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☆ Lawmakers Call for Broad U.S. Probes of Financial Conflicts by Federal Officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Brody Mullins | Rebecca Ballhaus | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Eric Lee for The Wall Street JournalTwo Democratic lawmakers are requesting recommendations for how ethics rules and regulations in Washington can be strengthened. WASHINGTON—Two Democratic lawmakers called on the executive branch to root out financial conflicts-of-interest among top government officials. In letters sent to eight federal agencies Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington asked that internal investigators launch probes into conflicts of interest and review the effectiveness of the agencies’ rules.

☆ A growing group of lawmakers think TikTok is 'digital fentanyl' and want to ban it. Many others remain skeptical.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Some members of Congress have begun pushing to ban TikTok in the US. "I'm a little less enthusiastic about an all-out ban of it," said Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. "I'm an incrementalist on a lot of things, and I would be on this as well," said Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on social media and the internet's impact on children. Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, another committee member, said she's most concerned about how social media platforms are impacting kids.

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Two U.S. lawmakers have sent letters to the country's top egg companies seeking answers for why egg prices have ballooned to record highs in recent months, according to copies of the letters seen by Reuters. The letters were sent Thursday morning to the CEOs of Cal-Maine Foods (CALM.O), Hillandale Farms, Rose Acre Farms, Daybreak Foods, and Versova Management. But a farm group recently asked federal regulators to investigate whether egg companies were price gouging. The lawmakers said the spike in prices raises concerns about anti-competitive conduct and requested information on executive compensation, profit margins, avian flu impacts, and whether companies have communicated with one another about egg prices. The lawmakers requested responses by March 1.

2 Democrat, told CNN when asked if party leaders should stay out of the race. “I’m just not worried about folks who may not like this approach,” Sinema told CNN on Thursday. On Monday, he wouldn’t say if he believes Democratic leaders should try to knock her off in 2024. Like Sinema, party leaders are now watching Manchin closely as he weighs whether to run in 2024. “I worked very closely with Sen. Sinema – two years now to get stuff done,” Kelly said.

New York CNN —Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed crypto exchange FTX, has agreed to testify before the Senate Banking Committee next week as questions and confusion swirl about the collapse of his companies. One of the key questions prosecutors are likely to probe is whether FTX misappropriated customer funds when it made loans to Alameda. “I didn’t knowingly commingle funds,” he told The New York Times last week. The Times said the issue is part of a broadening inquiry into the collapse of FTX, and it’s not clear whether prosecutors have determined any wrongdoing by Bankman-Fried. In a statement to the paper, Bankman-Fried said he was “not aware of any market manipulation and certainly never intended to engage in market manipulation.”

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried: US lawmakers want answers from FTX founder
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Lawmakers are demanding that Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed crypto exchange FTX, appear before the Senate Banking Committee next week over “significant unanswered questions ” surrounding the collapse of his companies. FTX was one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world until last month, when it faced a sudden wave of customer withdrawals that it couldn’t cover. One of the key questions prosecutors are likely to probe is whether FTX misappropriated customer funds when it made loans to Alameda. The Times said the issue is part of a broadening inquiry into the collapse of FTX, and it’s not clear whether prosecutors have determined any wrongdoing by Bankman-Fried. In a statement to the paper, Bankman-Fried said he was “not aware of any market manipulation and certainly never intended to engage in market manipulation.”

☆ Lawmakers Want Answers From Silvergate About FTX Transfers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( David Benoit | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Lawmakers are demanding information from Silvergate Capital Corp. about transfers of customer funds between Sam Bankman-Fried ‘s collapsed trading firm, Alameda Research, and his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX. In a letter to the bank Monday, Republican Sens. John Kennedy of Louisiana and Roger Marshall of Kansas, along with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, said an Alameda depository account at Silvergate “appears to be at the center” of the transfer of FTX customer funds to the trading firm. Failure to detect this “scheme,” the senators said, could mean the bank broke anti-money-laundering laws.

☆ The effort to ban members of Congress from trading stocks is mostly dead — at least for now
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Time has largely run out in this Congress to ban lawmakers from trading stocks. On Monday, he told Insider in a statement that he would "keep pushing to get this debated on the floor and get it passed." Democratic senators formed a working group, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's blessing, to draft legislation to ban stock trading among lawmakers. In the Senate, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts told Insider that it was "not yet" time to declare the effort dead, pointing to ongoing discussions. "I support a stock ban for members of Congress," he told reporters in September.

