Campaign cash fuels final sprint to Senate primary finish

Drawing upon their personal wealth, two candidates in Colorado's race for U.S. Senate have dominated the spending in the five-way fight for the Republican nomination, more than doubling the combined amount paid by their three opponents for television ads, yard signs and other campaign expenses. Together, businessmen Robert Blaha and Jack Graham have spent more than $1.9 million through June 8, about twice the roughly $882,000 paid by rivals Ryan Frazier, Darryl Glenn and Jon Keyser, according to federal fundraising records.

White House says coal royalty hike would have modest effect

A sharp increase in royalties paid by companies extracting U.S.-owned coal would trigger only modest mining reductions, according to a White House report that refutes claims the Western coal industry would be decimated by proposed reforms. The report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers comes after new sales of federal coal leases were halted in January.

SCOTUS Rules on Immigration, Affirmative Action; House Dems End Gun…

Last CA nuke plant will close; Judge nixes Obama's fracking rules; Study: Toxic chemicals found in residents near fracking sites; PLUS : Researchers turn carbon emissions into stone... Rep. Ted Deutch explains House protest, calls GOP shutdown of C-SPAN 'astonishing', lack of vote on guns 'disgusting'... OUR 700TH EPISODE!!! Record heat in S.W.; CA snowpack gone; Bernie wants YOU to fight climate change; PLUS : Obama warns climate change coming for national parks... Plus: Sanders' call for progressive candidates, the GOP/NRA/Trump lies and obstruction on guns, and more evidence elections matter... As you might imagine, the nation's political cartoonists have a few thoughts following Orlando.

Supreme Court deadlock on immigration will have far-reaching implications

A deadlocked Supreme Court decision that blocks President Barack Obama from granting amnesty to the parents of legal U.S. residents who are in the country illegally will deprive many of those people of the right to sign up for health insurance in California, analysts of the decision said Thursday. Most immigrants who are in the country illegally already are barred from signing up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the federal health care law widely known as Obamacare.

In Raising Funds for Paul Ryan, Is Tim Cook Emulating Trump?

While there's been strong criticism of Apple CEO Tim Cook's decision to host a fundraiser for U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republicans, it seems he's doing what business leaders often do in the political world, even a businessman Cook deeply disdains. "As a businessman that deals all over the world, you give.

House Democrats see new tactic to set agenda

House Democrats wrested control of the national spotlight Wednesday, leading a sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, chanting over Speaker Paul Ryan, all for gun control -- one of the most intractable issue in Congress. And even with the sit-in's end Thursday afternoon -- without action on gun control -- the fight over the issue isn't over, Democrats say.

Lewis, who shed blood for civil rights, leads Dems on guns

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., center, accompanied by fellow House Democrats, from left, House Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn of S.C. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., and others, speaks on Capitol,Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 23, 2016, after House Democrats ended their sit-in protest.

That 25-hour House sit-in was a big win for Periscope

The U.S. House of Representative's Democrats were staging a sit-in-the first of its kind in this video-driven digital age- trying to force House Republicans to vote on a pair of gun control bills. Whatever side of the aisle you're on, this was must-see TV.

US Rep. Fattah steps down after racketeering conviction

Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., leaves the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, Tuesday, June 21, 2016. Fattah, a veteran Pennsylvania congressman, was convicted Tuesday in a racketeering case that largely centered on various efforts to repay an illegal $1 million campaign loan related to his unsuccessful 2007 mayoral bid.

‘We need to defeat these AWFUL Republicans’: Democrats send out a…

'We need to defeat these AWFUL Republicans': Democrats send out a flurry of fundraising emails to profit from gun control sit-in The DCCC sent out a number of emails, which starred Congressman John Lewis, who led the protest, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Pelosi called the Republicans' moves 'shameful,' while Rep. Louie Gohmert shamed the Democrats for fundraising off 'deaths of these people' Democrats were taking a stand - by having a seat on the House floor and refusing to budge until Republicans agreed to have gun control votes - but they were making a buck too.

Dems stage election-year sit-in on guns; GOP refuse to yield

Rebellious Democrats staged an extraordinary all-day sit-in on the Ho... . In this image from video provided by House Television, House Speaker Paul Ryan stands at the podium as he brings the House into session Wednesday night, June 22, 2016, in Washington.

Tennessee Congressional candidate’s – Make America White Again’ billboard causes uproar

Rick Tyler, who is running as an independent for the seat, says he put the sign up along U.S. Highway 411 near Benton. He told WRCB-TV that he doesn't hate "people of color," but wants to return to an earlier time "when there were no break-ins; no violent crime; no mass immigration."

Candidates avoid Medicare, Social Security finance woes

The nation's framework for economic security and health care in retirement is financially unsustainable, but you wouldn't know it from listening to the presidential candidates. This week the Social Security and Medicare trustees warned of tough choices ahead to keep the two programs solvent over the long run.

US cyber force reluctant to cut Internet in Syria

Thomas Atkin, the acting assistant defense secretary for homeland defense and global security, said a "careful balance" needed to be struck, when asked why the military does not simply stop jihadists from accessing the Internet. "It's a careful balance, even in Raqqa or Mosul , or anywhere on how we balance the rights to have access to the Internet versus the use of the Internet illegally by folks like ISIL," Atkin told the House Armed Services Committee, using another acronym for ISIS.

With Rubio in, others step out in Florida’s Senate race

" Republican Sen. Marco Rubio's decision to run for president set off a scramble to replace him. His last minute decision to run for re-election set off a scramble " though much smaller " to get out of the Senate race.

The Latest: House GOP says electronic devices still banned

In particular, leaders told rank-and-file lawmakers that they are barred from using electronic devices to display audio or video recordings of House proceedings or take pictures on the House floor. Democrats openly flaunted those rules throughout a sit-in that lasted until early Thursday.

Blumenthal: Feds Should Deny Both ‘Mega-Mergers’

Without addressing recent conflict-of-interest allegations against state insurance regulators, Connecticut's senior senator wrote Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice should deny the mergers of Aetna with Humana and Anthem with Cigna. "These mega-mergers have potentially far-reaching and severely harmful effects on Connecticut, but they raise issues of national importance as well," U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal wrote.