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Revised voting rights bill named for John Lewis wins over one GOP senator
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Tuesday she would join Senate Democrats in backing a compromise voting rights bill, marking the first time this year a Republican has signed on to a measure that likely still lacks enough GOP support to become law. Murkowski, of Alaska, joined Democrats Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Richard J. Durbin of […]
Biden calls for ‘decade of action’ on climate, apologizes for Trump exit from Paris Agreement
President Joe Biden urged the international community on Monday to transition to clean energy, curb greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, and help developing nations adapt to a changing climate. Speaking at a pivotal United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Biden said worsening wildfires and once-in-a-century storms hitting every few years show that there’s only […]
No climate deal for Biden as he joins global allies at critical UN conference
President Joe Biden will arrive at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, without new federal programs in hand to fight climate change, after Democrats in Congress failed to reach an agreement to pass his revised $1.75 trillion spending plan. But environmental advocates say they haven’t given up and praised the new proposal […]
Biden’s new public lands chief faced with building bridges after confirmation battle
Before she inspired partisan theatrics in the U.S. Senate as the Bureau of Land Management nominee, Tracy Stone-Manning built a reputation in Montana — her home for more than 30 years — as a consensus-builder. Stone-Manning stood out as an expert at bridging divides between conservationists and loggers, miners and recreational land users, in a […]
Why there’s such an impasse in Congress: Some questions and answers
WASHINGTON – Congress may have kept the federal government operating with an 11th-hour flurry of votes on Thursday, but several key pieces of the Democratic agenda remain in limbo. Here are some questions and answers on where negotiations stand with two massive Democratic-drafted bills — and the status of other looming challenges for federal lawmakers: […]
House Democrats kick off reconciliation process with $30 billion Interior bill
The House Natural Resources Committee on Thursday inched toward approval of a $30 billion bill to fund climate, tribal, and environmental programs. Thursday’s meeting marked the first time a congressional committee considered any piece of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending plan meant to fundamentally change U.S. health, climate, education, and tax policy. Democrats plan to move […]
Biden administration to restart oil and gas leasing
The Interior Department will take significant steps toward restarting its leasing programs for onshore and offshore oil and gas development in the coming months, the Biden administration said in a court filing Tuesday. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management anticipates holding a sale for offshore leases in October or November, the administration said. The Bureau […]
How Congress will attempt the biggest expansion of U.S. social programs since FDR
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate this week passed a massive bipartisan infrastructure bill and an even larger budget blueprint that would pave the way for historic changes in U.S. health, education, climate, and tax policies. The two measures are roped to each other, reflecting Democrats’ strategy to pass what could be bipartisan with Republicans – […]
U.S. Senate OKs $1.2T bipartisan infrastructure bill
The U.S. Senate passed, 69-30, on Tuesday a sweeping, bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, a milestone for one of President Joe Biden’s priorities after months of negotiation. Biden proposed an infrastructure plan in March that would have topped $2 trillion. A bipartisan group of senators led by Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., worked […]
Democrats unite around ‘climate corps’ that could employ youth, prevent fires
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged on Tuesday to include a Civilian Climate Corps in a $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill later this year, as a broad swath of Democrats rallied around a framework of employing thousands of young people to do conservation work. Schumer, D-N.Y., appeared with a handful of congressional Democrats, led by […]