Politics Election category, Page 225
Rep. Conor Lamb preparing to launch Senate run in August
WASHINGTON — Rep. Conor Lamb is expected to launch a Senate campaign in August, according to three sources familiar with the Pennsylvania Democrat’s decision. Two sources said Lamb is planning a campaign event Aug. 6 at an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall in Pittsburgh, with one source noting...
Infrastructure deal: Senate votes to start work on $1T billVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Wednesday night to begin work on a nearly $1 trillion national infrastructure plan after President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators reached agreement on major provisions of the package that is a key part of his presidential agenda. Biden welcomed the accord as...
Biden mileage rule to exceed Obama climate goal
WASHINGTON — In a major step against climate change, President Joe Biden is proposing a return to aggressive Obama-era vehicle mileage standards over five years. He’s then aiming for even tougher anti-pollution rules after that to forcefully reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nudge 40% of U.S. drivers into electric vehicles...
White House shifts messaging on inflation as Republicans attack
WASHINGTON — The White House is shifting the way it talks about inflation, as polls show increasing voter concern and Republicans try to use rising prices to kill off President Joe Biden’s sweeping plans to spend trillions of dollars on social programs and infrastructure projects. Out: wonky words such as...
Pelosi appoints 2nd GOP critic of Trump to Jan. 6 committee
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday named a second Republican critic of Donald Trump, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, to a special committee investigating the Capitol riot and pledged that the Democratic-majority panel will “get to the truth.” Kinzinger said he “humbly accepted” the appointment even as his party’s leadership...
Beware of budget gimmicks in push for massive spending deals
WASHINGTON — Senators fashioning a pair of colossal bills that would deliver more than $4 trillion for infrastructure, health care, environment and other initiatives insist they will fully pay for both plans. Will they? In a Washington ritual as reliable as panic-buying when light snow is forecast, both parties have...
Pa. GOP strategist running for governor being investigated for fatal crash on Turnpike
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Gerow was involved in a crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Chester County this week...
Mississippi argues Supreme Court should overturn Roe v. Wade
JACKSON, Miss. — The U.S. Supreme Court should overturn its landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide and let states decide whether to regulate abortion before a fetus can survive outside the womb, the office of Mississippi’s Republican attorney general argued in papers filed Thursday with the high court. “Under...
House passes bill to authorize 8,000 more visas for Afghan allies
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation to authorize an additional 8,000 special immigrant visas for Afghan interpreters, contractors and other vulnerable U.S. allies. The bill would also expand eligibility to family members of SIV applicants who have been killed, as well as Afghans who worked with certain...
Gov. Tom Wolf says his position on voter ID has not changed
LOGANVILLE — With talks on wider election-related legislation at a standstill, Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday that his position on expanding Pennsylvania’s voter identification requirements has not changed, and that he is against anything that would “suppress the vote.” An expansion of Pennsylvania’s voter ID requirements became one of the...
Senate bill would require women to register for the draft
WASHINGTON — The Senate Armed Services Committee included language in its version of the fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act to require women, for the first time, to register for the draft. Congress has debated for several years whether to require women to sign up with the Selective Service, as...
Infrastructure bill fails first vote; Senate to try again
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans rejected an effort Wednesday to begin debate on the big infrastructure deal that a bipartisan group of senators brokered with President Joe Biden. But supporters in both parties remained hopeful of a better chance soon. Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York had scheduled the...
Pa. Republicans will reintroduce vetoed election bill now that Gov. Tom Wolf says he’s open to voter ID changes
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Republicans plan to reintroduce their election overhaul legislation — which Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed last month — now that Wolf has changed his public position to say he’s open to new voter ID requirements. Wolf had said that changes to the state’s voter ID rules were...
GOP may boycott Jan. 6 probe after Pelosi blocks members
WASHINGTON — House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy says the GOP won’t participate in a House investigation of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol if Democrats won’t accept the members he appointed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected two of McCarthy’s five picks to the panel, Indiana Rep. Jim...
Pelosi moves to block Trump allies from Jan. 6 committee
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is rejecting two Republicans tapped by House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, citing the “integrity” of the probe. Pelosi said in a statement Wednesday that she would not accept the appointments of Indiana Rep....
Seemingly safe GOP incumbents under attack from right-wing
OKLAHOMA CITY — Republican U.S. Sen. James Lankford would seem to have all the conservative credentials he’d need to coast to reelection in deep-red Oklahoma. A devout Baptist, Lankford was the director of the nation’s largest Christian youth camp for more than a decade. He speaks out regularly against abortion...
Federal appeals court nixes Indiana’s voter registration purge law
INDIANAPOLIS — A federal appeals court has sided with opponents of an Indiana law aimed at having elections officials immediately purge voter registrations for people who appear to have registered in another state. The decision released Monday upholds an order issued by an Indianapolis-based judge that blocked the law enacted...
U.S. Rep. Greene: Twitter timeout is ‘Communist-style’ attack
ATLANTA — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene blasted social media companies over her temporary suspension from Twitter on Tuesday, calling it “a Communist-style attack on free speech.” Twitter imposed the 12-hour timeout on Monday, saying some of her tweets violated its policy against spreading misinformation that could cause harm during the...
Kevin McCarthy proposes 5 Republicans to sit on Jan. 6 panel
WASHINGTON — House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has picked five Republicans to sit on the new select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, signaling that Republicans will participate in the investigation that they have staunchly opposed. McCarthy has selected Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, who recently visited...
Biden wants spending to boost economy, but GOP to block vote
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday that his infrastructure and families agenda must be passed to sustain the economic momentum of his first six months in office, aiming to set the tone for a crucial week of congressional negotiations on the two bills. But a Wednesday deadline set by...
Biden hosts Jordan’s king amid tough choices in Mideast
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set to host King Abdullah II of Jordan during one of the most difficult moments of the Jordanian leader’s 22-year rule and at a pivotal time in the Middle East for Biden. Abdullah arrives Monday afternoon at the White House. Last week a Jordanian...
Biden meets with Germany’s Merkel as her long dominance on Europe’s stage draws to an endVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the White House on Thursday for what will likely be the final visit of one of America’s foremost allies before she leaves the post she’s held for 16 years, through four U.S. presidencies. The two leaders, whose countries are...
Trump opines on coup while rejecting fears about his actionsVideo
Former President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that he wouldn’t have used the military to illegally seize control of the government after his election loss. But he suggested that if he had tried to carry out a coup, it wouldn’t have been with his top military adviser. In a lengthy statement,...
Ex-Tennessee health official: State backed off vaccine pushVideo
NASHVILLE — Tennessee health officials will not acknowledge that August is National Immunization Awareness Month per an order from the state’s health commissioner, emails show. The order, obtained by NewsChannel 5, was given to Tennessee’s former top vaccination chief earlier this month just days before she was fired amid Republican...
House Republicans post record fundraising ahead of 2022 race
WASHINGTON — The committee charged with helping Republicans wrest control of the House in 2022 raised $45.4 million over the past three months, a record quarterly haul during a year without a national election. That total was bolstered by $20.1 million raised in June, the highest ever monthly off-year total,...
