Category: US Governors

Senate in round-the-clock session to confirm Trump Cabinet

Democrats announced plans Monday to hold the Senate floor around the clock to protest Republicans’ push to confirm President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks. Democrats’ effort got under way as the Senate headed toward a showdown vote Tuesday on Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos, a wealthy GOP donor who has advocated for alternatives to public education.

Gas pump advertising campaign targets Indiana fuel tax hike

A trade association will soon adorn gas pumps across Indiana with ads opposing a Republican plan to use higher fuel taxes to pay for infrastructure repairs, a tricky sell in a conservative state much more accustomed to cutting taxes than raising them. The ads at gas pumps, filling stations and convenience stores will include the contact information for state lawmakers, a hardball tactic urging motorists to voice their opposition to the plan that would raise fuel prices by at least a dime a gallon.

The Latest: Democrat backs agriculture secretary nominee

President Donald Trump’s nominee for agriculture secretary, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, has already won the support of one farm-state Democrat. If confirmed, Perdue would be the first agriculture secretary from the South in more than two decades, and farm politics in Congress often fall along regional lines.

Lawmakers Gather For Ceremony, Week 1 At Nevada Legislature

Nevada legislators are converging on Carson City to start the biennial lawmaking process Monday and resolve budget conflicts that could be seriously complicated by efforts in Washington, D.C., to roll back the Affordable Care Act. Democrats will control both legislative chambers, holding an 11-9-1 majority in the state Senate and a 27-15 majority in the Assembly.

Sen. Manchin Presses For Bipartisanship in Increasingly Bitter DC

With the political infighting becoming increasingly bitter, West Virginia’s Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said he is trying to forge a different path and do what is good for the country, emphasizing that “this toxic atmosphere is not for me.” In an interview with The Daily Caller , Manchin insisted that “Whoever my president is I want to do well,” saying that although “There are red states and there are blue states, hopefully we are all still red, white and blue.”

Pence defends Trump’s comparison of Putin to Americans

Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday defended President Trump ‘s comments in which he appeared to draw parallels between the United States and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We now have a president who is reengaging a world from which America has been stepping back over the last eight years,” the former Indiana governor said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Indiana seeks to continue Medicaid expansion program

Gov. Eric Holcomb has requested the renewal of a federal waiver that allows Indiana’s Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 to serve hundreds of thousands of low-income Hoosiers. The request begins an eight-month process with the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that is expected to go smoothly under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Budget, teacher pay, Real ID face 2017 Oklahoma Legislature

Oklahoma lawmakers will be confronted by familiar issues Monday when they convene the 2017 Oklahoma Legislature: a nearly $870 million state budget shortfall, teacher salaries that have not been increased since 2008, complying with a divisive federal anti-terrorism law involving identification cards and relieving pressure on the state’s overcrowded prisons. Leaders of the Republican-controlled House and Senate say they will focus on their priorities during the four-month legislative session.

Christie ‘Really Willing Partner’ in Defunding Sanctuary Cities

Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., never made it into President Donald Trump’s Cabinet after being fired as head of the transition, but he vowed to be a “really willing partner” of Trump’s potential federal defunding of “sanctuary cities” in his state. “The fact is that those folks should be enforcing federal law, and the federal government has to give tools to the states to be able to help them have the enforcement of federal law,” Christie told Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” on Thursday night.

US judge temporarily blocks Trump’s travel ban nationwide

In this Jan. 30, 2017 file photo, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, right, speaks in Seattle as Gov. Jay Inslee, left, looks on, during a news conference. Ferguson announced that he is suing President Donald Trump over an executive order that suspended immigration from seven countries with majority-Muslim populations and sparked nationwide protests.

Appellate court says Uber drivers are independent contracts, not employees

Siding with the San Francisco-based technology giant, a Florida appeals court Wednesday upheld a decision by Gov. Rick Scott’s administration that Uber drivers are independent contractors – not employees – and therefore not eligible for unemployment benefits. The unanimous decision by the three-judge panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeals stems from an unemployment claim filed in 2015 by Darrin McGillis, who spent five months as an Uber driver before the company dropped him.

Sierra Nevada snowfall is at the heaviest in 22 years

Ivanka looks somber as Nordstrom dumps her fashion line from stores and online in response to boycott by thousands of women over the election… but Jared is all smiles as he meets Queen Rania Husband admits stabbing his pregnant wife to death in front of their two children after she begged her church, the police and relatives for protection from his abuse for months Can this Twitter account predict the future? Mysterious social media handle appears to have called Brexit, Trump and Beyonce being pregnant Why noisy eating can frazzle your brain: Scans find that people who become annoyed at chewing or have an abnormality in the organ Woman, 19, was ‘robbed, strangled and thrown off a 50ft bridge by her two FRIENDS’ before her body was swept out to sea and never recovered White man who shot NFL star Joe McKnight in road rage attack is charged with murder after outrage over police who … (more)

Nikki Haley just delivered the Trump administration’s most hawkish words yet toward Russia

The US ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday delivered the Trump administration’s strongest words toward Russia since Trump took office. UN ambassador Nikki Haley declared that existing US sanctions would stay in place against Russia stemming from its annexation of the peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine, amid renewed fighting in the eastern part of the country this week.

