Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
The Senate has rejected an attempt by Sen. Rand Paul to force a debate on sweeping budget cuts and on federal deficits that are growing despite a strong economy. After last year's tax cuts and a two-year agreement on agency budget levels, Republicans controlling Congress aren't trying to pass a budget blueprint this year.
Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt has falsely claimed that a man who was listed as the landlord of a bargain-priced condo Pruitt rented in Washington last year was not a lobbyist at the time.
"The White House communications office has canceled a large daily morning meeting in response to the leak of a joke about Sen. John McCain being close to death that a staff member made at one of those meetings," the New York Times reports. "The meeting, which brought together roughly 30 communications staff members from the West Wing, did not take place Thursday or the two days prior.
Human rights groups are lamenting the Senate confirmation of Gina Haspel to be CIA director because of her direct involvement in the spy agency's harsh detention and interrogation program. Raha Wala at Human Rights First says the Senate's decision on Thursday to confirm her was unwise.
The Senate confirmed Gina Haspel on Thursday as the first female director of the CIA following a difficult nomination process that reopened an emotional debate about brutal interrogation techniques in one of the darkest chapters in the spy agency's history. The 54-45 vote split both parties, with six Democrats joining most Republicans in support.
Sen. John McCain, who continues his brave battle with brain cancer, wished his wife Cindy a happy 37th wedding anniversary on Thursday. In a heartwarming note posted on Twitter, the 81-year-old Arizona Republican gushed: "Happy 37th anniversary to my love @cindymccain - time flies when you're having fun!" And Cindy posted her own salute to the anniversary, saying on Twitter: "What a great life we've had.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Gina Haspel on Thursday to be director of the CIA, ending a bruising confirmation fight centered on her ties to the spy agency's past use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation techniques. Haspel, who will be the first woman director of the CIA, is a 33-year veteran at the agency currently serving as its acting director.
Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren reportedly stole the show at the Center for American Progress' annual Ideas Conference in Washington on Tuesday as she laid out an aggressive liberal agenda and attacked President Donald Trump for undermining American democracy. The Hill reported that this year's CAP conference was an occasion for 2020 presidential contenders to demonstrate why they should be the next Democrat nominee for president.
After more than a year of negotiation, committees in both chambers of Congress are set to advance versions of a major bill aimed at blocking sensitive Chinese deals, heightening the chances the proposed legislation will become law this year. The bill-which has prompted debate among lawmakers and businesses with interests in China-would affect both foreign firms seeking deals in the U.S. and American companies doing business abroad by tightening the processes for vetting inbound and outbound investment.
While railing against California for its so-called sanctuary immigration policies, President Donald Trump referred to some people who cross the border illegally as "animals" - drawing a sharp rebuke from Democratic leaders for the harsh rhetoric. "We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in -- and we're stopping a lot of them," Trump said during the immigration round table after a sheriff commented about gangs.
The political schism in the Democratic Party is playing out in the confirmation vote for Gina Haspel as CIA director, as support from red-state senators facing re-election bumps up against a more liberal flank eyeing potential 2020 presidential bids and rejecting the nominee over the agency's clouded history of torture. Haspel's confirmation became all but certain with a favorable 10-5 vote Wednesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
I had to clone David's original post because it's borked for some reason. Please use this one instead as commenting in the other post was nonfunctional for most.
Baldwin, 56, is also gearing up for a reelection campaign that some are calling "Going into the 2018 cycle, I think for many, many reasons there's more interest [in the midterms]...[And] so many issues impacting young people are getting really strong public view," Baldwin tells "[When I was starting out] so many people were sayinga 'young people don't vote.' " Well, I couldn't get elected to office if young people didn't vote."
U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and John Hoeven of North Dakota marked the anniversary of the shooting of an Amtrak conductor in suburban Chicago with the introduction of legislation that would make such an attack a federal crime. On Wednesday, the Democrat Duckworth and the Republican Hoeven introduced the Passenger Rail Crew Protection Parity Act that calls for those suspected of assaulting or intimidating rail crewmembers to be charged under federal law.
Former Republican Senator Rick Santorum on Thursday tried to defend President Donald Trump's declaration this week that he was deporting a lot of "animals" from the United States - but his defense fell apart when confronted by several of the president's other past statements about immigrants. During a panel with CNN host Chris Cuomo and guest Ana Navarro, Santorum tried to claim that Trump was only referring to MS-13 gang members as "animals" on Wednesday.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives for a dinner with EU and Western Balkan heads of state at the Sofia Tech Park in Sofia, Bulgaria, Wednesday, May 16, 2018. . French President Emmanuel Macron, left, is greeted by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov as he arrives for a dinner with EU and Western Balkan heads of state at the Sofia Tech Park in Sofia, Bulgaria, Wednesday, ... .
Senate Democrats, joined by three Republicans, pushed through a measure intended to revive Obama-era internet rules that ensured equal treatment for all web traffic, though opposition in the House and the White House seems insurmountable. Republicans on the short end of the 52-47 vote described the effort to reinstate "net neutrality" rules as "political theater" because the GOP-controlled House is not expected to take up the issue and the Senate's margin could not overcome a presidential veto.
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal attorney, solicited a payment of at least $1 million from the government of Qatar in late 2016, in exchange for access to and advice about the then-incoming administration, according to several people with knowledge of the episode. The offer, which Qatar declined, came on the margins of a Dec. 12 meeting that year at Trump Tower between the Persian Gulf state's foreign minister and Michael Flynn, who became Trump's first national security adviser.
Speaking before a crowd of about three dozen Wednesday evening at the Rockingham County Administration Center, Freitas, who left the U.S. Army as a sergeant after 11 years of service, said his active-duty experience helped prepare him for politics. "If you didn't know, Green Berets primarily focus on unconventional warfare and counterinsurgency, which really prepares you for domestic politics in Virginia," said Freitas, R-Culpeper, who volunteered to join the Army's Special Forces and served two tours in Iraq following the Sept.
Senate Democrats, joined by three Republicans, pushed through a measure intended to revive Obama-era internet rules that ensured equal treatment for all web traffic, though opposition in the House and the White House seems insurmountable. Republicans on the short end of the 52-47 vote described the effort to reinstate "net neutrality" rules as "political theater" because the GOP-controlled House is not expected to take up the issue and the Senate's margin could not overcome a presidential veto.