WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans are reviving negotiations over President Joe Biden’s sweeping investment plan. On Tuesday, they prepared a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal that would be funded with COVID-19 relief money as a counteroffer to the White House ahead of a Memorial Day deadline toward a bipartisan deal. White House press secretary Jen Psaki…
ATLANTA (AP) — Liberal activists are stepping up calls on corporate America to denounce Republican efforts to tighten state voting laws. Businesses accustomed to cozy political relationships now find themselves in the middle of a partisan fight over voting rights. Pressure is mounting on leading companies in Texas, Arizona and other states, particularly after Major…
O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Eric Greitens, the former Navy SEAL officer who rose quickly to become Missouri governor before scandal forced him out of office just a year and a half into his tenure, is making a political comeback with a bid for the Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Roy Blunt. Greitens announced…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour has emerged as an early flashpoint in the fight for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. The push to raise the wage is testing President Joe Biden’s ability to bridge Washington’s partisan divides. Some Republicans support exploring an increase in…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are rejecting a Republican pitch to split President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue plan into smaller chunks. Democrats and the White House appear ready to leave their GOP opponents behind and push the sweeping economic and virus aid forward on their own. Despite Biden’s calls for unity, Democrats say the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has all but shut the door on President Donald Trump’s push for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks. The Republican leader says Congress has provided enough pandemic aid and he’s blocked another attempt by Democrats to force a vote. McConnell is unwilling to budge, despite political pressure from Trump…
HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a last-ditch Republican effort to invalidate nearly 127,000 votes in Houston. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s ruling Monday concerned ballots cast at drive-thru polling centers that were established during the pandemic. The lawsuit was brought by conservative Texas activists who have railed against expanded voting access in…
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS , Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith won a divisive Mississippi runoff Tuesday, surviving a video-recorded remark decried as racist and defeating a former federal official who hoped to become the state’s first African-American senator since Reconstruction. The runoff was rocked by the video, in which Hyde-Smith…
By LISA MASCARO , AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress returns to a changed political landscape Tuesday as newly-elected lawmakers arrive in Washington, the parties elect new leadership and incumbents square off for one final legislative sprint before House Democrats take power. Voters swept away eight years of House Republican control in last week’s…
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican leaders say that the person or people who sent explosives to the homes of Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama should be brought to justice. House Speaker Paul Ryan said they were “reprehensible acts” and “we cannot tolerate any attempt to terrorize public figures.” The U.S. Secret Service said…