Category: Democrat

EPA rejects $1.2B in mine-spill claims

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that it will not repay claims totaling more than $1.2 billion for economic damages from a mine waste spill the agency accidentally triggered in Colorado, saying the law prohibits it. Attorneys for the EPA and the Justice Department concluded that the EPA is barred from paying the claims because of sovereign immunity, which prohibits most lawsuits against the government.

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Off President Obama is urging Americans to “reject a politics” that seeks to create divisions along religious lines. In a presidential proclamation Friday, declaring Jan. 16 Religious Freedom Day – an annual designation – Obama explained that the federal government does not favor one religion over any others.

EPA says it can’t pay economic damages from mine spill

In this Aug. 6, 2015 file photo, Dan Bender, with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, takes a water sample from the Animas River near Durango, Colo. after the accidental release of an estimated 3 million gallons of waste from the Gold King Mine by a crew led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

FILE – In this Jan. 11, 2017 file photo, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga….

As the candidates for chairman of the Democratic National Committee gathered here for a forum Saturday, they wrestled with a vexing question: how to confront the asymmetrical political warfare of President-elect Donald Trump. “If you try to go tweet-to-tweet with him, more often than not you’re not going to succeed,” said Thomas E. Perez, the secretary of labor, warning about going to “a knife fight with a spoon.”

Chicago police DOJ report details incidents of excessive force

JANUARY 13: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson listen as U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks at a press conference on January 13, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. Lynch called the press conference to announce the release of a report which cited widespread abuses by officers in the Chicago police department following a 13-month investigation.

Here are all the lawmakers boycotting Trump’s inauguration

It looks like A-list celebrity performers may not be the only ones skipping President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. While several political figures, including George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton will be in attendance when Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, a number of lawmakers who oppose Trump are refusing to show up.

Betsy DeVos omitted $125,000 anti-union political donation from Senate disclosure form

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team acknowledged Friday that Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s pick for education secretary, omitted a $125,000 political donation from disclosures she submitted to a Senate committee in advance of her confirmation hearing, which is scheduled for Tuesday. “We appreciate this being called to our attention and we will be updating our committee submission,” a transition team spokeswoman said Friday.

Reviewing the other night’s travesties

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan reads from a list of states with increasing health insurance premiums during his weekly news conference in the Capitol Visitors Center at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. Yesterday, January 12, was a shameful day for us in Colorado.

Chicago Public Schools mandate 4 furlough days for staff

In a letter sent Friday to district employees, CPS CEO Forrest Claypool blamed Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a measure providing $215 million in state aid to the district for the action. However, The Chicago Teachers Union says the district’s action is the latest consequence of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s and Claypool’s failure to pursue “progressive revenue for our schools.”

Sen. Markey to vote against Trump attorney general nominee

Sen. Edward Markey says he’ll vote against President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama. The Massachusetts Democrat said Friday that a review of Sessions’ record “demonstrates anything but the type of commitment to the equal and impartial administration of justice that we must demand from the nation’s top law enforcement officer.”

When and where the newest Black Heritage series stamp will be issued

A new nondenominated commemorative forever stamp honoring civil rights advocate Dorothy Height will be issued Feb. 1 at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The stamp, which is the 40th issue in the United States Postal Service’s Black Heritage commemorative series, will be offered in a pane of 20, offset printed by USPS contractor Ashton Potter USA Ltd., of Williamsville, N.Y. The Black Heritage series began in 1978 with a 13A stamp honoring abolitionist Harriet Tubman . One new stamp in the series is issued each year.

Rep. Lewis: ‘I Don’t See Trump as Legitimate’

In an exclusive interview for “Meet the Press,” Rep. John Lewis said he believes Donald Trump’s election is illegitimate because of Russian interference in last year’s election. Asked whether he would try to forge a relationship with the president-elect, Lewis said that he believes in forgiveness, but added, “it’s going to be very difficult.

Lockheed Martin CEO meets with Trump, announces 1,800 more jobs coming to Fort Worth

Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson leaves after a meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida on December 21, 2016. Marillyn Hewson met with President-elect Donald Trump in New York on Friday, and emerged from the meeting promising to reduce the costs of the company’s signature fighter plane and to add 1,800 jobs at its Fort Worth facility.

10 things to know for Friday

If there are going to be fireworks in the Senate over Cabinet nominees, they’re yet to come after nearly one week with various statements from some of the picks contradicting Trump’s own oft-stated positions on issues. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has pushed through some reforms over the year, though the report is likely to call for additional, more sweeping change.

