By Jeremy Herb and Ted Barrett Vice President Kamala Harris cast her first tie-breaking vote related to a Biden administration nominee on the Senate floor Wednesday evening, voting to advance the nomination of Colin Kahl to be the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy. The Senate deadlocked 50-50 on a straight party-line procedural vote to discharge Kahl’s
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By Jeanne Sahadi Racial and ethnic inequities exist in nearly every system of society. And when it comes to ways in which Americans typically build wealth, the US federal income tax code may be helping to increase those disparities. The code has been designed with the intention of being broadly progressive — meaning the less
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By Maegan Vazquez President Joe Biden on Friday aims to highlight the economic opportunities of climate action a day after announcing an ambitious new goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at his Leaders Summit on Climate from the White House. On Thursday, the President committed the US to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 50%
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By Clare Foran Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina will deliver the GOP response following President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress next Wednesday. The decision will give Scott, the lone Black Republican senator and the lead Republican negotiator on Congress’ policing reform efforts, a prominent national platform from which to
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Analysis by Maeve Reston and Stephen Collinson Real hope for police reform — even in the rancorously divided US Senate — shows the seismic impact of the guilty verdict in the trial for George Floyd’s murder. A day after former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted on all counts, both sides in Washington sought
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By Clare Foran The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to pass a bill that would grant statehood to Washington, DC, a Democratic priority that faces obstacles to final passage even with the party now in control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. The party line vote was 216-208. The legislation now
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By Madeline Holcombe Although there’s a growing sense that normalcy is within reach after the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, experts are continuing to push for more vaccinations — particularly as new research details the long-term consequences for those who are diagnosed with the virus. In what the authors say is the largest study to date of
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By Manu Raju A sweeping bill to overhaul policing practices in the United States still faces an uncertain future — in large part because the two sides remain at sharp odds over whether to make it easier to criminally prosecute officers. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the lead GOP negotiator, opposes Democratic efforts to lower
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By Lauren Fox The real work of finalizing an infrastructure package that can have widespread Democratic support on Capitol Hill is just beginning as the party must reckon with key differences between progressives and moderates on the scope and cost of the package — as well as GOP lawmakers offering their own alternative. While progressives
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