Judge denies Democrats’ request to stop Maricopa County audit
A judge denied a request by Arizona Democrats to halt a Republican-backed 2020 election audit in Maricopa County.
GOP
Biden to call for $4 trillion in new spending during joint address to Congress
President Joe Biden is expected to call for $4 trillion in new federal spending during his joint address to Congress on Wednesday evening.
Senate Republicans unveil $568 billion infrastructure counterproposal
Senate Republicans formally rolled out the framework for their $568 billion counterproposal to President Biden’s $2.5 trillion infrastructure plan on Thursday.
Bipartisan bill calls for Biden to declassify intel on COVID-19 origins in China
A newly introduced bipartisan bill aimed at confronting the growing economic challenge and national security threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party calls for the Biden administration to declassify a host of intelligence related to the origins of COVID-19, including any evidence related to a Chinese cover-up or tied to a Wuhan lab.
White House budget spikes climate change, other spending; GOP blasts defense proposal
President Joe Biden released top-level numbers for his proposed 2022 budget Friday. The $1.5 trillion plan includes major spending increases for domestic projects while keeping defense spending essentially steady with inflation.
Nevada GOP censures Republican secretary of state
The Nevada GOP is censuring a member of its own party for allegedly “put[ting] the reliability of our elections in Nevada in question.”
Arkansas GOP Gov. Hutchinson vetoes anti transgender health care bill
Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoed a bill Monday that would have made the state the first in the nation to restrict gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
Biden’s new $2 trillion spending plan is Green New Deal in ‘disguise,’ GOP lawmakers say
President Biden rolled out a $2 trillion “American Jobs Plan” focused on infrastructure and climate change, and Republicans immediately decried it as the Green New Deal warmed over. Even an iconic liberal magazine agreed it had a lot of similarities to progressives’ signature but controversial climate blueprint.
Biden: ‘I have no idea whether there’ll be a Republican Party’ in 2024
President Joe Biden said in his first press conference since he took office that he plans to run for reelection in 2024, but added that he’s not sure there will even be a Republican Party by then.
House GOP Allows Spending Earmarks, in Boost for Biden Plan
House Republicans voted to allow their members to request dedicated-spending projects, known as earmarks, following that same move by Democrats, in a positive sign for President Joe Biden’s hopes for a bipartisan infrastructure bill.
House passes bill to revive Equal Rights Amendment
The US House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would revive the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) by repealing the 1982 deadline that states had been given to ratify it, the Washington Examiner reports. The ERA was designed principally to ban federal and state laws that discriminate against women; its central principle is that sex should not determine the legal rights of men or women.
Merrick Garland confirmed as US Attorney General in strong bi-partisan vote
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland as US Attorney General in a 70-30 bi-partisan vote, USA Today reports. Garland, who was denied a Supreme Court confirmation hearing by the GOP-led Senate in 2016, received 20 votes from Republicans approving his appointment as Attorney General.
House passes sweeping labor bill
The US House of Representatives passed a sweeping labor bill Wednesday, in an effort to increase workers’ rights in workplace disputes and help employees to unionize, Axios reports. While the bill passed 225-206 with five Republicans in favor, it still has to get through the Senate where it requires 60 GOP lawmakers to approve it.
‘It is now time to open Texas 100%,’ Gov. Abbott says, reversing pandemic and mask orders
Texas GOP Gov. Gregg Abbott said Tuesday that he will reverse the mask order and many of the other COVID-19 mandates he put in place last year.
House passes $1.9T pandemic bill on near party-line vote
The House approved a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill early Saturday in a win for President Joe Biden, even as top Democrats tried assuring agitated progressives that they’d revive their derailed drive to boost the minimum wage.
Once-secret FBI informant reports reveal wider-ranging operation to spy on Trump campaign
Once-secret reports show the FBI effort to spy on the Trump campaign was far wider than previously disclosed, as agents directed an undercover informant to make secret recordings, pressed for intelligence on numerous GOP figures, and sought to find “anyone in the Trump campaign” with ties to Russia who could acquire dirt “damaging to Hillary Clinton.”
Arkansas Senate approves bill banning nearly all abortions
The Arkansas Senate on Monday approved a measure banning nearly all abortions in the state, despite objections to the ban not including exceptions for rape or incest.
‘They Don’t Deserve to Die’: SC GOP Passes Pro-Life Heartbeat Bill, Democrats Walk Out in Protest
Nearly all of South Carolina’s Democrat lawmakers walked out of the state House chamber in protest Wednesday before a vote on a bill that would ban most abortions in the state once the baby’s heartbeat is detected. Republicans voted to pass the measure and it will head soon to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster for his signature.
House approves budget for Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus package
House Democrats powered a skeleton budget through the House on Wednesday, sidelining Republicans and carving out enough space to approve President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus wish list.
Democratic Congress opens path for $1.9 trillion relief vote without Republicans
Both the House and Senate kicked off their debates over a new budget resolution Tuesday, blazing a path that could lead to them trying to push through a COVID-19 relief package without earning any Republican support.