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☆ Biden, McConnell Set to Tout Bridge Funding in Show of Bipartisanship
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Catherine Lucey | Siobhan Hughes | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will tout a bridge project made possible under the 2021 infrastructure bill during a trip to Kentucky on Wednesday, offering a show of bipartisanship as Washington lurches into a contentious era of divided government. The former colleagues were set to visit Covington, Ky., where the White House planned to announce funding to upgrade the Brent Spence Bridge between Ohio and Kentucky, as well as investments in other bridges around the country. Also scheduled to attend were Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio), Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine , a Republican, former Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) and Kentucky Gov.

☆ Biden says he was concerned at how China was handling COVID
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

HEBRON, Ky., Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he was concerned by how China was handling the COVID-19 pandemic. China's COVID-19 data is not giving an accurate picture of the situation there and under represents the number of hospitalizations and deaths from the disease, a senior official at the World Health Organization said earlier in the day. Reporting by Steve Holland, writing by Kanishka Singh, editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Democrats will wield an expanded 51-seat Senate majority and control the presidency. We need to be cutting spending,” McCarthy told reporters after a meeting with Senate Republicans on Dec. 21. There’s so much discombobulation and disunity on different sides of the Republican caucus,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters before the holiday recess. Conservative lawmakers say a GOP House should block a debt limit increase without major policy changes to rein in spending. Some House Republicans are already calling to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his department's handling of immigration policy.

The appearance with McConnell, R-Ky., and other regional leaders from both parties Wednesday signals a dual focus for a White House aiming to stay above the political fray in 2023. But the bipartisan infrastructure law will be front and center as the White House says 20,000 new projects funded by the law will be underway in the year ahead. On Thursday, White House infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu will visit San Francisco, one week after outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the city’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge will undergo a $400 million retrofit funded by the law. “I’ve never been more optimistic about America in my whole career,” Biden said during an appearance on ABC’s New Year’s Eve special. When asked Friday about whether the 2024 election has come up in discussions this week, Biden quipped: “There’s an election coming up?"

☆ Sorority House Design in the Age of Instagram and RushTok
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Kelsey Ogletree | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Curled up on the couch in the traditionally decorated TV room of the Alpha Gamma Delta house at University of Kentucky in 2002, freshman Liz Toombs watched an episode of the reality show “Trading Spaces” that featured a sorority house redesign. “I didn’t think it was real, just that it was a made-for-TV moment,” she said. Years later, Mrs. Toombs, who launched her Lexington, Ky.-based interior design firm, PDR Interiors, in 2009, was approached by a Greek organization that needed help updating its 1970s home at the University of Kentucky. She took the project, and has since gone all-in on this niche design space, even adapting her company logo to a Greek key. Sorority design is now about 90% of her business, she said.

In Mississippi, Republican Gov. Andy Beshear flipped the governor’s mansion in 2019, leaving Republicans eyeing his seat as one to flip back into their column. Bel Edwards spent just under $13 million, while two outside super PACs, one Democratic and one Republican, spent a combined $18 million. In 2019, Beshear beat then-Gov. Mississippi governor’s raceIn Mississippi’s governor’s race, GOP Gov.

☆ House passes $1.7 trillion spending bill that rewrites U.S. election law, sending it to Biden to sign
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | Sahil Kapur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON — The House on Friday voted to finalize a massive $1.7 trillion government funding bill, sending it to President Joe Biden and marking the end of two years of Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress. It overhauls federal election law by revising the Electoral Count Act of 1887 to try to prevent another Jan. 6. The bill funds a swath of domestic programs as well, averting a shutdown and keeping the government funded through next fall. “We have a big bill here, because we have big needs for our country,” outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on the floor. The measure was negotiated by Democratic leaders and top Senate Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

He promises not to let that happen again, insisting he will “actively look for quality candidates” to promote in the 2024 primaries. “In the other states, Trump’s support was so significant — we could have spent a lot of money, maybe trying to come up with a different candidate and maybe not succeeding,” he said. And yet, it's Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — not McConnell — who's radiating confidence about winning the majority in 2024. He also spent large parts of 2022 feuding over strategy with Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the GOP Senate campaign chief. Then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and then President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, on Oct. 24, 2017.

So yeah, I’m proud of it,” McConnell said, hailing it as an “extremely important” win for conservatives. He said it’ll mean they no longer “pay a ransom on the domestic side” in order to secure hefty military spending. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill.. said he’s “disappointed” in the unequal spending levels but argued that the Kentucky Republican was using his leverage. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks alongside Sens. Democrats say McConnell was pushing for deals due to the rising support in the Democratic Party in recent years to end the filibuster.

