Senate Democrats are preparing to unveil sweeping legislation in the days ahead on how to keep the government running for the next fiscal year, even as negotiators already write off chances of the chamber’s annual appropriations bills passing by the current Sept. 30 deadline to avoid a shutdown. Negotiators say they’re on track to release…
Author: Aris Folley
House approves over $400 billion of government funding in ‘minibus’ package
The House on Wednesday passed a sprawling spending package for the coming fiscal year, approving more than $400 billion in government spending ahead of the coming August recess. The lower chamber voted 220 to 207 in a largely party-line vote to pass the so-called “minibus” package, which contains six spending bills providing fiscal 2023 funding…
GOP ramps up efforts to rein in Biden on student debt
Republicans have been ramping up efforts to rein in the Biden administration’s ability to cancel student loan debt, arguing such plans are “wildly inflationary” and would only contribute to climbing prices. Since the Biden administration extended a nationwide pause on federal student loan payments and interest accrual in the spring, Republicans in both chambers have…
Harris makes galvanizing pitch to sorority sisters on voting rights, abortion ahead of midterms
Vice President Kamala Harris made a galvanizing pitch to thousands of her sorority sisters in Florida on Thursday, encouraging them to take action ahead of the critical midterm races in November. “We need two additional United States senators to protect voting rights. We need two additional United States senators to protect a woman’s right to…
Yellen: Inflation is ‘unacceptably high’
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen described U.S. inflation rates as “unacceptably high” on Thursday, adding that it is the Biden administration’s “top economic priority to bring it down.” Consumer price data released by the Labor Department on Wednesday showed inflation hit new heights last month. The consumer price index (CPI), a benchmark to measure inflation, rose…
Democrats push reconciliation as tool to fight inflation
Some Democrats are arguing that a revival of President Biden’s legislative agenda, parts of which aim to raise taxes on some high-income individuals and cut prescription drug costs, could help address the highest inflation in decades. Recent data released by the Labor Department shows prices up 9.1 percent compared with a year ago, the highest…
Senate negotiators aim to unveil government funding bills by end of July
Senate negotiators are planning to unveil their annual government appropriations bills by the end of the month, as lawmakers struggle to hash out a larger bipartisan deal on how to fund the government amid disagreements over defense spending. A spokesperson for the Senate Appropriations Committee confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that appropriators are working…
House to vote on sweeping government funding bills next week
The House will vote next week on more than half a trillion dollars in proposed spending to keep the government running as leaders work to pass their annual funding bills before lawmakers are set for recess next month. The lower chamber is scheduled to take up six of its dozen annual spending bills next week…
Democrats press Biden to use ‘existing authority’ to take step toward marijuana legalization
Democratic senators are putting pressure on the Biden administration to use its authority to deschedule cannabis, as a Senate proposal to legalize marijuana faces an uphill battle. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and others on Wednesday sent a letter calling on the Biden administration to “use its existing authority to…
Republicans scoff as Dems try to close Gitmo again
Democrats are reviving their efforts to shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, but the push faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Republicans are already writing it off as doomed. In the past month, House Democrats have advanced legislation seeking to close the facility in Cuba as part of a larger annual defense spending…