☆ How an arcane 96-year-old law stopped the rail strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The Railway Labor Act was passed in 1926 as one of the very first labor laws in the nation. Because of the law, the House was able to vote Wednesday to impose unpopular contracts on four rail unions whose members have already rejected the terms, followed by a vote by the Senate vote late Thursday that did the same. The Railway Labor Act, passed in 1926, is the reason Congress could intervene this week to block a strike by freight railroad unions. But under the Railway Labor Act, management can fall back on hopes that Congress will give them the deal it wants. When he served in the Senate, Biden voted against an earlier effort to impose a contract on the rail unions to keep them on the job.

☆ Ron DeSantis is releasing his first autobiography, in a key sign he's exploring a White House run
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ron DeSantis has a book coming out on February 28. Ron DeSantis of Florida has an autobiography coming out early next year, in the surest sign yet that he's considering a presidential run. Throughout these experiences, the publisher writes of the forthcoming book, "Ron DeSantis learned the same lesson: He didn't want to be part of the leftist elite." Ron DeSantis. That book's publisher was High-Pitched Hum Publishing in Jacksonville, Florida, a cooperative publisher known as a "vanity press" in literary circles.

☆ Ron DeSantis just announced he has a memoir coming out soon. Here's what we learned from his first book, a scathing take on Obama
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

DeSantis wrote the book during the Tea Party movement and before he ran for Congress. He did so throughout his 2011 book, "Dreams from Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama." According to NPD BookScan, which tracks retail sales of US print books, "Dreams from Our Founding Fathers" sold 125 copies through July of 2022. In one section of the book, DeSantis wrote that Obama lacked the humility of George Washington, the first US president. Obama, DeSantis wrote, "garnered flattering media coverage by a press thoroughly enamored with his progressive politics."

☆ Meet a Republican who would have all $10,000 of his student loans canceled under Biden's plan but thinks it's an unfair policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

He told Insider he wasn't surprised to see court challenges and worried for people who got refunds. Since Biden announced his plan at the end of August to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers, the plan has been fraught with legal challenges. I think many of the court challenges have tried to shine light on that," Matthew said. "My generation, the millennial, Gen Z generation, are facing a significant problem with student-loan debt," he said. "This radical scheme must be eviscerated entirely, and Republicans will continue to support legal challenges to achieve that end."

☆ DeSantis' scathing book about Obama shows his 'individual freedom' philosophy, his disdain for the media, and how he studies other politicians
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

DeSantis wrote the book during the Tea Party movement and before he ran for Congress. He did so throughout his 2011 book, "Dreams from Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama." DeSantis wrote the book as he was coming of age in politics during the Tea Party movement. In one section of the book, DeSantis wrote that Obama lacked the humility of George Washington, the first US president. Obama, DeSantis wrote, "garnered flattering media coverage by a press thoroughly enamored with his progressive politics."

☆ Senate Democrats laugh off Trump's endorsement of banning congressional stock trading. But there's still no consensus on passing their proposals in the lame duck session.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Senate Democrats have been wrestling with a proposed congressional stock trading ban. Donald Trump endorsed banning congressional stock trading in his 2024 campaign launch. He still felt qualified to weigh in on the unfinished legislative business Senate stock-ban point man Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon shelved until the lame duck in September. "I'm pleased to hear Trump supports a ban on congressional stock trading," Merkley wrote in an email. Stock trading ban advocate Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts urged Democratic leaders to follow through on the most popular proposals before decamping for the holidays.

☆ Trump promises to ban lawmakers from trading stocks during his 2024 announcement
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Trump endorsed a ban on members of Congress trading stocks. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle support a ban but progress has stalled during the current Congress. Trump has previously attacked the idea of lawmakers trading stocks before, but his comments on Tuesday appeared to be his most fulsome endorsement of a ban thus far. House leaders have pledged to move forward on stock-ban legislation this month, but it's not immediately clear where negotiations for passing a stock ban stand. While the issue has bipartisan support, lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol have a number of issues to deal with during the so-called "lame duck" session.

☆ Biden threatens higher taxes on oil companies if they do not work to lower gas prices
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden threatened Monday to pursue higher taxes on oil company profits if industry giants do not work to cut gas prices. Biden has criticized oil companies that have made record-high profits as consumers struggle to keep up with high gas prices. Inflation and the economy consistently rank as the top issue for voters — and higher gas prices stretched consumer budgets for much of this year. Any new taxes on oil profits would need congressional approval, which may prove difficult as Democrats control both chambers of Congress by slim margins. Biden has made pleas to oil companies to increase production rather than to enrich shareholders in recent weeks as the price of gas remains high.

