Budget and Appropriations Members Rack Up Travel Time

Staff travel makes up a significant chuck of the amounts spent on travel by the Appropriations and Budget committees. Members of the Budget and Appropriations committees have spent about $2 million on foreign travel since the start of 2016, including trips to Argentina, Tanzania, Italy and the United Kingdom, according to an analysis of congressional records.

Murphy Walks Across Connecticut to Packed Town Halls

Connecticut Sen. Christopher S. Murphy greets a crowd at the finish line in Danbury, Ct. Connecticut Sen. Christopher S. Murphy completed his 110-mile August recess walk across his home state Thursday. It's the same summer trek the Democratic lawmaker did last year though some of the topics he discussed this time around with constituents along the way were different.

Word on the Hill: Peters’ Motorcycle Ride

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters toured the Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital in Ontonagon, Mich., on his bike ride. The senator visited a rural airport to talk about President Donald Trump 's budget cuts to Essential Air Service , a government program enacted to guarantee that small communities maintain commercial airline service.

157 people killed by police in California in 2016

Violent police encounters in California last year led to the deaths of 157 people and six officers, the state attorney general's office said Thursday in a report that provides the first statewide tally on police use-of-force incidents . All of the state's 800 police departments supplied detailed data from 2016, including demographic information on the civilians and officers, the type of call that led to the violence and the officers' justification for using force.

N.H. Republican headquarters tagged with Nazi vandalism

The New Hampshire Republican Party says "malcontents" are responsible for spraying the word "Nazis" inside a hand-drawn heart on the rear of his headquarters building in Concord. The vandalism happened sometime after 6 p.m. Wednesday and was discovered early Thursday when staff came to open the office, party adviser Patrick Hynes said.

Democratic super PAC sets sights on potential Mike Pence presidential bid

A Democratic super PAC that sank nearly $20 million into the 2016 presidential race is already gearing up for a potential bid by Vice President Mike Pence. American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic opposition super PAC funded by liberal mega donors, is seizing on reports that Pence's team has set up a "shadow campaign" to begin compiling opposition research against the vice president.

Missouri lawmaker posts, deletes Trump assassination comment

A Missouri lawmaker acknowledged Thursday that she posted and later deleted a comment on Facebook about hoping for President Donald Trump's assassination, saying she was frustrated with the president's response to the white supremacist rally and violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Democratic Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal said she was wrong for writing the post and didn't mean what she said, but she refused calls to resign.

Missouri state lawmaker being urged to resign after saying she hoped Trump ‘is assassinated’

A Missouri state lawmaker is being urged to resign Thursday after posting on Facebook that she hoped President Trump "is assassinated," according to reports. Democratic Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal acknowledged that she made the now-deleted comment in a thread on her private Facebook page in response to her and another commenter's frustration with Trump's response in the aftermath of the Charlottesville violence, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Alabama GOP lawmakers call out neo-Nazis, less critical of Trump remarks

Members of Alabama's congressional delegation weren't bashful about criticizing white supremacist protesters this week - but Republican lawmakers have been much more reluctant to call out President Donald Trump's reaction to the violence in Charlottesville. "I do defend the president in condemning racism and condemning the horrible acts in Charlottesville," U.S. Sen. Luther Strange told Fox Business News Thursday morning.

Golden glow gone amid scandal, USA Gymnastics faces change

The U.S. and Japanese defense chiefs and top diplomats are meeting in Washington to discuss North Korea amid mixed messages from the Trump administration on how to deal with the threat. The U.S. and Japanese defense chiefs and top diplomats are meeting in Washington to discuss North Korea amid mixed messages from the Trump administration on how to deal with the threat.

Americans want the Affordable Care Act improved, not undermined

Here is something you probably haven't heard much lately, if at all, given the shocking news from Charlottesville and the disturbing reaction by President Trump. Roughly 80 percent of Americans believe that Trump and his administration should do all they can to make the Affordable Care Act work while only 17 percent believe they should try to make the law fail so they can replace it.

Trump defends monuments to the pro-slavery Confederacy

U.S. President Donald Trump dug in defiantly on Thursday in his response to racial violence in Virginia, echoing the position of white nationalists by intensifying his opposition to the removal of monuments to the pro-slavery Civil War Confederacy. In a series of Twitter posts, Trump also sharply criticized two fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate, Jeff Flake and Lindsey Graham, while denying he had spoken of "moral equivalency" between white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, and anti-racism activists.

Rep. Speier wants to use 25th Amendment to remove Trump

With fallout over President Trump's take on the bloody events in Charlottesville, Democratic Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee announcing his plans to introduce articles of impeachment against the president. Rep. Jackie Speier wants to remove Trump from office under an article within the 25th Amendment to the Constitution that allows the vice president and a majority of the cabinet to declare the president temporarily "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office."

‘The president is becoming more isolated’: Trump’s Charlottesville…

President Donald Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville may be driving a wedge between him and Republican lawmakers, according to policy analysts, and his influence over their plans may be waning. Trump's muddled response to violence from neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville in the past few days took another turn on Tuesday when he blamed "both sides" for the violence and criticized people who did not think his initial response on Saturday was adequate.

Herrod says he still has a sliver of a chance to win – enough to wait for votes to be counted

The Salt Lake Tribune) Former state Rep. Chris Herrod said the race for the 3rd Congressional district is too close to call after learning that Provo Mayor John Curtis claims he's the election night winner Tuesday, August 15, 2017. Registered Republican voters in the 3rd Congressional District will decide whether Provo Mayor John Curtis, former state Rep. Chris Herrod or businessman Tanner Ainge moves forward to the general election.

California congressmen meets Wikileaks founder, who denies Russia was source of DNC leaks

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told Costa Mesa congressman Dana Rohrabacher on Wednesday that Russia was not involved with leaking controversial emails from the Democratic National Committee during last year's presidential campaign. “He reaffirmed his aggressive denial that the Russians had anything to do with the hacking of the DNC during the election,” Rohrabacher said by phone from London.