Lawsuit to compel release of Kavanaugh docs inches forward

A lawsuit filed by a Democratic senator from Oregon aiming to compel the Trump administration to release 100,000 pages of documents on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is inching forward in federal court, with an Obama nominee assigned to hear it. Sen. Jeff Merkley's lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in the nation's capital, has been overshadowed by sexual harassment accusations against the nominee, but the case remains alive, with summonses prepared for U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and others, court documents show.

Sen. Jeff Merkley: Republicans will be worse to Christine Blasey Ford than they were to Anita Hill

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Merkley to seek court injunction to delay Kavanaugh vote

A day before the eagerly awaited appearance of embattled U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and one of his female accusers before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Merkley wants to call a time-out. The Oregon Democrat on Wednesday will ask a federal judge for an injunction that will stop the Senate Republicans' hurry-up plan to vote on Kavanaugh's nomination as soon as possible.

In Oregon hazelnut country, tariffs unsettling

Additional 25% levies imposed by China in response to Trump administration's moves will make it difficult for local growers to compete Driving through the Willamette Valley in Oregon, which extends from Portland in the north to Eugene in the south, one can see hazelnut trees as far as the horizon. The area cultivates 99 percent of the hazelnuts grown in the United States on more than 29,560 hectares, yielding a harvest worth $90 million annually for Oregon.

Democrats ask Kavanaugh to withdraw as Republicans cast doubt on second assault allegation

The nation's capital was up late Sunday reacting to news that a second woman had lodged sexual assault accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The story posted in the New Yorker details a party in a Yale University dorm room in the 1980s.

US says transfer from FEMA funds won’t harm…

Trump administration officials pushed back Wednesday against a Democratic senator's claim that nearly $10 million from the government's disaster relief agency was transferred to immigration enforcement. Sen. Jeff Merkley's claim, which came as a monster hurricane barreled toward the Carolinas, was quickly branded by Homeland Security as "a sorry attempt to push a false agenda."

Republicans withdraw Trump nominee for federal appeals court at last minute over race record

In stunning move, Mitch McConnell withdrew the nomination of Ryan Bounds for a federal appeals court seat minutes before a Senate vote Tim Scott, the South Carolina senator who is the Republican's only African-American member of the senate, said he could not vote for Bounds Writings from his time as a Stanford student showed Bounds, 45, had called multicultural groups at the university 'feel-good ethnic hoedowns' In a stunning move, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has withdrawn one of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees just minutes before he was set for a confirmation vote. Trump had nominated the assistant U.S. attorney in Oregon to be a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

McConnell withdraws Trump judicial pick minutes before vote

In this May 15, 2018, file photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pauses as he speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington. In a surprise move, McConnell has withdrawn one of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees just minutes before he was set for a confirmation vote.

HHS claims lawmaker visits could slow down family reunifications

The Department of Health and Human Services is suggesting that arrangements necessary to accommodate members of Congress who want to visit holding facilities at the border could drain resources that would otherwise be used to reunite immigrant families that were separated. In a letter dated Monday to the House and Senate chairmen of the judiciary committees, HHS Assistant Secretary for Legislation Matthew Bassett wrote that an uptick in congressional interest in the facilities has "created resource constraints that are threatening to impact ability to quickly reunite the children in our care with a parent or safely place them with a sponsor."

Attorneys say there’s no access to asylum seekers in Oregon prison

A small group of protesters has set up camp outside the Portland, Oregon headquarters of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to protest the Trump administration's policy of separating families after illegal border crossings. About two dozen protesters gathered Tuesday, June 17, 2018, for a round-the-clock vigil and vowed not to leave until the policy was changed.

Melania Trump makes surprise statement on migrant child separations

Democratic lawmakers vowed Sunday to end the "evil" separation of migrant children from their parents when they are apprehended at the US border, as First Lady Melania Trump made a rare political plea to end the deeply controversial practice. The "zero-tolerance" border security policy implemented by her husband President Donald Trump's administration has sparked outrage on both sides of the political aisle and took on particular resonance as America celebrated Father's Day.

Democratic lawmakers angry with what they saw in South Texas

While dozens of protestors stood outside a Customs and Border Protection processing detention center in McAllen, Texas, in more than 100-degree weather, the officials inside the facility told reporters during their tour that the temperature inside was about 72 degrees. Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who first visited the South Texas border on June 3, described his second visit as more coordinated for Customs and Border Protection officials who gave the tour.

In a Texas Border Patrol facility, children wait in cages

In this photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a U.S. Border Patrol agent watches as people who've been taken into custody related to cases of illegal entry into the United States, stand in line at a facility in McAllen, Texas, Sunday, June 17, 2018. less In this photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a U.S. Border Patrol agent watches as people who've been taken into custody related to cases of illegal entry into the United States, stand in line ... more In this photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, people who've been taken into custody related to cases of illegal entry into the United States, stand in line at a facility in McAllen, Texas, Sunday, June 17, 2018.

Democrats enraged after touring Texas immigration detention facility

Sen. Jeff Merkley, from right, D-Ore., speaks to the media along with fellow Democratic lawmakers Sen. Chris Van Hollen, center, of Maryland., Rep. David Cicilline, of Rhode Island, and Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin in front of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Centralized Processing Center in McAllen, Texas, on June 17, 2018. Sen. Jeff Merkley, from right, D-Ore., speaks to the media along with fellow Democratic lawmakers Sen. Chris Van Hollen, center, of Maryland., Rep. David Cicilline, of Rhode Island, and Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin in front of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Centralized Processing Center in McAllen, Texas, on June 17, 2018.

Closed doors

Something is terribly wrong when a U.S. senator can't get into a facility that is filled with federal detainees, as happened June 3 when Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., arrived at the Southwest Key center on Texas Highway 48 in Brownsville. Victoria Palmer with Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for Children and Families said Merkley arrived unannounced.

The Latest: Wyden: Immigration policy ‘makes zero sense’

The Latest on a visit by Democratic members of Oregon's congressional delegation to a federal prison where immigrants from Latin America are being held : Democratic members of Oregon's congressional delegation visited a federal prison where immigrants from Latin America have been transferred and blasted the Trump administration for separating parents from children. Sen. Ron Wyden said Saturday afternoon that "what we saw over the last hour demonstrates that the Trump 'zero tolerance' policy makes zero sense and shows zero understanding of American values" Around 120 immigrants from Mexico and Central America are reportedly being held at the prison, located 20 miles northwest of Salem, the state capital.

Merkley, Wyden to visit Oregon prison housing immigrants

Democratic members of Oregon's congressional delegation plan to visit a federal prison in Oregon where immigrants from Latin America have been transferred and an attorney seeking to represent the immigrants says they have been denied access to lawyers. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Reps.