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Senators on the Intelligence Committee expressed deep frustration during a March 7 hearing focused on the government's lack of progress in reducing its 710,000-strong backlog of pending security clearance requests. Charles Phalen, director of the National Background Investigations Bureau, told lawmakers it would likely be years before they saw a significant reduction in the backlog.
Frustrated and out of patience with bureaucratic stalling in the midst of the opioid crisis, Dr. Noah Nesin, medical director at Bangor-based Penobscot Community Health Care, recently announced that he will personally write a prescription for the life-saving drug naloxone for any adult in Maine who asks for one. Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, reverses the effects of opioid drugs and can save the life of someone who has overdosed on heroin, fentanyl, prescription painkillers or other opioids.
The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee will be releasing a report in the coming weeks on Russia's attempts to infiltrate state election systems, according to one panel member. Sen. Angus King said the committee's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and is "pretty well done."
The Trump administration is once again calling for the complete elimination of a heating assistance program that helps to keep the homes of low-income families warm. And once again, program supporters are vowing to fight it.
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Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., listens as Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, speaks about immigration and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Feb. 7, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The U.S. Senate could vote on several immigration reform proposals Thursday, as lawmakers weigh competing plans that address issues such as protecting young undocumented immigrants, boosting border security and changing the rules for family-based immigration.
In an open session of the Senate committee's annual Worldwide Threat Assessment hearing on Tuesday, all six intelligence chiefs told Vice Chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, that they stood by the conclusions of a January 2017 assessment that said the Russian government -- at President Vladimir Putin's instruction -- "That this is going to happen, and the resilience needed for us to stand up and say we're not going to allow some Russian to tell us how to vote, how to run our country," Coats, who leads the nation's 17 intelligence agencies, said. "I think there needs to be a national cry for that."
Left to right: FBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Robert Ashley, NSA Director Adm. Michael Rogers and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo testify before the Senate intelligence committee Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption Left to right: FBI Director Christopher Wray, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Robert Ashley, NSA Director Adm.
The nation's top intelligence chiefs were united Tuesday in declaring that Russia is continuing efforts to disrupt the U.S. political system and is targeting the 2018 midterm election, after its successful operation to sow discord in the most recent presidential campaign. The assessment stands in contrast to President Donald Trump, who has mocked the very notion of Russian interference in the 2016 election and lashed out at those who have suggested otherwise.
In a rare move, the Senate will launch an unusual process late Monday afternoon to debate a legislative fix for the hundreds of thousands of so-called Dreamers who could face deportation come March 5. The process calls for a free-for-all debate on the Senate floor with an unlimited number of amendments that can be offered, all in the hopes Republicans and Democrats can reach a bipartisan solution in the contentious immigration debate. "I expect that virtually every issue under the sun will come up during this floor debate and that's fine," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters last week.
In this Sept. 22, 2017 file photo, Maine Gov. Paul LePage attends a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence to discuss health care and tax reform in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Complex in Washington.
In this file photo from January 2016, Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, speaks with House Minority Leader Ken Fredette, R-Newport, at the State House in Augusta. During his first term in office, Gov. Paul LePage became famous - or perhaps infamous, depending on your perspective - for his brash rhetoric and personal attacks, but in light of his success, the question becomes "Is it working?" There's no denying Maine's political discourse has become more uncivil.
Sen. Angus King suggests that releasing the Nunes memo could risk national security: "That's why the FBI said this would be reckless to release it ... It could expose sources, people who might be embedded somewhere" https://t.co/XQ8jr2owrd https://t.co/GxAqVLmBCt Angus Stanley King The Hill's 12:30 Report Azar sworn in as HHS chief Chaos in Trump world leaves Democrats walking fine line MORE on Tuesday criticized House Intelligence Committee Republicans for voting to release a classified memo on activity within the FBI, saying it could endanger intelligence-gathering efforts. "Here's the problem: You can have something that may look innocent to you and I in a report that's based on intelligence data.
As the dust settled Monday on an agreement to reopen the government, the path forward for immigration remained as murky as ever. Democrats and Republicans who worked to break the impasse over the shutdown spun their vote to accept a slightly shorter continuing resolution as a victory because of a commitment to turn to immigration.
A progressive advocacy group claims Democratic lawmakers have voted to deport so-called "Dreamers," young immigrants in the country illegally. "Democrats who just voted to deport Dreamers.
Changes have been made to the existing list of tax-exempt student loan cancellations, after a local lawmaker says a new law will not tax student loans canceled as a result of death or permanent disability as income. The Office of United States Senator Chris Coons says on Tuesday, the Stop Taxing Death and Disabilities Act will eliminate the tax penalty on student loans that are forgiven due to death or permanent disability.
Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins and independent Sen. Angus King say the money is going to the Aroostook Band of Micmacs. It will pay for the construction of a Presque Isle facility that will provide space for different tribal programs.
Federal officials are giving Maine residents affected by a massive power outage more time to enroll for health care under the Affordable Care Act. The Bangor Daily News reports Independent Sen. Angus King shared a letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Friday which says residents could qualify for an extension through a special enrollment period.
U.S. Sen. Angus King is praising the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for funding for three new staff positions in Maine. The VA announcement on Tuesday means there will be a second veterans' justice outreach specialist along with the first re-entry specialist in more than eight years to help veterans confronting homelessness and mental health and substance abuse issues.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, makes her way through a crush of reporters after Republican senators met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, on the GOP effort to overhaul the tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1, 2017. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said on Sunday that it was wrong for the Trump transition team to reach out to Russia over Obama-era sanctions imposed in response to its interference in the U.S. presidential election but that this doesn't prove collusion.