Share this -Link copied'It's too much for me': Zelenskyy begins speech by thanking U.S. Zelenskyy began his remarks before a joint meeting of Congress at 7:40 p.m. "I think we share the exact same vision, that of a free, independent and prosperous Ukraine," Biden said. The Ukrainian president added that the soldier told him that "many (of) his brothers, this system saved." President Joe Biden holds a medal presented to him by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Share this -Link copiedPhoto: Zelenskyy shakes hands with Biden as he arrives President Joe Biden welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House.

☆ Hunter Biden hires attorney Abbe Lowell to beef up legal team
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Sarah Fitzpatrick | Sarah Fitzpatrick Is A Senior Investigative Producer | Story Editor For Nbc News. She Previously Worked For Cbs News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Hunter Biden has added a high-powered attorney to his legal team amid an ongoing federal probe and plans by Republicans to make him a key focus of investigations when they take control of the House next month. Abbe Lowell, of the firm Winston and Strawn, will be primarily responsible for coordinating Hunter Biden’s response to anticipated congressional oversight investigations, as well advising on other legal issues and overall strategy, an attorney for Hunter Biden told NBC News on Wednesday. "Hunter Biden has retained Abbe Lowell to help advise him and be part of his legal team to address the challenges he is facing,” the attorney, Kevin Morris, said. "Lowell is a well-known Washington based attorney has represented numerous public officials and high profile people in DOJ investigations and trials as well as Congressional Investigations. Mr. Lowell will handle congressional investigations and general strategic advice."

☆ Kentucky senator says transgender son has died by suicide
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky state senator said Tuesday that her transgender son, a trans rights advocate on whom “a lack of acceptance took a toll,” has died by suicide. Democratic Sen. Karen Berg said her son Henry Berg-Brousseau “long struggled with mental illness, not because he was trans but born from his difficulty finding acceptance.” She said he died on Friday. The Louisville lawmaker said her son had just received a big promotion working for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for LGBTQ rights. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

WASHINGTON — The $1.7 trillion government funding bill released Tuesday includes extra money for the Justice Department to prosecute Jan. 6 cases. One source involved in the Jan. 6 criminal investigation said Tuesday they were “sincerely grateful” for the boost in funding under the omnibus bill. Proponents of fulfilling DOJ's request have long seen this funding bill as their last opportunity to secure the money, fearing that a Republican-controlled House would block the request early in the new year. Last week, the FBI re-arrested Jan. 6 defendant Edward Kelley for allegedly plotting to kill FBI special agents involved in his investigation. “The Senate should pass this bill,” he said.

It could be the last major bill that passes this year before Republicans seize control of the House on Jan. 3. He has pressured GOP lawmakers to vote against it, forcing Democrats to supply most of the votes to pass it in the House. Capitol Hill leaders decided to attach the election bill and Ukraine aid to ease the process of passage, on the belief that the combined package has the votes to pass. For Republicans, one incentive to pass the bill now is that it funds the military at a higher level than the nondefense budget. “This is a strong outcome for Republicans,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said, arguing that the GOP persuaded Democrats to back down on their long-standing demand for “parity” between the two pots of money.

☆ The Year in Pictures 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +57 min

Every year, starting in early fall, photo editors at The New York Times begin sifting through the year’s work in an effort to pick out the most startling, most moving, most memorable pictures. But 2022 undoubtedly belongs to the war in Ukraine, a conflict now settling into a worryingly predictable rhythm. Erin Schaff/The New York Times “When you’re standing on the ground, you can’t visualize the scope of the destruction. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25. We see the same images over and over, and it’s really hard to make anything different.” Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb 26.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Thursday to pass a one-week stopgap bill to temporarily avert a government shutdown as congressional leaders finish work on a full-year government funding package. Just nine House Republicans joined a unanimous Democratic caucus to vote for the measure, an indication of the narrow margins House Democrats will face in trying to pass the full-year funding bill. On Tuesday, Capitol Hill leaders reached agreement on a bipartisan framework for a massive government funding bill to address modern needs and prevent federal agencies from functioning on autopilot, as they have for months awaiting congressional action. To become law, the bill requires a simple majority in the House and at least 10 Republicans to break a filibuster in the Democratic-led Senate. His leadership team was also encouraging GOP members to vote the stopgap bill down this week.

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, beaming with confidence after having proved his doubters wrong and expanded his majority in the midterm elections, vowed without hesitation that the Democratic Party will keep control again in two years. Democrats are defending three seats in the Republican-leaning states of West Virginia, Montana and Ohio. To get there, Schumer promised that Democrats will govern and campaign over the next two years as pragmatists, not ideologues. Schumer pointed to the newly conservative Supreme Court, which rolled back abortion rights and expanded the right to carry guns this year. Instead, Democrats expanded their Senate majority from 50 to 51 seats.

