WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats have taken a major step toward meeting President Joe Biden’s proposals for massive spending on government programs for climate change, health care, family services and more. Lawmakers reached an agreement Tuesday night to pour $3.5 trillion over the next decade into Biden’s proposals. Included is money to expand Medicare coverage…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is preparing to lay out the “moral case” for voting rights as he faces growing pressure from civil rights activists and other Democrats. They want the president to do more to combat efforts by Republican-led state legislatures to restrict access to the ballot. Biden has declared that protecting voting…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pfizer says it plans to meet Monday with top U.S. health officials to discuss the drugmaker’s request for federal authorization of a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine. President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser is acknowledging “it is entirely conceivable, maybe likely” that booster shots will be needed in the coming months.…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will soon have a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery. The House voted 415-14 on Wednesday to make Juneteenth, or June 19th, the 12th federal holiday. The bill goes to President Joe Biden’s desk, and he’s expected to sign it into law. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865,…
GENEVA (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are set to meet for their highly anticipated summit in the Swiss city of Geneva. It’s a moment of high-stakes diplomacy that comes as both leaders agree that U.S.-Russian relations are at an all-time low. For four months, the two leaders have traded sharp…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden wants to imbue Independence Day with new meaning this year by encouraging nationwide celebrations to mark the country’s effective return to normalcy after 16 months of coronavirus pandemic disruption. The White House is expressing growing certainty that July Fourth will serve as a breakthrough moment in the nation’s recovery.…
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson has signed a bill banning local enforcement of federal gun laws. Parson signed the legislation Saturday at a Kansas City-area gun store and shooting range. The measure allows local police departments to be sued and fined $50,000 for every violation. Republicans argued the measure is…
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Health officials and experts in Asia have welcomed U.S. plans to share 500 million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine with the developing world, but some say it would take more than donations alone to address huge vaccination gaps that threaten to prolong the pandemic. President Joe Biden was set…
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Biden administration says it has identified more than 3,900 children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border under former President Donald Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy on illegal crossings. The Family Reunification Task Force report Tuesday provides one of the more detailed accounts of a chapter in U.S. immigration history that…
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Three senators visiting Taiwan say the U.S. will give the self-ruled island 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, part of President Joe Biden’s move to share tens of millions of jabs globally. Taiwan has complained that China is hindering its efforts to secure vaccines as it battles an outbreak. Democratic Sen. Tammy…