Cabinet.
Here’s what Biden plans to do on his first day as president
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden early Wednesday unveiled the list of executive orders, memos and directives he will make when he assumes the presidency later in the day, reversing a slew of Trump administration actions and laying out new policies of his own.
Our home was attacked Wednesday. It may never be the same.
WASHINGTON — Many of us in our working lives have places away from the office that feel like a second home. It could be a back room at a business, a warehouse, a barn, even the front seat of a car.
Trump to spend several days at Walter Reed after COVID symptoms worsen
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was to be taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in suburban Maryland late Friday afternoon, where White House officials said he is expected to stay for “the next few days” for treatment of COVID-19.
Trump tests positive for COVID-19, Arizona rallies next week unlikely
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump tweeted early Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19, almost certainly cancelling planned rallies in Tucson and Flagstaff next week and throwing the presidential campaign into a new uproar.