The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed an $886 billion defense bill that would set Pentagon policy and provide a 5.2 percent pay raise for military personnel, defying the demands of hard-right Republicans who had tried and failed to attach a raft of deeply partisan restrictions on abortion, transgender care and diversity initiatives. The vote was…
Why It Matters: Harris County could tilt the power balance in Texas. Harris County, the state’s most populous county, has become a reliable Democratic stronghold. The passage of the bills marked the culmination of a monthslong effort by Texas Republicans to contest some of that dominance. They highlighted Election Day problems last November in Harris…
The South Carolina Senate passed a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy on Tuesday, after a filibuster led by five women senators, including three Republicans, failed to block it. The bill will drastically reduce access to abortion in a state that has become an unexpected destination for women seeking the procedure as almost…
“What are we getting in return? We’re getting more dependence on the worst polluters in the world while we wreck our own economy, sending our wealth and jobs overseas,” said Representative Bruce Westerman, Republican of Arkansas and the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, who co-sponsored the bill. “House Republicans are ready to show the…
WASHINGTON — A divided House on Friday approved legislation that would mandate that schools make library catalogs and curriculums public, and that they obtain parental consent before honoring a student’s request to change their gender-identifying pronouns, part of a Republican effort to wring political advantage from a raging debate over contentious social issues. The bill,…
Instead, Mr. Jeffries said, “you come to the floor as part of your march to criminalize abortion care. To impose a nationwide ban. To set into motion government-mandated pregnancies.” And some Democratic lawmakers shared deeply personal and tragic stories, warning that criminalizing abortions can have lethal consequences for women. On the House floor, Representative Frederica…
In the end, 12 Republicans voted for the measure: Senators Roy Blunt of Missouri; Richard M. Burr and Thom Tillis, both of North Carolina; Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia; Ms. Collins; Joni Ernst of Iowa; Ms. Lummis; Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both of Alaska; Rob Portman of Ohio; Mitt Romney of Utah; and…
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill to create a new entitlement program to treat veterans who may have been exposed to toxic substances from burning trash pits on U.S. military bases, sending President Biden legislation that would expand medical care eligibility to an estimated 3.5 million people. The bill was approved on…
WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday voted nearly along party lines to bar the sale of semiautomatic weapons to people under the age of 21 and ban the sale of large-capacity magazines, acting as traumatized parents of victims and survivors of mass shootings made wrenching appeals for Congress to act on gun violence. The vote…