WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are rallying solidly against Democrats’ proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. But even as they do, lawmakers are awaiting a decision by the Senate’s parliamentarian that could bolster or potentially kill a pivotal provision hiking the federal minimum wage. Democrats plan to push the sweeping package through the House on Friday.…
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — States are not willing to wait for more federal help and have been moving ahead with their own coronavirus relief packages. Maryland and California recently approved help for small businesses, the poor, the jobless and those needing child care. New Mexico and Pennsylvania are funneling grants directly to cash-starved businesses. The…
HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge has indefinitely banned President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a 100-day moratorium on most deportations. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton late Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction sought by Texas, which argued the moratorium violated federal law and risked imposing additional costs on the state. Biden proposed the 100-day pause…
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities and Tiger Woods’ manager say the golf star has suffered leg injuries in a vehicle rollover in the Los Angeles area and is undergoing surgery. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says Woods had to be extricated from the vehicle Tuesday with the so-called jaws of life tools. No other…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former security officials are testifying publicly for the first time about the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, casting blame on the Pentagon, the intelligence community and each other. Congress is hearing from the former security officials about what went wrong when a violent mob laid siege to the Capitol and interrupted…
WASHINGTON (AP) — With sunset remarks and a national moment of silence, President Joe Biden has offered a head-on acknowledgement of the country’s once-unimaginable loss — half a million Americans in the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden addressed what he called a “grim, heartbreaking milestone” directly and publicly, speaking from a lectern in the White House Cross…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, vowed on Monday to prioritize civil rights, combat extremist attacks and ensure the Justice Department remains politically independent. Garland appeared Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee and faced questions about the investigation of Biden’s son Hunter as well as the fallout from the…
(AP) — The U.S. stands at the brink of 500,000 deaths from the coronavirus. A year into the pandemic, America’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, calls the looming milestone horrible and historic. The running total of lives lost, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, was about 498,000 on Sunday. That’s roughly the population…
DALLAS (AP) — Higher temperatures are spreading across the southern United States, bringing some relief to a region weary of winter. The region faces a challenging clean-up and expensive repairs from days of extreme cold and widespread power outages. In hard-hit Texas, where millions were warned to boil tap water before drinking it, the warm-up…
LONDON (AP) — Buckingham Palace has confirmed that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will not be returning to royal duties, and Harry will give up his honorary military titles. Harry and Meghan stepped away from full-time royal life in early 2020, and it was agreed at the time that the situation would be reviewed…