Senate on track to pass $700 billion defense policy bill

The Senate is on track to pass a defense policy bill that pumps $700 billion into the Pentagon budget, expands U.S. missile defenses in response to North Korea's growing hostility and refuses to allow excess military bases to be closed. The legislation is expected to be approved on Monday by a wide margin in another burst of bipartisanship amid President Donald Trump's push for cooperation with congressional Democrats.

Why you should care about the NDAA

The Senate is set to move forward with its version of the annual defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act -- marking the latest step for a key piece of legislation that has been passed by Congress for 55 straight years. At a time where passing bills is often challenged by the deep partisan divide and competing political factions on Capitol Hill, it can be difficult to understand why the NDAA would be any different.

Senate poised to pass $700 billion defense policy bill

5, 2017, file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., walks from his Senate office as Congress returns from the August recess in Washington. The Senate is poised to pass a defense policy bill that pu... WASHINGTON - The Senate is poised to pass a defense policy bill that pumps $700 billion into the Pentagon budget, expands U.S. missile defenses in response to North Korea's growing hostility and refuses to allow excess military bases to be closed.

500+ Marchers Join Atlanta Rally Against Ethnic Cleansing in Burma

The Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations today thanked the more than 500 Georgians who joined an Atlanta march yesterday against the Burmese government's ongoing ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims. During the march, which included almost 200 members of Georgia's Burmese community, activists called on Georgia senators David Perdue and Johnny Isakson to join Senator John McCain in supporting a Senate resolution that would condemn the Burmese government's violence.

Transgender troops allowed to re-enlist in U.S. military

The Pentagon has confirmed that transgender troops currently serving in the military are able to re-enlist in the next several months as a ban on their service is under review. In a memo to military leaders on Friday, Defense Secretary James Mattis said the Pentagon would convene a high-level panel to determine how to carry out the ban ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump on transgender individuals in the military.

McCain joins effort to challenge Trump’s transgender troops ban

The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee has joined an effort to challenge President Donald Trump's announced ban on transgender troops, a sign that open resistance to the order is growing. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a military hawk and one of the GOP's most outspoken critics of Trump, said in a statement Friday that he was backing the measure because "we should welcome all those who are willing and able to serve our country."

Former U.S. Army Secretary calls Trump’s military transgender ban ‘unprecedented’

Eric Fanning, who served as U.S. Secretary of the Army under President Barack Obama, speaks to attendees Thursday, Sept. 14 at a speaking event in East Lansing featuring Fanning and Elissa Slotkin, Democratic Congressional candidate for the 8th District.

The Latest: Pentagon allows transgender troops to re-enlist

New guidance released Friday by the Pentagon makes it clear that any transgender troops currently in the military can re-enlist in the next several months, even as the department debates how to enforce a ban on their service ordered by President Donald Trump. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says in a memo that a high-level panel will determine how to implement Trump's ban on transgender individuals in the military.

Transgender troops can re-enlist in military, for now

New guidance released Friday by the Pentagon makes it clear that any transgender troops currently in the military can re-enlist in the next several months, even as the department debates how broadly to enforce a ban on their service ordered by President Donald Trump. In a memo to top military leaders, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said a high-level panel will determine how to implement Trump's ban on transgender individuals in the military.

John McCain: Senate at impasse on four defense bill amendments

Sen. John McCain said Thursday the Senate could not overcome an impasse on debates and voting for controversial amendments to its 2018 defense policy bill, including a measure to eliminate sequestration. The sequestration amendment, sponsored by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is among four amendments the upper chamber was trying to bring to the floor for votes since Wednesday as part of passing the National Defense Authorization Act, but could not reach a consensus to allow it.

Opinion: Is Trumpa s pardon of Joe Arpaio really legal? This lawyer thinks ita s not

After Sheriff Joe Arpaio was found guilty of defying a court order instructing him to stop infringing on Latino Americans' constitutional rights, the president pardoned him. Unlike past pardons, this presidential act threatens the judicial branch's authority, the right to equal protection, and the Constitution itself.

After Irma, America Should Scrap the Jones Act

Another big hurricane, another temporary waiver of the Jones Act -- the 1920 law mandating that goods and passengers shipped between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flagged ships, constructed primarily in the U.S., owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by them or by U.S. legal permanent residents. Circumstances did indeed demand a new stay on this dumb law -- but it would be better to get rid of it altogether, as Senator John McCain and others have argued.

‘What Happened’ in 2016? Hillary Clinton still doesn’t know

Was this book necessary? Hillary Clinton's anguished, angry memoir of her presidential campaign, "What Happened," will be unveiled this week, complete with television appearances and a 15-city lecture tour. Other Democrats have been dreading this moment for months.