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☆ Republicans soften on federal marijuana reform in a shift that could make it a reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Julie Tsirkin | Liz Brown-Kaiser | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The SAFE Banking Act would make it lawful for legal marijuana businesses to use major financial and banking institutions. Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action, a political organization opposed to marijuana legalization, urged Tuberville to oppose the legislation in a recent letter. Financial institutions, including small and community banks, have also put pressure on lawmakers, including Tuberville, to support the bill. There's been these attempts by the chairman of the Banking Committee to add a bunch of other stuff onto it, and I think that just completely torpedoes the chances." Ahead of his re-election campaign, President Joe Biden announced his intention to pardon federal convictions for simple marijuana possession offenses at the end of last year.

Persons: Chuck Schumer, We've, Sen, Steve Daines, Sherrod Brown, Kevin Cramer, Daines, Cramer, Dan Sullivan, Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy of, Cynthia Lummis of, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of, Kevin McCarthy of California, McCarthy, Tommy Tuberville, Steve Stafford, Tuberville, Sullivan, Jeff Sessions, Trump, Sheriff Dan Springer, Springer, I've, Jeff Merkley, Jack Reed, It's, Cory Booker of, Dave Joyce, Alexandria Ocasio, Joe Biden Organizations: U.S, Capitol, Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs, SAFE, Republicans, Democrats, GOP, Auburn University, Smart, Senators, Republican, D.C, Sheriff, HOPE Locations: Ohio, GOP Sens, Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Susan Collins of Maine, Washington, Gallatin County , Montana, Montana, Cory Booker of New Jersey, R, Alexandria, Cortez

In securing some of the biggest names in tech, Schumer plans to make a giant splash for the first of what he's dubbed "AI Insight Forums." But when it comes to AI, we cannot be ostriches sticking our heads in the sand." But some have scratched their heads at Schumer's new approach in the Senate, which typically develops major policy legislation through committees of jurisdiction. Schumer has said the committees will work in tandem with the insight forums to develop legislation. And to me, that's a process that you ought to let work," Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., a senior member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said this summer.

Persons: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Chuck Schumer, Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella, Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's Sam Altman, NVIDIA's Jensen Huang, Eric Schmidt, Musk, ChatGPT, Schumer, You've, John Thune Organizations: Capitol, SpaceX, Tesla, Meta, Facebook, Commerce, Science, Transportation Locations: OpenAI, York

☆ Biden to keep Julie Su on indefinitely as Labor chief despite lack of Senate votes
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Sahil Kapur | Liz Brown-Kaiser | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The White House plans to use a little-known law to keep Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su in the job even if she fails to win Senate approval, a White House official told NBC News. "Upon Secretary Walsh's departure, Acting Secretary Su automatically became Acting Secretary under its organic statute, not under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act," the White House official said in an email. "As a result, Su is not subject to the time limits of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and she can serve as Acting Secretary indefinitely." But Su's nomination for labor secretary has since stalled in the Senate, where Democrats control 51 votes and expect unified Republican opposition. "The President's support for Acting Secretary Su is unwavering," the White House official said.

Persons: Julie Su, Walsh's, Su, Marty Walsh, Sen, Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, hasn't, Joe Biden, Biden, Julie Su's, Bill Cassidy, Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, Chuck Schumer, — Elyse Perlmutter, Gumbiner Organizations: Education, Department of Labor, White, Labor, NBC, Federal, White House, NBC News, Senate, Health, Pensions, GOP, Republican, Democratic, Wednesday Locations: Rayburn, Ky

☆ Biden's labor secretary pick may not have the votes. She also may not need them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Liz Brown-Kaiser | Sahil Kapur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The Senate is stalled on President Joe Biden's pick for secretary of labor, Julie Su, and Democrats face a conundrum on how to proceed. But Su, who currently serves as the acting labor secretary, could just keep running the department anyway. Federal law places no limits on how long Su can serve as acting labor secretary without being confirmed. He said he wants a voice for "both labor and industry" in the labor secretary role. Any Senator who voted to confirm Secretary [Marty] Walsh should vote to confirm Acting Secretary Su, too.

