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More than 1,500 books have been banned in public schools, and a U.S. House panel asks why
WASHINGTON — A U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee panel on Thursday examined why thousands of books, predominantly written by marginalized authors, have been banned from public schools, and the impact of those actions on students and teachers. “Most books being targeted for censorship are books that introduce ideas about diversity or our common humanity, […]
U.S. House Democrats applaud end of public health order restricting immigration
WASHINGTON — Democrats at a U.S. House Homeland Security panel hearing on Wednesday praised the end of a Trump-era policy that turned away migrants pleading for asylum at the border. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that the so-called Title 42 policy, enacted on public health grounds at the beginning of the […]
Pause on federal student loan repayments extended by Biden through Aug. 31
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration Wednesday announced its plans to extend the pause on federal student loan repayments until the end of August. “I recognized in recently extending the COVID-19 national emergency, we are still recovering from the pandemic and the unprecedented economic disruption it caused,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “If loan […]
Biden administration to halt pandemic policy blocking migrants who claim asylum
WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday the government will terminate a Trump-era policy that prevented migrants from claiming asylum during a health crisis, including the coronavirus pandemic. The policy will end on May 23, the CDC wrote in its notice. “There is no longer a serious danger that the entry […]
Insulin price cap approved by U.S. House as Georgia’s Warnock pushes for Senate passage
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Thursday passed a bill on a bipartisan 232-193 vote that would limit the price of insulin, as congressional Democrats met throughout the day with health care advocates to make their case for the proposal. Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Patty Murray of Washington state held a virtual […]
Biden signs law named for Emmett Till that makes lynching a federal hate crime
WASHINGTON — Nearly 70 years after 14-year-old Emmett Till was kidnapped and murdered in Mississippi by two white men, President Joe Biden signed into law on Tuesday a bill to make lynching a federal hate crime. “Lynching was pure terror to enforce the lie that not everyone belongs in America,” Biden said at the Rose […]
Biden lays out a ‘fund the police’ budget plan
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is requesting billions in its fiscal 2023 budget from Congress to fund police departments, despite progressive Democrats’ calls for some of that spending to be reallocated to social services. President Joe Biden’s budget request to Congress unveiled Monday asks for $30 billion for state and local governments to add more […]
New process for asylum cases at the border unveiled by Biden administration
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Thursday steps to expedite asylum cases at the U.S.-Mexico border in an attempt to resolve a years-long backlog, but policy advocates worry the streamlined process could prevent asylum seekers from obtaining legal representation if their cases are denied. “If somebody is not approved in the first instance, they’re going […]
GOP senators attack and interrupt in final day of questioning U.S. Supreme Court nominee
WASHINGTON — In the third day of hearings Wednesday on the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, several Republicans on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee interrogated her about sentences she handed down for child pornography offenses, disagreeing vehemently with her judicial decisions. Republicans grilled her with questions she had already answered […]
Here’s what senators said on the first day of the U.S. Supreme Court hearings
WASHINGTON — The 22 members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee each had 10 minutes on Monday to make opening statements about the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s what some had to say: Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said that Republicans on the […]
Most HBCU bomb threats may be coming from one juvenile, FBI official tells Congress
WASHINGTON — A top FBI official told members of a U.S. House panel on Thursday that the agency believes a single juvenile is behind most of the bomb threats made to more than 30 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Ryan Young, executive assistant director of the Intelligence Branch at the FBI, said that the bomb […]
U.S. Senate backs shift to permanent daylight saving time
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate with little debate on Tuesday unanimously supported a permanent change to daylight saving time, several days after Americans once again went through the hated “spring forward” ritual of changing their clocks. If the bill, the Sunshine Protection Act, clears the House, it would mean most states would stay on daylight […]