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☆ DOJ 'actively working' to brief senators on Biden and Trump classified documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julie-Tsirkin-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julie Tsirkin | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Senators of both parties voiced frustration after they left a closed-door briefing last week with National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, who declined to show them copies of the classified documents discovered at Trump’s Florida resort and Biden’s office and Delaware home. Haines also declined to discuss the sensitive material, citing ongoing special counsel investigations, according to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee who attended the classified briefing. In a joint appearance Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Warner and Rubio called for immediate document oversight. That means we need these documents,” Warner said. Jordan this month announced the committee had opened an investigation into the Obama-era classified documents found in Biden's possession.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Wednesday, a White House official confirmed to NBC News, amid Republicans’ debt-ceiling showdown with Democrats. McCarthy first announced that he'll meet Biden this week to discuss the debt ceiling in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” earlier Sunday. The House speaker said Republicans would not allow the U.S. to default and expressed an interest in reaching an agreement with the president. House Republicans have been demanding spending cuts in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling and averting a default on U.S. debt. The White House previously said there won’t be any negotiations, and Congress must allow the government to pay its bills.

☆ AI wrote a bill to regulate AI. Now Rep. Ted Lieu wants Congress to pass it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Kate Santaliz | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julie-Tsirkin-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — One way to get Congress to support regulating artificial intelligence is by using it to write a resolution calling for just that. Write a comprehensive congressional resolution generally expressing support for Congress to focus on AI.”The resolution doesn’t specify that it was written using artificial intelligence. And as a member of Congress, I am freaked out by A.I., specifically A.I. Lieu isn’t the first member of Congress to bring artificial intelligence to the House chamber. 34-year-old Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., delivered a speech Wednesday on the House floor written by Chat GPT.

This year, women will hold all four of the top positions on the House and Senate Appropriations committees for the first time in history. “Oftentimes people say, you know, ‘We need to have women at the table.’ Well, women are the table.”Spending and debt fights loomOver the decades, these women have seen their share of spending fights. But I’m absolutely convinced that we have to stand together,” said Granger, who last week became the first female Republican to chair the House Appropriations Committee. Women, Murray said, are good communicators, and she and her colleagues can translate a big, complicated appropriations bill for everyday Americans. But as a 14-year House Appropriations staffer, she also intimately knows each of the top appropriators and recognizes the significance of this glass-ceiling-shattering moment.

☆ House Oversight chair calls for release of visitor logs from Biden’s Delaware home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julie-Tsirkin-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julie Tsirkin | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON — House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., on Sunday asked for the release of visitors logs from President Joe Biden’s home in Delaware in a letter to White House chief of staff Ron Klain. “Given the serious national security implications, the White House must provide the Wilmington residence’s visitor log,” Comer wrote in the letter to Klain. The former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida was searched by the FBI last year after multiple attempts to obtain classified documents. The president is cooperating with the Justice Department and National Archives amid the discovery of the classified documents, she said. "He showed no interest in investigating the far more serious situation with about 100 classified documents at Mar-a-Lago with evidence in the public domain of obstruction.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., was briefly hospitalized Friday night after she and her husband were hit by a car in Portland, according to her spokesperson. Natalie Crofts, Bonamici's communications director, said in a statement shared to Twitter that the incident occurred as the lawmaker and her husband, Michael Simon, were walking across a street after leaving an event. A woman turned into Bonamici and her husband "at low speed and knocked them down," according to Portland police. Bonamici was treated at a hospital for a concussion and laceration to her head while Simon was treated for minor injuries, Crofts said. The lawmaker is a leader on the Education and Labor Committee and chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human services.

☆ Rep. Mike Rogers apologizes to Matt Gaetz for losing temper during chaotic speaker votes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julie-Tsirkin-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julie Tsirkin | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Mike Rogers, R-Ala., on Sunday publicly resolved their differences after tensions boiled over on the House floor late Friday night during the votes for House speaker. Rogers was physically restrained after he charged towards Gaetz. After Gaetz voted present in the 14th ballot, McCarthy approached Gaetz in the back of the chamber, where a tense exchange occurred, a number of Republican lawmakers crowding them. Rogers, the incoming chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee, then walked over and appeared to lunge in the direction of Gaetz, but was physically restrained by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., before storming away. McCarthy ultimately gained the votes to secure the speakership in the 15th ballot, when Gaetz and several other McCarthy opponents switched their votes to “present.”

