SHOCKING: 20 - What They Never Told You

When Washington politicians can’t go home again

ANALYSIS — While Republicans and Democrats battle for control of Washington this year, Washington has become a scarlet letter for members of both parties vying to be their state’s next governor.  Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet was just the latest member of Congress to fail in a gubernatorial attempt when he…

Roll Call · Jul 1

Syringe services in limbo under Trump, risking hepatitis C progress

​A decade after Congress first allowed federal funding to support clean needle programs, the Trump administration is backing off that policy, potentially risking progress made against hepatitis C, a deadly but curable virus mostly spread by people who inject drugs. The administration now says funding can no longer support programs such as…

Roll Call · Jul 1

SCOTUS term marked by shifts to the right, some checks on Trump

The Supreme Court capped its term Tuesday with one decision overturning a long-standing campaign finance limit and another turning aside President Donald Trump’s attempt to unilaterally change birthright citizenship —  a day, experts said, that exemplified this year at the court. Throughout the term, they said the conservative-controlled court continued…

Roll Call · Jul 1

Recess to start early in House after GOP frustration boils over

House Republican leaders are giving up on trying to put the pieces back together for a rule needed to take up a raft of pre-recess legislative priorities after a group of GOP rebels blocked the procedural measure earlier, largely over lack of movement on voter ID requirements. The decision to…

Roll Call · Jun 30

Billions in rural broadband funds still on hold

Funds totaling about $20 billion delayed under the federal rural broadband internet program will be subject to new guidance “this summer,” the agency head overseeing the project said Tuesday. National Telecommunications and Information Administration leader Arielle Roth gave lawmakers that timeline at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, where…

Roll Call · Jun 30

Supreme Court says Library of Congress official can stay in job

The Supreme Court allowed Shira Perlmutter to continue to serve as register of copyrights for the Library of Congress in an order issued Tuesday, denying a request from the Trump administration to remove her while she fights her firing in court. The two-sentence decision leaves open the issue of whether…

Roll Call · Jun 30

Supreme Court strikes down campaign coordination limits

The Supreme Court overturned a key campaign finance restriction in a decision issued Tuesday, clearing the way for political parties nationwide to spend unlimited amounts on behalf of candidates in federal elections. The 6-3 decision came in a challenge from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, as well as Vice President…

Roll Call · Jun 30

Supreme Court ends Trump’s birthright citizenship change

The Supreme Court on Tuesday wiped out President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to redefine birthright citizenship, an effort to restrict American citizenship without Congress that cut against more than a century of legal precedent. The 6-3 decision, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. writing a five-justice majority opinion,…

Roll Call · Jun 30

Tom Kean returns to DC after months away and 140 missed votes

Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr. returned to the Capitol on Tuesday after an almost four-month-long absence, citing treatment for depression as the reason for his disappearance.  In a brief speech on the House floor, the New Jersey Republican described himself as a private person. “Talking about myself has never come…

Roll Call · Jun 30

Supreme Court backs state transgender athlete bans

The Supreme Court backed state laws banning transgender girls from participating in scholastic girls’ sports in a decision issued Tuesday, upholding a legal argument used by the Trump administration in seeking to ban transgender athletes nationwide. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, in a majority opinion that turned aside challenges to West…

Roll Call · Jun 30