States, immigrant supporters demand family reunifications Source: AP

Seventeen states, including New York and California, sued the Trump administration Tuesday to force it to reunite the thousands of immigrant children and parents it separated at the border, as the legal and political pressure mounted to reconnect families more quickly. "The administration's practice of separating families is cruel, plain and simple," New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement.

APNewsBreak: Verizon to end some sale of phone-location data

Verizon is pledging to stop selling data through intermediaries that pinpoints the location of mobile phones to outside companies, the Associated Press has learned. It is the first major U.S. wireless carrier to step back from a business practice that has drawn criticism for endangering privacy.

The Latest: Wyden: Immigration policy ‘makes zero sense’

The Latest on a visit by Democratic members of Oregon's congressional delegation to a federal prison where immigrants from Latin America are being held : Democratic members of Oregon's congressional delegation visited a federal prison where immigrants from Latin America have been transferred and blasted the Trump administration for separating parents from children. Sen. Ron Wyden said Saturday afternoon that "what we saw over the last hour demonstrates that the Trump 'zero tolerance' policy makes zero sense and shows zero understanding of American values" Around 120 immigrants from Mexico and Central America are reportedly being held at the prison, located 20 miles northwest of Salem, the state capital.

Merkley, Wyden to visit Oregon prison housing immigrants

Democratic members of Oregon's congressional delegation plan to visit a federal prison in Oregon where immigrants from Latin America have been transferred and an attorney seeking to represent the immigrants says they have been denied access to lawyers. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Reps.

Senate Judiciary votes 11 to 10 to forward Ryan Bounds’ 9th Circuit nomination to Senate floor

The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday voted 11 to 10 along party lines to forward the nomination of Oregon assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Bounds for a vacancy on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to the Senate floor for confirmation. The vote followed recriminations by Democratic senators who accused Republicans of "gutting checks and balances,'' in their rush to stack the federal courts with conservative judges who are ideologically aligned.

Years Later, Wireless SS7 Flaw Still Putting Privacy at Risk –

Hackers and security researchers have routinely highlighted vulnerabilities in Signaling System 7 , a series of protocols first built in 1975 to help connect phone carriers around the world. It's not a small problem; we've been shown how the flaw can allow a hacker to track user location, dodge encryption, and even record private conversations while the intrusion looks like like ordinary carrier to carrier chatter among a sea of other, "privileged peering relationships."

US lawmakers push back on Trump talk of helping China’s ZTE

U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday rejected any plan by President Donald Trump to ease restrictions on China's ZTE Corp , calling the telecommunications firm a security threat and vowing not to abandon legislation clamping down on the company. A sign of ZTE Corp is pictured at its service centre in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China May 14, 2018.

GOP moves ahead with judicial nominee Ryan W. Bounds for the 9th Circuit over Democrats’ objections

Senate Republicans pressed ahead with one of President Trump's appeals court picks Wednesday despite opposition from both home-state senators, in what Democrats said marks a new low in the GOP's push to fill the courts with conservative judges. Both Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merkley, Oregon's two Democratic senators, are opposing Ryan W. Bounds , a lawyer Mr. Trump has tapped to sit on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Trump’s CIA nominee Gina Haspel promises not to restart – torture’

Haspel's prepared remarks also recount her early days as a spy 'in dusty back allies of third-world capitals' Gina Haspel, US President Donald Trump's choice to lead the CIA, is offering assurances that if she gets the job, the spy agency wouldn't resort to waterboarding and other techniques that she once helped supervise and critics call torture. "Having served in that tumultuous time, I can offer you my personal commitment, clearly and without reservation, that under my leadership CIA will not restart such a detention and interrogation programme," Haspel plans to tell the Senate Intelligence Committee at her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, according to excerpts released on Tuesday night.

CIA nominee wins Senate panel backing, confirmation expected

Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump's nominee to head the CIA, won the backing of the Senate intelligence committee on Wednesday, paving the way for her expected confirmation to lead the spy agency. The panel voted 10-5 to advise the full Senate to confirm Haspel, whose nomination has renewed debate over the harsh interrogation program the CIA conducted on terror suspects after 9/11.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden speaks in Portland in April 2018.

Oregon's senior U.S. Sen., Ron Wyden, took to the Senate floor today to blast the nomination of Ryan Bounds, a Portland federal prosecutor, for a spot on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Bounds, a conservative and a protege of U.S. Rep. Greg Walden failed to gain the support of either of Oregon's U.S. Senators, Wyden or Jeff Merkley.

CIA nominee says she wouldn’t resume brutal interrogations

President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the CIA has told senators privately that she would stand firm against any effort to restart the brutal detention and interrogation program the spy agency ran after 9/11, administration officials said Friday. In comments meant to soften the public profile of Gina Haspel before her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, two administration officials said she was not the "architect" of the program, but a "line officer" who never interrogated any terrorism suspects.

Supporters praise, critics denounce Trump’s CIA nominee Source: AP

With few details about Gina Haspel's undercover career, debate over President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the CIA descended Wednesday into verbal spatting between those who praise her experience and others who want her disqualified because of her role in the spy agency's harsh interrogation of terror subjects after 9/11. Haspel faces a contentious hearing in the Senate intelligence committee next week ahead of what the White House admits will be a close confirmation vote in the full Senate.

Requests for trade exclusions flood Commerce

The U.S. Commerce Department is wrestling with a flood of requests to exclude products from steel and aluminum import tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, creating a backlog that's sparked calls for action from lawmakers and trade groups. Senators Orrin Hatch of Utah and Ron Wyden of Oregon, as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others, want the government to speed up the process and dedicate more resources to it.

IRS gives taxpayers extra day to file returns

The Internal Revenue Service announced late Tuesday that it will let taxpayers submit tax returns without penalty through Wednesday, after a long day of technical problems that fueled confusion about what is already one of Americans' most frustrating interactions with their government. A computer glitch at the IRS knocked offline the agency's ability to process many tax returns filed electronically, a breakdown that left agency officials flummoxed and millions of Americans baffled.

Editorials from around Oregon

For five years, Sen. Ron Wyden has pushed Congress to address how U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management leaders often must divert money from other programs, including fire prevention and forest management budgets, to cover the increasingly high cost of fighting massive wildfires. The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act was a part of the $1.3 trillion federal spending package passed by federal lawmakers and signed by the president late last month.