☆ House GOP’s inclusion of 'salacious' Commanders cheerleaders photos in official memo draws blowback
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Lawyers for more than 40 former Washington Commanders employees are demanding that House Republicans remove "sexualized and salacious photographs" of the NFL team's cheerleaders featured in a GOP-written memo about the football team. (The GOP report put black boxes over the women's faces and some body parts.) In a statement, a Republican Oversight Committee aide criticized the Democrats' report and defended the GOP memo. "Prior to circulating the internal memo, Committee staff took steps to ensure all sensitive images involving cheerleaders were redacted and their identities kept confidential. As we have said from the beginning, the Oversight Committee is not the proper venue for this investigation.

“Nearly every single state in the nation has passed at least one significant gun safety law since Sandy Hook,” concluded the report, first obtained by NBC News. Gun violence has gone from being a political third rail to a kitchen table topic in just ten years. Nearly every American will know a victim of gun violence in their lifetime.”Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., hugs Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., at the Giffords Gun Violence Memorial in front of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., on June 7. Still, gun safety advocates face tall hurdles to achieving other goals, like banning semi-automatic assault-style weapons and large-capacity ammunition. Republicans just won control of the House, almost certainly ending hopes for stricter gun laws for the foreseeable future.

☆ Oil companies ‘could doom global efforts’ around climate change, House committee finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Lucas Thompson | Lucas Thompson Is A Content Producer For The Nbc News Climate Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The companies mentioned in the report did not return requests for comment. Internal documents also showed oil executives privately admitting that divesting, or moving around the accountability of emissions, will not have a meaningful impact on overall emissions levels. The report comes after Democrats lost control of the House in the 2022 midterm elections, and with it the ability to direct House Oversight investigations. Khanna said the millions of documents acquired by the committee will be handed over to those with more resources who can act on the information. “You can’t expect a House subcommittee to go up against oil companies that have been misleading American public for 40 years and all of a sudden have accountability.

The family of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died hours after defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, refused to shake hands with the two top Republican members of Congress at a Tuesday ceremony. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell holds out his hand for a handshake with Charles Sicknick, the father of fallen U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, during a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda on Dec. 6, 2022. Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images“We got together and said we’re not going to shake their hands,” Gladys Sicknick, mother of the late officer, told NBC News. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. Khater admitted that he sprayed two officers in the face with chemical irritant: Sicknick and Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards.

☆ Why aluminum plants in the U.S. are far more polluting than some of their counterparts abroad
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Phil Mckenna | Inside Climate News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +15 min

A plant worker uses a crane to lift a cask of molten aluminum a Century Aluminum Company plant in Hawesville, Ky. in 2017. Of the five remaining facilities, only the Century Aluminum Sebree plant in Robards, which employs 625 workers, and a smaller Alcoa plant in Massena, New York, run at full capacity. Phillip McKenna/NBC NewsSteinsen, of Century Aluminum, said the company has no plans to shut down its Sebree facility in Robards. In 2015, when the U.S. aluminum production was in steep decline, the EPA ended its industry partnership. In 2019, 7,510 metric tons of PFCs were emitted from global aluminum production, according to a study published last year in the Journal of Geophysical Research — Atmospheres.

Trump’s post came after Twitter CEO Elon Musk promoted a series of tweets Friday revealing internal documents about how the company handled a New York Post article about Hunter Biden in 2020. While he said he “vehemently disagrees” with the former president’s statement, Turner did not directly answer the question, even after host Margaret Brennan pressed repeatedly. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a vocal opponent of Trump who serves on the House Jan. 6 committee, called Trump's statement “insane." Meanwhile, Democrats swiftly rebuked Trump’s statement shortly after it was posted. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he “vociferously” condemns Trump’s remarks and urged his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same.

President Joe Biden signed legislation Friday to avoid a potentially catastrophic rail strike after Congress approved the measure this week. Biden had pressed lawmakers to pass the measure after railway workers vowed to strike by Dec. 9 if an agreement couldn't be reached. The Senate voted down an amendment 52 to 43, championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would have added seven days of paid sick leave for rail workers to the deal. “Let me be clear: This struggle is not over,” Sanders said after the sick leave amendment failed. “At a time of record-breaking profits for the rail industry, it is disgraceful that railroad workers do not have a single day of paid sick leave.”"I know this bill doesn't have paid sick leave.

☆ Elon Musk says he'll release details about 'what really happened with the Hunter Biden story suppression by Twitter'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk says he's releasing details on Twitter's "suppression" of a story about Hunter Biden's laptop. ET on what he says was Twitter's "suppression" of a controversial story about Hunter Biden's laptop before the 2020 election when the site was under different ownership. Last month, Musk tweeted that making public internal discussions about decisions regarding the story "is necessary to restore public trust." Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, asked Musk for these documents in October as part of their investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings. No evidence to date has suggested that Hunter Biden's work influenced his father's policy decisions.

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