The House Ways and Means Committee plans to release Donald Trump’s tax returns on Friday, a spokesperson for the Committee said Tuesday. The assortment of six years of the former president's personal returns and some of his business returns are expected to be placed into the Congressional record on Friday as part of the House’s pro-forma session. The clock is ticking for the committee, which will turn over control to Republicans when the new Congress is sworn in next week. The committee obtained the returns in November, following a years-long court fight for the closely-held documents that other presidents have routinely made public for the last four decades. A 39-page report from the Joint Committee on Taxation released last week showed Trump had been paying relatively little in taxes, including paying only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017 and none in 2020.

☆ Veterans accuse Congress of abandoning Afghan allies after help for refugees is left out of spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Dan De Luce | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julie-Tsirkin-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Refugee advocates and veterans accused Congress of abandoning Afghans who fled to the U.S. after a bill designed to resolve the legal status of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees was left out of a year-end spending bill. The Afghan refugees were granted a two-year temporary “humanitarian parole,” which has left them in legal limbo and unable to work. The bill would have granted Afghan refugees a pathway to permanent legal residency before their parole expires. To address concerns raised by some Republican lawmakers, sponsors of the bill added language to ensure the Afghan refugees undergo thorough security vetting by U.S. authorities. But the proposal failed to win support from 10 Republican senators needed to add it to the omnibus spending package.

WASHINGTON — Officials in Washington are preparing for a possible visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, according to five sources familiar with the planning. Zelenskyy could address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening, three sources said. A European official also familiar with the planning confirmed that preparations are underway for a potential visit Wednesday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested members attend Wednesday's session in person in a letter to colleagues Tuesday. Weeks after the war got underway in March, Zelenskyy made an emotional virtual address to Congress asking for support with more aggressive measures to curb the conflict.

WASHINGTON — Democrats are grappling with how to handle a potential re-election bid by newly minted independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in 2024, fearing that a three-way battle could split their voters and throw the race to Republicans in Arizona. Asked how the DSCC should handle a possible Sinema 2024 run, Sinema's Arizona colleague, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, “I haven’t given that any thought." Schumer said he has granted Sinema’s request to preserve her committee assignments through the Democratic Party, meaning the 51-49 partisan organization of the chamber won’t change. She wouldn’t say if Democrats should back her but said her working relationship with Sinema won’t change. Prior to her party switch, Sinema had stronger relationships with Republican senators than just about any Democrat.

☆ Congress could soon end the military's vaccine mandate under pressure from Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julie-Tsirkin-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julie Tsirkin | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — Congress could soon end the military's Covid-19 vaccine mandate. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Monday the administration is aware that Congress is considering repealing the mandate, noting that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin opposes such a move. Austin instituted the vaccine mandate, which applies to all service members on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard, in August 2021. Republicans have been highly critical of the mandate and the repeal legislation has long been in the works by Republicans on both the House and Senate Armed Services Committee. The bill is unrelated to a separate pressure campaign by some Republican senators, who last week said they would drag out passage of the NDAA unless the vaccine mandate was repealed.

WASHINGTON — The Senate reached an agreement Thursday to hold votes aimed at avoiding an economically catastrophic rail strike, one day after the House approved such a measure. The Senate typically takes days of procedural votes to pass a bill, but lawmakers reached unanimous agreement in this case to vote within minutes. In the Senate, the first two votes are expected to fail, and the House deal is expected to pass. The president said he’ll continue to fight for paid leave after the agreement is approved by Congress and a rail strike is averted. “We’re going to avoid the rail strike, keep the rails running, keep things moving, and we’re gonna go back and we’re gonna get paid leave not just for rail workers, but for all workers.”

☆ GOP senators threaten to delay major military bill over Covid vaccine mandate
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julie-Tsirkin-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julie Tsirkin | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON — Several Republicans are warning they will drag out Senate consideration of a massive military policy bill unless they get a vote on ending a Covid vaccination mandate for service members. The senators’ threat could delay final passage of the annual bill, which Congress has consistently passed, but it would not prevent the Senate from eventually voting on the legislation. It is insane.”The other GOP senators calling for a vaccination vote are Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Mike Braun of Indiana. The Biden administration has had a mixed record on Covid vaccination mandates in court. The proposal put forth by the seven GOP senators is unlikely to get a vote without the support of Senate Republican leaders.

Sen. Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican, has formed a campaign to run for governor in 2024, according to paperwork filed Tuesday. The development, first reported by Politico, had been expected for months, with Braun hinting hard that he was interested in the race. The state's other GOP senator, Todd Young, was re-elected by a convincing margin this month. In a statement Wednesday morning, Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl greeted Braun's candidacy with derision. "As a so-called businessman, Mike Braun has done very little to improve Indiana as a U.S. senator and he surely won’t do it as governor," Schmuhl said.

