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AP Decision Notes: What to expect in the Texas primary runoffs
Read full article: AP Decision Notes: What to expect in the Texas primary runoffsTexas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton are looking to settle political scores within their own party in the upcoming primary runoff elections, in which voters will decide nearly three dozen unresolved races from the state’s March 5 primary.
Senate passes $1.2 trillion funding package in early morning vote, ending threat of partial shutdown
Read full article: Senate passes $1.2 trillion funding package in early morning vote, ending threat of partial shutdownThe Senate has passed a $1.2 trillion package of spending bills that pushes any new threats of a government shutdown into the fall.
In post-Roe era, House Republicans begin quiet push for new restrictions on abortion access
Read full article: In post-Roe era, House Republicans begin quiet push for new restrictions on abortion accessHouse Republicans are pushing new restrictions on abortion access and trying to build on the work of activists whose strategy successfully elevated the abortion fight to the Supreme Court.
Government shutdown warnings rise as Republicans seek deeper cuts in budget battle
Read full article: Government shutdown warnings rise as Republicans seek deeper cuts in budget battleHouse Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s bid to appease hard-liners in his caucus and get the House moving again has some Democratic worried about the road ahead when it comes time to passing legislation to keep the government running.
Arizona congressman tests positive for virus; 2nd this week
Read full article: Arizona congressman tests positive for virus; 2nd this week(Bonnie Cash/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON The chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee said Saturday he tested positive for the coronavirus days after he sat close to another member of the panel, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, who also tested positive. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said in a statement that he has the virus but, like Gohmert, has no symptoms. He is at least the 11th member of Congress known to have tested positive for the coronavirus. Grijalva went into isolation after Gohmert tested positive on Wednesday, since the two had sat close to each other at a Natural Resources hearing the day before. The White House tests anyone who will be in close proximity to the president, which is how Gohmert found out he had the virus.
Despite COVID crisis, Congress seeks to do its day job
Read full article: Despite COVID crisis, Congress seeks to do its day jobOn Friday, the House passed a $259 billion funding bill for foreign aid and the Interior, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs departments along party lines. The measure is the first annual spending measure to pass either the House or Senate this year, but it has scant chance of becoming law, serving instead as a springboard for negotiations down the line. And if Trump loses the election, Democrats are likely to wait until the Biden administration is in place before wrapping up the annual bills, which fund the annual operations of federal Cabinet agencies. The Senate Appropriations panel canceled plans for drafting its 12 annual bills after Democrats served notice they would offer amendments on COVID relief and policing reform that Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., deemed too politically troublesome. As a result, Congress is likely to return to Washington in September to handle a stopgap funding bill that would last until December to prevent a campaign season government shutdown.
House passes Puerto Rico aid in face of Trump veto threat
Read full article: House passes Puerto Rico aid in face of Trump veto threatIn this Friday, Jan. 10 photo, children play on a hay farm where residents from the Indios neighborhood of Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, have set up shelter after earthquakes and amid aftershocks in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. But the White House has promised to veto the legislation, charging the island's government of mismanagement and weak financial controls. Puerto Rico's non-voting congressional delegate, Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, a Republican, urged Democrats to look for common ground in hopes of getting agreement on an aid package the White House might accept. A White House veto threat took note of huge balances of unspent aid. But he has feuded with Democratic elected officials in Puerto Rico and has supported aid to the island after the urging of GOP office holders such as Florida GOP Sens.