Persons: Julie Su, Joe Biden's, Su, Biden, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Kyrsten Sinema, Jon Tester, Joe Manchin, pushback, there's, Mazie Hirono, haven't, She's, she'll, she's, Mark Kelly, John Hickenlooper, I'm, Su aren't, Tester, you've, Manchin, Bill Cassidy of, Sinema, Tammy Duckworth, Marty, Walsh, We're, Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren of, Chuck Schumer Organizations: Health, Education, Labor, Capitol, Labor Department —, Pensions, Su's, Democrats, HELP, Su's Democratic, White, Department, Democratic Locations: Washington, American, Sens, Hawaii, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

☆ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hospitalized after falling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Liz Brown-Kaiser | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD) look on as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks during a news conference following a closed-door lunch meeting with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol January 31, 2023 in Washington, DC. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was hospitalized after tripping at a hotel, a spokesperson said Wednesday. "This evening, Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner. He was Senate majority leader until early 2021. He was Senate majority leader from 2015 until early 2021, when Democrats took over in the majority after the 2020 elections.

☆ Senators unveil rail safety bill after Ohio train derailment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Liz Brown-Kaiser | Rose Horowitch | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A bipartisan group of senators will introduce legislation Wednesday aimed at preventing rail disasters after the devastating derailment in East Palestine last month. It would also require trained, two-person crews to work aboard every train carrying hazardous materials and levy heightened fines for rail carriers' wrongdoing. The Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying vinyl chloride led to a spill of toxic chemicals. The bill will be introduced by Brown and his Republican counterpart, Sen. JD Vance, who represent the state where the Norfolk Southern derailment occurred. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday asked Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw to participate in an upcoming hearing.

Facing criticism from Democrats and frustration from Republicans, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., has amended his controversial “Rescue America” plan that called for all federal legislation to sunset. The plan now lists “specific exceptions of Social Security, Medicare, national security, veterans benefits, and other essential services.”The previous language read: “All federal legislation sunsets in 5 years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.”The new language says: “All federal legislation sunsets in 5 years, with specific exceptions of Social Security, Medicare, national security, veterans benefits, and other essential services. Note to President Biden, Sen. Schumer, and Sen. McConnell — As you know, this was never intended to apply to Social Security, Medicare, or the US Navy” (bold included in plan). This isn’t the first time Scott has edited his controversial 12-point plan while under fire.

“We see those as really strong opportunities to flip from Democrat to Republican,” McIntosh said. In West Virginia, McIntosh name checked two Republicans, Attorney General Patrick Morrissey and Rep. Alex Mooney, as possible candidates. Mooney has already announced his bid and Morrissey could run again after he fell short against Manchin as the party's 2018 nominee. Of Rosendale, another unsuccessful 2018 nominee who could run again (against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester), McIntosh said, “we know his record. She’s not really, as far as I can tell, an economic conservative.”The conservative group has already announced its endorsement of Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk visited Capitol Hill on Thursday and met with House leaders from both parties, saying the discussions focused on the social media platform he purchased in October. McCarthy, who turned 58 on Thursday, earlier told reporters that Musk "came by to wish me a happy birthday." Asked later if the meeting included a discussion about Twitter, a spokesperson for McCarthy referred back to the birthday wishes. Musk's visit comes amid ongoing GOP accusations that most social media platforms are suppressing conservative voices. Since taking over Twitter, Musk has restored hundreds of accounts of right-wing activists and QAnon followers, according to data reviewed by NBC News.

Haines also refused to discuss the sensitive material, citing ongoing special counsel investigations, according to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee who attending the classified briefing. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., was so furious after the briefing that he threatened to block presidential nominees or funding for some federal agencies until the Biden administration shows key lawmakers the classified documents. “Whether it’s blocking nominees or withholding budgetary funds, Congress will impose pain on the administration until they provide these documents. The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Intelligence panel emerged together from the secure briefing room and rejected the administration’s argument. “I’m not saying anything bad about the three [Biden, Trump and Pence], but classified information in the wrong hands can create problems for our country, put people at risk.