☆ More than 40% of U.S. households will owe no federal income tax, down from last year, according to a new analysis
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Robert Frank | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

More than 72 million American households will pay no federal income taxes this year, marking a large decline from last year, according to a new analysis. An estimated 72.5 million households -- or 40% of total households -- will pay no federal income taxes for tax year 2022, according to an analysis from the Tax Policy Center. The number of Americans who pay no federal income taxes remains a hot political issue, with many Republicans arguing that more Americans should pay federal income taxes and Democrats often arguing that many of the rich don't pay taxes. Yet the real drivers of so-called "non-payers" — or those who owe no federal income taxes — are tax credits and employment. "For the most part, people don't pay income tax because they have little income," he said.

☆ Nancy Pelosi's congressional stock trading ban has a massive blind trust loophole and is too broad, ethics experts warn
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But ethics experts say the bill has a major loophole when it comes to blind trusts, and is too broad. Broadly speaking, a blind trust is a financial arrangement wherein people turn over their assets to be managed by an independent entity to prevent a conflict of interest. Several previously-introduced bills to ban stock trading allow for lawmakers to place their stocks into a blind trust, rather than fully selling off existing stock holdings. "You'd be able to create any kind of a trust you want to, put anything you want into it, and call it a blind trust, even though there wouldn't actually be any way to prove that it is, in fact, a blind trust." Payne also said the blind trust loophole was a "small risk," but that in an optimistic scenario, "that language allows this law to grow for future circumstances that you just can't be prepared for."

☆ There's overwhelming support for an age limit on the president and Congress. Here's why that won't happen anytime soon.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Bryan Metzger | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Some have proposed age limits for elected officials amid concerns about America's gerontocracy. The history of the contemporary movement for term limits largely dates back to the early 1990s, when dozens of states enacted term limits not just for their own legislatures but for their federal representatives in Washington. "Put it this way: I'm a little more interested in term limits than age limits," Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland told Insider. "There's a logic to term limits, because the principle of democracy is taking turns," Raskin, 59, said. "If there were to be term limits, the legislature certainly should have more terms than the executive," he offered.

☆ These 5 former House candidates might've been the next AOC, but entrenched politicians blocked their path
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam competed in this year's Democratic primary for North Carolina's 4th Congressional District. And we need to have an infrastructure like that on the Democratic Party side. Former House candidate John Isemann faced ex-state lawmaker Tom Kean Jr. in the Republican primary for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District. Jay Nixon and also worked for the Missouri Democratic Party — decided to jump into the race himself. "We talk about the Democratic Party being a big-tent party," she said.

☆ Elizabeth Warren slams Rick Scott's 'shameless attempt' to pass a bill that would block Biden's student-loan forgiveness
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elizabeth Warren slammed Rick Scott for trying to pass a bill blocking student-loan forgiveness. Senate Democrats blocked that bill from passing, and on Wednesday, Warren blasted Scott for trying to push the legislation through. "This is a shameful attempt by Republicans to keep working Americans buried under mountains of student debt," Warren said on the Senate floor. Still, during his floor speech after his bill was blocked, Scott reiterated conservative criticisms of student-loan forgiveness. Other GOP lawmakers have introduced bills to block student-loan forgiveness, saying the scale of this relief was illegal.

☆ What it's like working for lawmakers whose golden years are clouded by power struggles, rumors of senility, and constant second-guessing
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-13 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

Doug Heye, a Republican strategist, told Insider that some political maneuvering is more tactical. Emanuel, now the US's ambassador to Japan, didn't refute that the exchange took place but told Insider he didn't remember it. It serves the institution," the former GOP aide told Insider, adding that seasoned dealmakers are preferable to partisan bomb-throwers "with some agenda that they're driving." Paul Morigi/Getty ImagesWhite, now the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, told Insider his boss always had the final word. 'Preserving their dignity'Convincing career lawmakers to hang it up before they tarnish their respective legacies is tricky business, a veteran GOP leadership aide told Insider.

☆ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene just bought stock in 2 more companies that back Black Lives Matter
▼ + stars: | 2021-09-07 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Greene has purchased stock in several companies that contradict her political positions. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyIn April, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Black Lives Matter "is the strongest terrorist threat in our county." She also introduced legislation to award Congressional Gold Medals to law-enforcement officers "who protected American cities during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots" of 2020. Speaking up because BLACK LIVES MATTER." Consumers may also buy numerous Black Lives Matter-themed products at Walmart.com — but no "all lives matter" merchandise.

This is “The Daily.” Last week, E. Jean Carroll came forward with the most serious allegation yet of sexual assault by the president. michael barbaroMegan, can you take us back to last Friday, when New York magazine published an article about E. Jean Carroll? e. jean carroll Because it’s Donald Trump, and I’ve got — it’s a thing. e. jean carroll I may have tried to hit him with my purse, I don’t know. e. jean carroll Went out through the building, got to Fifth Avenue, had my purse, because I picked up my phone.

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