Trump at National Prayer Breakfast: ‘Pray for Arnold’

President Donald Trump veered off script at the start of the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday when he asked a room full of lawmakers, foreign dignitaries and religious leaders to pray for Arnold Schwarzenegger so that ratings of his show — NBC’s “The Apprentice” — would go up. Trump, who lauded the six-decade long traditional gathering as a “testament to the power of faith” was introduced by Mark Burnett, the television producer who teamed up with Trump to create “The Apprentice.”

American Indian activist arrested in pipeline protest

In this Dec. 3, 2016, file photo, law enforcement vehicles line a road leading to a blocked bridge next to the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D. North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, that the Acting Secretary of the Army has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with an easement necessary to complete the Dakota Access pipeline.

Skoal recall tobacco can after metal objects are found

Chicago high school football team is sued over sick alleged hazing of new players who were ‘sodomized with broomsticks, urinated on and forced to perform oral sex in the locker room’ Mike Pence may have to cast tie-breaking Senate vote to get controversial education pick Betsy deVos confirmed after two Republicans say they won’t support her Some varieties of Skoal, Copenhagen, Cope and Husky brand smokeless tobacco are being voluntarily recalled amid complaints of metal objects, some of them sharp, being spotted in dozens of cans. All of the recalled products were manufactured at US Smokeless Tobacco Company’s facility in Franklin Park, Illinois, and distributed nationally, according to the FDA.

Why Democrats are Panicking: Gov. Walker: White House interested in…

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday that he spoke with Vice President Mike Pence about how the White House can implement on a federal level parts of the Republican governor’s contentious policy that all-but eliminated collective bargaining for public sector unions in the state. President Donald Trump has talked about wanting to weaken collective bargaining protections for federal employees, most of whom can’t currently bargain over wages or benefits, to make it easier to hire and fire government workers and base pay on merit rather than tenure.

76 protesters arrested at Dakota pipeline site

Seventy-six people were arrested Wednesday during renewed clashes over the Dakota Access Pipeline, as the Trump administration moves to speed the pipeline-approval process. The people were attempting to create a new campsite on private property as the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, along with the North Dakota Governor’s office and local law enforcement, worked to clean up the main protest site before spring floodwaters rise and wash trash and other debris into the Missouri River.

Senate confirms ex-Exxon CEO Tillerson as top US diplomat

The US Senate confirmed Rex Tillerson as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state on Wednesday, filling a key spot on the Republican’s national security team despite concerns about the former Exxon Mobil chief executive officer’s ties to Russia. In the vote, 56 senators backed Tillerson, and 43 voted no.

Senator: Army Corps told to clear way for Dakota Access construction

The acting secretary of the Army has instructed federal officials to issue the easement necessary to build a controversial segment of the Dakota Access pipeline, Sen. John Hoeven Senator: Army Corps told to clear way for Dakota Access construction Republicans who oppose, support Trump refugee order Cabinet picks boost 2018 Dems MORE “The Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer informed us that he has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with the easement needed to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Hoeven said in a Tuesday night statement. “This will enable the company to complete the project, which can and will be built with the necessary safety features to protect the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others downstream.”

California lawmakers eye immigration measures to fight Trump

Democrats in the California Senate ramped up their fight Tuesday against President Donald Trump, advancing bills that would create a statewide sanctuary for people in the country illegally, provide money to pay lawyers for immigrants facing deportation and hamper any attempt to create a Muslim registry. The moves in the nation’s largest state – home to an estimated 2.3 million immigrants without legal authorization – came days after Trump launched his crackdown on immigration and sanctuary cities across the nation.

Mike DeWine and Jon Husted tie for fundraising lead as race for Ohio governor enters early phase

We have some early hints about the fundraising strength of several Ohio gubernatorial prospects and others considering bids for statewide office in 2018. Campaign finance reports submitted before a Tuesday afternoon deadline show that Attorney General Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Jon Husted — two top-tier Republicans preparing to run for governor — each entered 2017 with about $2.5 million on hand.

Joe Manchin opposes Trump travel restrictions, says it defies common sense

Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, distanced himself Monday from President Trump’s ban on travel from seven countries scattered across the Middle East and North Africa, saying the executive order defied common sense. Mr. Manchin has cast himself as a potential bridge between the Obama administration and Democrats on Capitol Hill, but said that after reviewing Mr. Trump’s executive order, he could not support the White House.