☆ McCarthy says Santos will be removed from Congress if Ethics Committee finds he broke the law
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that while he stands by Rep. George Santos, the freshman congressman from New York would be removed from office if the Ethics Committee finds he broke the law after he admitted fabricating parts of his background. Asked whether he is standing by Santos because his resignation would cut into the House Republicans' narrow majority, McCarthy pushed back. “If for some way when we go through Ethics that he has broken the law, then we will remove him, but it’s not my role,” McCarthy said. The voters elected him to serve,” McCarthy said earlier this month. “If there is a concern, he has to go through the Ethics [Committee]; let him move through that.

A jury on Monday convicted four members of the extremist group the Oath Keepers of seditious conspiracy. The trial, which started Dec. 12, included testimony from Brian Ulrich, a member of the Oath Keepers’ Georgia chapter who had pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. ... I’m not afraid and I’m ready to f---ing go.”The four defendants were charged as part of the same seditious conspiracy case involving Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes that went to trial in October. Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, the leader of the group’s Florida chapter, were convicted of seditious conspiracy in November. The maximum sentence for seditious conspiracy — a rarely used Civil War era statute — is 20 years in federal prison.

A cyber criminal took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Sen. Jerry Moran's campaign coffers last year, according to a form filed with the Federal Election Commission by the Kansas Republican's campaign. In the filing, the treasurer at Moran For Kansas said post-election reporting revealed the senator's campaign was the victim of a “third-party cyber-criminal” that included a pair of fraudulent transactions. “Cybercriminals targeted the accounting firm employed by Moran For Kansas and money was wired to fraudulent bank accounts,” Moran for Kansas spokesperson Tom Brandt told NBC News. The campaign also consulted with the FEC on how to transparently report the unauthorized expenditures.”The campaign told the FEC in the December filing that $168,184 of the lost funds had been recovered. He also sits on a Senate Commerce subcommittee that deals with data security, along with other committees.

NBC News has repeatedly contacted Santos’ team with requests for comment about his lies and other allegations against him. Here is a timeline mapping out the controversy:Nov. 3, 2020: Santos loses his first bid for Congress to Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi. Sept. 6, 2022: Santos files his personal financial disclosure report, claiming his assets are as much as $11 million. The New York Times later reported that none of the 49 victims appear to have worked at the various firms named in his biography. In another Dec. 26 interview with the New York Post, Santos acknowledges some of the specific fabrications in his résumé.

The House Judiciary Committee announced Friday it's opened an investigation into the Obama-era classified documents that were found in President Joe Biden's Delaware home and his former Washington office. The White House acknowledged Thursday that classified documents dating back to Biden's time as vice president had been discovered in his garage in Delaware. Jordan and Johnson also renewed a request for information on the Trump investigation they made last year, when the committee was controlled by Democrats. "On August 15, 2022, Committee Republicans wrote to you and FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting documents and information related to the FBI’s raid of President Trump’s residence. The Justice Department has confirmed receipt of the letter but declined a request for comment.

Rep. George Santos, the newly sworn-in New York Republican under fire for fabricating large parts of his résumé, told NBC News on Thursday that "if 142 people ask for me to resign, I will resign." Santos said he would be in Congress "until those same 142,000 people tell me they don't want me." A growing number of Republican lawmakers have called for Santos to resign in recent days, including at least four in New York and one other out of state. "With the extent and severity of the allegations against him, his inability to take full responsibility for his conduct, and the numerous investigations underway, I believe he is unable to fulfill his duties and should resign," Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., added. He has said Santos will get at least one committee assignment, although it will not be on a top committee.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks to Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in the House Chamber on Jan. 6, 2023. She said it’s a bad idea for the House to bring up those bills. Still, some of the more moderate Republicans acknowledge that they’ll have to make compromises with Democrats to get immigration bills signed into law. The GOP rules package adopted Monday identifies the seven bills that will get speedy votes in the House. “Many of their radical things will be stopped in the Senate because we have a Democratic majority,” Schumer said, vowing not to let ultraconservative lawmakers defund the FBI.