WASHINGTON — House lawmakers are poised to pass legislation Wednesday to avert a catastrophic rail strike that President Joe Biden warned could threaten the U.S. economy just weeks before Christmas. “At a time of record profits in the rail industry, it’s unacceptable that rail workers have ZERO guaranteed paid sick days,” Sanders tweeted. “It’s my intention to block consideration of the rail legislation until a roll call vote occurs on guaranteeing 7 paid sick days to rail workers in America.”Other progressives also wouldn’t commit to back the rail proposal. But the House will also vote separately on a bill that would add seven days of paid sick leave to the deal. Biden "is confident that we will not have a rail strike.

☆ With GOP Ukraine skeptics poised to gain in Congress, lawmakers look to lock in billions in military aid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Dan De Luce | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julie-Tsirkin-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Congress last month approved $12 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine, but the package being contemplated would be dramatically larger, the sources said. The amount would be enough “to make sure [Ukraine] can get through the year,” a Republican senator with knowledge of the matter told NBC News. Congress has allocated a total of $65 billion in funding to Ukraine since Russia attacked the country in February. “They don’t want to deal with it next year,” said Vajdich, a former Republican congressional staffer. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a staunch supporter of military aid to Ukraine, said last month that he had discussed the issue with McCarthy and that he agreed other countries need to do more to assist Ukraine.

☆ Microsoft, Apple, Meta, other big U.S. firms run ads urging Congress to protect 'Dreamers' as DACA fades
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julia Ainsley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“Collectively, we represent the backbone of an American economy facing tremendous workforce challenges as a result of the pandemic. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that DACA was illegal but allowed more than 600,000 current DACA recipients to keep their status while a lower court reviewed a new DACA rule the Biden administration put forward. He is predicted to rule against the new DACA rule ultimately, because he found its previous iteration illegal. “Tragically, the 5th Circuit and courts have made it clear that not only did they rule the current DACA rule is illegal, but the new DACA rule will be illegal, too,” said Todd Schulte, the president and executive director of FWD.US, a group that has advocated for DACA to continue. “Now, no one trusts Democrats of the Biden administration to actually enforce the law and crack down on illegal immigration.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Tuesday to move forward with funding the government through mid-December ahead of a Friday deadline to avert a shutdown. The short-term funding measure includes money for Ukraine aid, Afghan resettlement, parolees and security enhancements for U.S. courts, among other provisions. Republicans, still angry about Manchin's vote for the Democrats-only bill in August, credibly threatened to tank the government funding bill if his permitting measure was tacked on. During the Senate vote, Manchin reached out to Republicans to discuss restarting negotiations over a permitting package, including Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Cassidy said. "The fact that Joe traded his vote for permitting reform doesn’t make permitting reform any less of a noble venture," Cramer said.

☆ Biden’s student loan cancellation plan to cost $400B, Congressional Budget Office estimates
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden's plan to forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for most borrowers will cost the government about $400 billion over 10 years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in an estimate released Monday. The report also noted that the administration plan to extend a pause on federal student loans will also cost about $20 billion. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that advocates for lower deficits, said the CBO's predictions confirm "the outrageous cost" of Biden's student loan plan. "The Biden Administration’s student debt bailout is even more expensive than we initially thought," tweeted Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. "The current bailout will cost Americans $420 BILLION, according to the CBO. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, tweeted, "President Biden isn’t forgiving student loans—he’s charging hardworking Americans $400 billion."

There’s no palpable hunger for a shutdown so close to the Nov. 8 midterm elections, so Congress must pass a bill by midnight Sept. 30 to avert a lapse in funding. “The cleaner the bill is, the more likely” it is to pass quickly, said Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D. He wants tens of billions for Covid, and he says the pandemic is over,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician. Cases, hospitalizations, deaths, mental health aspects of Covid, long Covid. But conservatives are rebelling, saying Congress should push the issue into 2023 in the hope that the GOP will seize the majority and write legislation to its liking.

The state’s restrictive abortion laws spotlight existing gender disparities within the VA medical system, according to former military women who shared their personal experiences during a listening tour held by Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health. The VA does not provide any abortion services, even initial consultations, to women seeking more information about terminating their pregnancies. And that doesn’t end when we get out,” veteran Amber Davila, 37, said outside of the session in Austin, Texas. “We will continue to make sure they have timely access to the full suite of reproductive care,” the VA said. “This is fuel to the fire,” said Plescher, lead outreach coordinator for Grace After Fire, a female veterans group based in Houston.

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