Weird War Over Congress Pig-Cop PaintingBy Matt Laslo

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are supposed to be the grownups in the room, but a spat over a high school student’s painting is revealing their childish tendencies-and the episode could have broad implications for race relations under President Donald J. Trump . Every year high school students across the U.S. compete to get their art hung in the Capitol where it’s on display for the millions of visitors who walk through the complex annually, but this year one young artist’s work has inflamed racial tensions among lawmakers and revived a debate over police tactics.

Trump says buy LL Bean but many products are made in China

Republican President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday urged people to buy from outdoors retailer L.L. Bean – even though many of its products are made in China – as it faces calls for a boycott because of a company heiress’ donations to his candidacy. Trump, in tweeting the endorsement, garnered criticism from the nonpartisan money-in-politics watchdog Every Voice for “personally encouraging his supporters to boost the companies of his super donors.”

Obama adds Alabama civil rights area to Park Service

” President Barack Obama signed an order Thursday designating an historic civil rights district in Alabama as a national monument, placing several blocks of a city once rocked by racial violence on par with landmarks including the Grand Canyon. The National Park Service will now have oversight of a downtown section of Birmingham, Alabama, that was a focal point of civil rights struggles in 1963 against harsh enforcement of laws mandating racial segregation.

CIA nominee Pompeo agrees Russia behind election hacks

Donald Trump’s pick to run the CIA on Thursday sided with intelligence officials who have determined the Kremlin was behind election cyberattacks, and he took a tough stand against Russia, distancing himself from the president-elect, who wants to warm relations with Moscow. Rep. Mike Pompeo, a four-term conservative Kansas Republican, spoke at his confirmation hearing before the Senate intelligence committee amid a testy standoff between Trump and the spy community over Russian activities during the presidential election.

Six children presumed dead in Baltimore fire

A woman and three other children escaped the midnight blaze and were hospitalised as of midday Thursday, fire officials said. The collapse of floors and burning debris at the three-story home in Northeast Baltimore, US, made it difficult for firefighters to fight the fire and search the site, Baltimore City Fire Chief Roman Clark said.

Trump defends L.L. Bean heiress over donations backing him

In this June 2012 photo, Linda Bean speaks to reporters outside the Cabinet Room after a meeting with Maine Gov. Paul LePage at the State House in Augusta, Maine. President-elect Donald Trump urged Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, for people to buy L.L. Bean products as the company faces calls for a boycott because of Linda Bean’s donations to his candidacy.

Chao Coy On ATC Privatization During Confirmation Hearing

Transportation Secretary Designate Elaine Chao faced the Senate Commerce Committee Wednesday for her confirmation hearing, giving few specifics on some pending aviation issues. The FAA’s spending authorization is set to expire on September 30, and the issue of ATC privatization is likely to come up again when Congress debates another long-term spending bill for the agency.

Murkowski holds firm: Ethics review first, then hearing

No Cabinet nominee of President-elect Donald Trump’s will get a confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee without having a completed review by the Office of Government Ethics, a spokeswoman for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican who leads the committee, said.

GA Congressman Sanford Bishop keynote speaker at MLK event

PHENIX CITY, AL Georgia Congressman Sanford Bishop made a stop in the Chattahoochee Valley Saturday as he was the keynote speaker at a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration event. Bishop, a U.S. representative for Georgia’s 2nd congressional district, was the keynote speaker at the Community of Concerned Clergy’s “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration” in Phenix City, Alabama.

GA Congressman Sanford Bishop keynote speaker at MLK event

PHENIX CITY, AL Georgia Congressman Sanford Bishop made a stop in the Chattahoochee Valley Saturday as he was the keynote speaker at a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration event. Bishop, a U.S. representative for Georgia’s 2nd congressional district, was the keynote speaker at the Community of Concerned Clergy’s “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration” in Phenix City, Alabama.

Trump takes questions

US President-elect Donald Trump whispers to his daughter Ivanka during a press conference January 11, 2017 at Trump Tower in New York. Trump held his first news conference in nearly six months Wednesday, amid explosive allegations over his ties to Russia, a little more than a week before his inauguration.

Alabama lawmaker: Democrats’ criticism of Trump pick Sessions is…

A Republican lawmaker on Wednesday came to defense of fellow Alabaman Jeff Sessions, saying attacks on the potential attorney general by Democrats who object to him is part of their “war on whites.” Speaking on Alabama’s WBHP 800, Rep. Mo Brooks , made his comments on the same day that civil rights pioneer and fellow House member John Lewis and Sen. Corey Booker spoke out against the controversial lawmaker.