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U.S. House Oversight chair’s agenda: Hunter Biden, COVID origins, classified documents
WASHINGTON – House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer on Monday previewed his priorities for this Congress, which he says will include a heavy focus on the handling of classified documents, the origins of the COVID-19 virus, and what he described as possible “influence peddling” by Hunter Biden. The Kentucky Republican addressed reporters and […]
U.S. House GOP takes aim at fake pills containing deadly fentanyl sold on social media
WASHINGTON – On a June 2020 morning, Amy Neville entered her son’s bedroom to wake him for an orthodontist appointment. Fourteen-year-old Alex didn’t wake up. He died of fentanyl poisoning after taking a counterfeit pill he bought from someone he met on Snapchat, Neville told GOP lawmakers Wednesday during a roundtable discussion of the role […]
Classified material found in the Indiana home of former VP Mike Pence
WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Mike Pence is the latest top public official to have been discovered possessing classified material in his personal home, according to a letter his lawyer sent to the National Archives. A dozen documents with classified markings were discovered in Pence’s residence in Carmel, Indiana, in mid-January. The former vice president […]
White House says DOJ had ‘unprecedented access’ to Biden home during search
WASHINGTON – Department of Justice officials had “unprecedented access” to every room in President Joe Biden’s Delaware home Friday during a search that followed several days of disclosures that classified material from the Obama era had been found in Biden’s garage and think tank office, White House officials said Monday. The historic 13-hour search of […]
Ukrainians by the thousands arrive in states, but with a time limit
WASHINGTON – As the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches next month, Ukrainians who were welcomed to the United States under a special program offering an escape from war are watching another timeline. The temporary Uniting for Ukraine program, sometimes called U4U, offers a two-year stay in the U.S., given that individuals […]
U.S. House Republicans roll out a slew of new committee chairs to steer agenda
WASHINGTON – U.S. House Republicans filled their top committee seats this week, choosing the leaders who will set the course for bills and issues for the new majority in the 118th Congress. The top gavels were doled out Monday by “making sure that our committees are represented by a full swath of our membership,” Majority […]
U.S. House GOP backs rules plan without disclosing deals made with hard-right members
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House adopted rules for the 118th Congress on Monday, though several of the concessions Speaker Kevin McCarthy made with more conservative members of the Republican Party to secure the gavel weren’t included in the document, or publicly circulated ahead of the vote. The 55-page rules package the House voted nearly party-line […]
U.S. House GOP backs McCarthy as speaker after tense and chaotic late-night session
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House elected Kevin McCarthy speaker early Saturday after most of the chamber’s Republicans finally gathered behind him, ending a four-day stalemate that led to the most rounds of voting for a speaker since before the Civil War. The California Republican was able to clinch the gavel on the 15th ballot by […]
McCarthy flips GOP holdouts as his campaign for U.S. House speaker gathers speed
WASHINGTON – Kevin McCarthy’s campaign to become speaker of the U.S. House will stretch into at least Friday night, as the California Republican inched ahead in his struggle to unite his divided party around his candidacy and an overhaul of rules under which the chamber will operate. “We’ll come back tonight, and I believe at […]
U.S. House stuck for a third day as Republicans struggle to unite around a speaker
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House slogged through more votes for speaker Thursday, with Republicans unable to reach consensus about whether Kevin McCarthy should lead them during the 118th Congress, or if another lawmaker should win the gavel. Twenty-one Republicans voted against McCarthy during the third day, signaling that ongoing closed-door negotiations and talks on the […]
U.S. House paralyzed following second day of GOP failure to elect a speaker
This story was updated on Jan. 4 at 5:45 p.m. and again at 9:45 p.m. WASHINGTON — The U.S. House adjourned without a speaker for the second day in a row Wednesday as Republicans’ stalemate over who should lead the chamber for the next two years dragged on, with Kevin McCarthy failing to get the […]
Conservatives in U.S. House tank McCarthy bid to be speaker on multiple ballots
This story was updated on Jan. 3 at 3:50 p.m. and again at 6:15 p.m. WASHINGTON – Republican control of the U.S. House got off to a rocky start Tuesday when the party was unable to decide who should become speaker amid a sharp disagreement within the party’s more conservative faction. California Rep. Kevin McCarthy […]