Franken back at Senate job despite soon-to-be-gone status – Tue, 12 Dec 2017 PST

Al Franken is the Senate's dead man walking, still doing his day job despite his soon-to-be-gone status. The two-term Minnesota lawmaker told a somber Senate last Thursday he would resign amid multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and in the face of vanishing support from fellow Democrats.

San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee oversaw explosive growth

Mayor Ed Lee, who oversaw a technology-driven economic boom in San Francisco that brought with it sky-high housing prices despite his lifelong commitment to economic equality, died suddenly early Tuesday at age 65. A statement from Lee's office said the city's first Asian-American mayor died at 1:11 a.m. at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Lee was surrounded by family, friends and colleagues.

DelBene, Jayapal join call for probe of Trump sexual misconduct

U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash, says women making accusations of sexual misconduct against President Trump "should be heard." U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash, says women making accusations of sexual misconduct against President Trump "should be heard."

Transgender woman alleges discrimination in firing

A recent UNM graduate says she was fired from an internship in Democratic Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office because she is transgender. In this March 17, 2017, file photo, from left, Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., and Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., meet with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Republicans considering bumping corporate rate to 21 percent in tax plan as deal nears

House Speaker Paul Ryan arrives at a news conference regarding tax legislation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 12, 2017. Ryan here praised a one-page study released Monday by the Treasury Department showing the tax plan more than paying for itself, but only if high growth forecasts are met and if other Trump administration economic policies proposals are enacted.

Trump attacks Gillibrand in tweet critics say is sexually suggestive and demeaning

Democrats accused the president of making unsavory insinuations. , D-N.Y., who had called for Trump's resignation a day earlier because of allegations of sexual misconduct, called Trump's attack as a "sexist smear attempting to silence my voice."

Tax package would ease hit to residents of high-tax states

This Sept. 27, 2017 file photo shows Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., center, joining Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other GOP lawmakers to talk about the Republicans' proposed rewrite of the tax code for individuals and corporations, at the Capitol in Washington.

Dems say Trumpa s tweets about Gillibrand sexist, crude

By NANCY BENAC and JONATHAN LEMIRE, Associated Press WASHINGTON - Plowing into the sexual harassment debate in a big way, President Donald Trump laced into Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday, tweeting that the New York Democrat would come to his office to get them.

House Speaker Ryan says he believes upbeat Treasury tax study

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday defended a one-page analysis by the Treasury Department that asserted a tax plan pushed by the Republican-led Congress would pay for itself in 10 years. FILE PHOTO: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan speaks during his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 30, 2017.

Ohio Congress members seek federal money to fight opioid abuse

Weeks after President Donald Trump officially declared opioid abuse to be a national public health emergency, a bipartisan group of Congress members from Ohio wants him to put the government's money where his mouth is. On Monday, Republican Rep. Dave Joyce of Bainbridge Township and Democrat Tim Ryan of the Niles area released a letter signed by 48 colleagues that urged the Trump administration to allot money to address a problem that kills an estimated 144 Americans every day.

NJ Politics Digest: Christie, Murphy Bicker Over State Budget

The incoming and outgoing governors of New Jersey are squabbling over the state budget, with Governor-elect Phil Murphy warning of a massive budget hole and Gov. Chris Christie accusing Murphy of using faulty math. It all started when Murphy asked Christie to freeze discretionary spending to ensure the state's fiscal woes aren't made worse, according to Politico.

Democrats are planning to bring sexual assault victims to Trump’s first State of the Union address

A number of Democrats are planning to invite victims of sexual misconduct to President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address. A number of Democrats are planning to invite victims of sexual misconduct to President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address, NBC News reported on Wednesday.

Real target of GOP tax bills

Are the current Republican tax bills, passed by the House and Senate and being reconciled in conference committee, an attack on ? That's a reference to the government, health care and education jobs that local Democrats in Dayton, Ohio, told Sen. Sherrod Brown have been fueling the area's comeback. The Dayton area's reliance on government is in tension with its history as an incubator of private-sector inventiveness, which more than a century ago produced the first cash register, the first airplane and the first automotive electronic ignition.

Chain migration: Compassionate policy or opening the immigration floodgates?

Rep. Luis Gutierrez D-Ill., third from left, along with other demonstrators protest outside of the U.S. Capitol in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals , and Temporary Protected Status , programs, during an rally on Capitol Hill in Washington. Rep. Luis Gutierrez D-Ill., third from left, along with other demonstrators protest outside of the U.S. Capitol in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals , and Temporary Protected Status , programs, during an rally on Capitol Hill in Washington.

GOP lawmaker accuses bipartisan caucus of withholding a potential ‘dreamers’ compromise

Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., right, discusses the GOP agenda for tax reform on Capitol Hill on Oct. 24, 2017. Curbelo on Dec. 11 accused leaders of a bipartisan House caucus of withholding details of a bipartisan compromise on immigration policy that could lead to a breakthrough in a major spending bill.

Nikki Haley’s belief that Trump’s accusers ‘should be heard’ surprised many in the White House

Now the national #MeToo spotlight is turning back to Trump and his past conduct. Several of his accusers are urging Congress to investigate his behavior, and a number of Democratic lawmakers are demanding his resignation.