Category Archives: US Congress

Republican senator Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola advance in Alaska Senate primary

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Result tees up marquee race in US midterm elections, which could decide if Republicans or Democrats control Senate

Incumbent Dan S Sullivan, the US senator, advanced in Alaska’s nonpartisan primary race for his seat on Tuesday alongside Mary Peltola, a former Democratic congresswoman.

With the top four candidates moving forward from Alaska’s open primaries to the general election, the Associated Press reported that Sullivan and Peltola, had qualified for the November’s general election.

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Alaska candidate for US Senate rejects Kamala Harris’s unsolicited support

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Former VP sent fundraising appeal for Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign – with half of donations going to Harris’s organization

Alaska US Senate candidate Mary Peltola has rejected the support of Kamala Harris, her fellow Democrat, after the 2024 presidential candidate sent out a seemingly unsolicited fundraising appeal on Peltola’s behalf.

Harris, who lost Alaska – typically a Republican-voting state – by 13 points during her unsuccessful White House run, on Wednesday sent an email from her political organization to supporters of Peltola, a former US House member.

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Senate passes funding bill to prevent shutdown through US midterms

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Bill must still be approved by House but would keep government running at current funding levels

The US Senate on Friday passed a government funding bill that will prevent a shutdown through the midterm elections, though it still must be approved by the House of Representatives.

The continuing resolution (CR) passed by a 90-6 vote will keep the government running at its current funding levels until 11 December, more than a month past the midterms in which Democrats are hoping to regain control of Congress and block Donald Trump’s legislative agenda for the final two years of his presidency.

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US Senate passes Russia sanctions bill championed by Lindsey Graham

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Late senator spent final days of his life working to advance bill that will now head to the House after 86-11 Senate vote

By a large, bipartisan margin, the US Senate on Friday approved a bill intended to punish Russia and countries that buy its petroleum exports over the invasion of Ukraine, capping a legislative push that was spurred by the death of its champion, the Republican senator Lindsey Graham.

The measure, renamed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia Act in honor of the late senator’s work on the issue, was approved by an 86-11 vote. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican to oppose the legislation, together with 10 Democrats.

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Ohio Republican Max Miller faces growing calls to resign over domestic abuse allegations

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Miller calls women accusing him liars as Republican senator Bernie Moreno says former son-in-law unfit for Congress

Max Miller, the beleaguered US Republican representative from Ohio, has vowed to defy a rising groundswell of resignation calls from his own party over domestic abuse allegations after his ex-father-in-law, Bernie Moreno, a GOP senator, said he was unfit to serve in Congress.

In a combative interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Miller turned the tables by attacking Moreno, accused three women – including his ex-wife – of lying by saying he had been violent towards them, and invoked Donald Trump in insisting that he would not resign.

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Kay Granger, first Texas Republican woman elected to House, dies aged 83

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Representative who did not seek re-election in 2024 died of Alzheimer’s disease, her son said

Kay Granger, who served in the US House for almost three decades as the first elected Republican woman from Texas, died on Sunday, her family said. She was 83.

The cause of death, according to her son JD Granger, was Alzheimer’s disease.

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US representative Marcy Kaptur taken to hospital after car crash

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Toledo police say Ohio Democrat is active and alert after two-vehicle hit-and-run collision on Sunday

Marcy Kaptur is being treated ⁠for non-life-threatening injuries after a car crash in Toledo, ⁠Ohio, on Sunday, ⁠the ​Democratic US representative’s office said.

Kaptur, 80, was a passenger ⁠in the vehicle and on her way to church, her office ⁠said. Toledo police did not ​respond to ‌a request from Reuters for ‌comment.

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Republican calls for Max Miller to resign from Congress amid abuse allegations

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Senator Bernie Moreno says congressman and former son-in-law should step down after ex-wife’s allegations

Republican senator Bernie Moreno on Sunday publicly called for Representative Max Miller, his ex son-in-law, to step down from Congress amid allegations of domestic and child abuse.

As recently as Friday, the Ohio senator had avoided giving his opinion directly on accusations made by his daughter, Emily Moreno, against the congressman.

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Trump’s pick for US attorney general Todd Blanche in jeopardy as vote postponed

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Republican John Cornyn says he will not back nomination without written confirmation $1.8bn slush fund is dead

Todd Blanche’s hopes of becoming US attorney general seemed to be in jeopardy on Wednesday after the Department of Justice did not provide written assurances to a key Republican senator that a $1.8bn slush fund was dead.

The US Senate judiciary committee postponed a vote scheduled for Thursday on whether to advance Blanche’s nomination.

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House Republicans to write $95bn bill to fund Iran war and aid farmers

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GOP-controlled chamber paves way for reconciliation bill, while making long-shot attempt at new voting restrictions

House Republicans on Wednesday agreed to begin the process of writing a $95bn bill to fund the war with Iran as well as provide new aid to farmers, while making a long-shot attempt to impose new restrictions on voting nationwide.

In a virtually party-line 216-214, the Republican-controlled chamber passed a budget resolution that paves the way for the creation of a reconciliation bill, which can advance through the Senate under special rules that circumvent the Democratic filibuster and requires only a simple majority to pass. Two Republicans – Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, as well as Kevin Kiley, an independent of California who aligns with the GOP – joined all Democrats in opposing the measure.