House Dem whip says caucus will keep voting in speaker race House Democratic whip Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass, said her caucus will stick around and continue voting in the speaker race. Davidson suggested there are "a couple procedural paths" where McCarthy could become speaker if Republicans changed the threshold needed to win the election. The polarization is too great.” Cole said that for all the House GOP divisions, “there’s no question” that most members in the caucus are closer in policy and vision to the anti-McCarthy rebels than they are to centrist Democrats. As Biden celebrated an upgrade to an aging bridge linking Kentucky and Ohio, House Republicans deadlocked on the basic task of electing a speaker, foreshadowing what is likely to be two years of infighting. The McCarthy-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund and the conservative Club for Growth agreed to not pick sides in some competitive House GOP primary races in exchange for supporting McCarthy's bid for speaker.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed the DOJ's request, which was first reported by The Washington Post. The request comes after Trump's lawyers recently discovered at least two documents with such markings in a storage unit in West Palm Beach, Florida. That search turned up over 100 documents with such markings, including some marked top secret, in a storage room in Mar-a-Lago and in Trump's office there. Judge Beryl Howell's hearing on the DOJ’s request, and the legal arguments underpinning it, are being kept under wraps because they involve grand jury proceedings. Corcoran drafted the June letter certifying all documents with classification markings had been returned, NBC News has previously reported.

WASHINGTON — Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway appeared Monday before investigators of the House select committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. Conway spoke to the committee on the record, two sources familiar with her appearance said. Conway was seen entering a conference room in the O’Neill House Office Building with attorney Emmet Flood, who was a lawyer in former President Donald Trump's White House. When she left the meeting room for a break, Conway told reporters “I’m here voluntarily.” Asked when she last spoke with Trump by a reporter, Conway said he called her last week. Conway worked as a senior counselor to Trump from the beginning of his term through Aug. 2020.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who is eyeing the speaker's job after his party captured the majority, was nowhere to be seen. Asked why he skipped her speech, McCarthy said: “I had meetings. Among the few Republicans in the chamber were Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa.“She’s got quite a legacy, that’s for sure," he said afterward. A few hours after the speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky had not yet commented. Pelosi ended her speech with an appeal to patriotism and the perseverance of American democracy.

WASHINGTON — An ex-police officer "betrayed" his sworn oath by warning a fellow Donald Trump supporter who entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to remove his Facebook content about the attack, a federal prosecutor told a jury Tuesday. Afterward, Riley told Hiles he would give him a tour of the Capitol next time. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Dohrmann told jurors Tuesday that "there was nothing legal or funny about what happened at the Capitol on Jan. "He was duped" by Hiles, Macchiaroli said. "He made a mistake, he had a lapse in judgment," Macchiaroli added, arguing that Riley didn't intend to obstruct a federal grand jury.

WASHINGTON — A federal jury on Friday convicted a QAnon believer who chased down U.S. Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman on Jan. 6, 2021, finding the defendant guilty on all charges against him. On Jan. 6, Jensen filmed videos from the base of the Capitol building, where he proclaimed — inaccurately, but with tremendous confidence — that he was at the White House. “Storm the White House! Goodman, the USCP officer who testified at Jensen's trial, had “no back-up” when he faced off with rioters, Mirell said. More than 850 people have been arrested and more than 350 convicted in connection with the Capitol attack.

Goodman told jurors that he’d been with the Capitol Police for 15 years and he previously was deployed to Iraq for the U.S. Army. Footage released during Trump's second impeachment trial showed Goodman directing Romney to turn around just after the mob had breached the building. The Senate chamber itself went through sweeps by K-9s and bomb squads so that Congress could resume its work, Goodman said. He told jurors to expect to see video of Jensen telling officers to do their job throughout the trial. The FBI has arrested more than 850 defendants in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

☆ Poll: GOP is winning on the economy, immigration; Democrats are ahead on abortion and health care
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Chuck-Todd-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Chuck Todd | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

... And Joe O’Dea pitches himself as pro-abortion rights in Colorado Senate while Democrats push back. The Republican Party holds all-time high advantages on the economy, crime and border security, while the Democrats have an all-time high on abortion and a double-digit edge on health care. Midterm roundup: Trump hits the trail in OhioFormer President Donald Trump traveled to Ohio over the weekend to boost GOP Senate hopeful J.D. Not every GOP Senate candidate is eager to campaign with Trump. It’s a position on abortion that is different from that of his fellow Republican Senate candidates, many of whom favor stricter bans with few exceptions.

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