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House passes spending bill to head off government shutdown before midterms

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Measure authorizes spending until 4 December as Republicans seek to avoid volatile issue in election season

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a stopgap measure to head off a government shutdown until early December, with its Republican leaders seeking to defuse a volatile issue in the run-up to the November midterm elections.

The continuing resolution authorizing government spending until 4 December passed by a vote of 220-205, roughly along party lines. It next heads to the Senate, where it will need to win bipartisan support to clear the chamber.

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Israel’s war in Gaza dominates US midterm races as Democrats split

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Tensions between progressive and moderate camps of Democratic party on display in key Senate race in Michigan

The Israel-Gaza war created gaping divisions in the Democratic party and contributed to a resounding loss in a critical presidential election year in 2024. Two years later, the issue continues to dominate races across the country, as progressives try to seize on Israel’s falling popularity and a broad anti-war sentiment ahead of November’s midterms.

A recent debate among two Democrats vying for one of the most competitive US Senate seats in the country openly displayed the tension between progressive and moderate camps of the party.

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US congressman says he was detained by armed Israeli settlers in occupied West Bank

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Ro Khanna said settlers were armed with US-made weapons and Israel Defense Forces refused to intervene

The US congressman Ro Khanna says armed Israeli settlers detained him during a visit to the Israel-occupied West Bank recently, describing the experience as a first-hand view of the realities faced by Palestinians living under occupation.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday from a Palestinian village, the progressive US House Democrat from California said his detention happened the previous day while his delegation visited an area of the southern West Bank that has experienced repeated attacks by Israeli settlers.

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Graham Platner officially withdraws candidacy for US Senate in Maine

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Paperwork ends Democratic campaign laden with scandals, including most recently accusations of sexual assault

Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Maine, officially withdrew his candidacy on Friday afternoon, ending a campaign laden with scandals.

Maine’s secretary of state confirmed Platner had filed the paperwork to remove his name from the November ballot, two days after Platner publicly said he planned to exit the race.

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John Fetterman joins forces with Republican counterpart in Senate for fundraising committee

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Venture between two Pennsylvania senators stokes speculation about Fetterman’s future in Democratic party

The Democratic senator John Fetterman, who has faced mounting political challenges, is joining forces with the Republican senator Dave McCormick to launch a new joint fundraising committee, a move that is likely to fuel additional questions about Fetterman’s increasingly rightward lurch.

Pennsylvania’s two US senators have established a shared fundraising committee that will collect donations benefiting both of their campaigns in an unusual bipartisan arrangement.

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‘Historic Event’: Trump announces Republican midterm convention

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President unveils plans for Dallas summit, in break with tradition of conventions only in presidential election years

Donald Trump has announced that Republicans will stage their first ever national convention ahead of the midterm elections, a move aimed at energizing voters as the party fights to hold its narrow congressional majorities in November.

The two-day gathering will take place in Dallas on 9 and 10 September, marking a break from the longstanding tradition of holding national conventions only during presidential election years. Trump confirmed the plans on Tuesday in a Truth Social post, describing Dallas as “One of my favorite places in the World”.

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Zohran Mamdani says he and allies he endorsed carry a ‘national message’

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Mayor says progressive peers who swept primaries speak to Americans ‘coast to coast’ as moderates have reservations

Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, said on Sunday that he and a slew of democratic socialist allies who prevailed in recent primary elections are carrying a “national message” to struggling working Americans hungry for a new kind of politics “coast to coast”.

Mamdani made that triumphant clarion call on ABC News’s This Week just five days after he had seen his endorsed candidates win Democratic nominations in three races for New York congressional seats, as well as for five state legislature positions in Albany. He made no effort to disguise his delight that his clean sweep marks a dramatic shift in Democratic politics – not just in New York City, which he has led since January, but also across the US.

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‘It’s become a litmus test’: wins for Israel critics shine light on key issue for Democrats

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Candidates who believe Israel has committed genocide won big in New York – will it push the party to move their way?

Regardless of which party wins control of Congress in November, New York City voters have all but ensured that next year a vocal bloc of new House Democrats will arrive on Capitol Hill, elected, in large part, because they believe Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza.

That is an upshot of the primary elections held Tuesday in New York, where voters ousted two incumbent House Democrats and replaced a third who is retiring with progressives championed by Zohran Mamdani.

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Mamdani-backed candidates sweep Democratic primaries in New York City

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JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg fails to advance in election to replace Jerry Nadler in Manhattan district

Zohran Mamdani’s growing influence over the Democratic party was on show in New York City on Tuesday as three congressional candidates endorsed by New York’s democratic socialist mayor won closely watched primaries, while voters in Maryland, Utah and South Carolina cast ballots in primaries and runoffs.

Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller who also ran for mayor last year before endorsing Mamdani, won his race comfortably, defeating the Democratic representative Dan Goldman.

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New Yorkers vote as Democrats weigh competing visions in era of Trump

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Democratic primary elections to test strength of party’s left flank as old guard faces string of challenges

New Yorkers were voting on Tuesday in a slate of Democratic primaries poised to reveal the strength of the party’s left flank and shape the battle for control of the US House of Representatives in November.

Voters in Maryland and Utah will also nominate congressional candidates on Tuesday, while South Carolina holds a series of runoff elections for candidates who did not receive a majority of the vote earlier this month.

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