Here’s what’s in the bipartisan infrastructure bill
By Katie Lobosco and Tami Luhby A bipartisan group of senators unveiled the legislative text of the infrastructure bill on Sunday night after months of negotiations. In total, the deal includes $550 billion in new federal investments in America’s infrastructure over five years. However, it is far short of the $2.25 trillion proposal that President Joe Biden unveiled in March. That measure, known as the American Jobs Plan, included money for roads, bridges and public transportation, but it drew criticism from many Republicans for also making investments in areas not traditionally considered infrastructure, such as caregiving for aging Americans and workforce training. Still, Senate Majority Leader
Schumer and Pelosi plan to meet with Biden on Friday to discuss voting rights legislation
By Ali Zaslav and Manu Raju Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are planning to meet with President Joe Biden on Friday to discuss a path forward on voting rights legislation, a person familiar with the plans told CNN. As lawmakers have been focused on infrastructure legislation, Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, have been working to craft a revised voting rights bill compromise aimed at continuing their work on the issue after Senate Republicans blocked an earlier bill from advancing. But while Democrats
Third Black lawmaker arrested this month during voting rights protests in DC
By Devan Cole Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said she was arrested on Thursday by Capitol Police during a protest on voting rights, becoming the third lawmaker to be arrested in recent weeks while participating in a pro-voting rights demonstration in Washington. “Yes, I engaged in civil disobedience in front of the Hart (Senate Office) Building in Washington, DC, and I was arrested,” Jackson Lee said in a recorded statement provided to CNN. “Any action that is a peaceful action of civil disobedience is worthy and more to push all of us to do better and to do more and to pass
Inside Democrats’ quest to nominate judges who break the ex-prosecutor mold
By Tierney Sneed As part of the historically quick work to put his judicial nominees on the bench, President Joe Biden is on a mission to pick judges whose professional backgrounds break the mold of the ex-prosecutor and corporate law veterans who currently dominate the federal judiciary. But it’s not a task that the President can accomplish on his own. Instead, he is relying on senators to broaden the pool of potential nominees they bring to the White House. Biden’s emphasis on nominating more ex-public defenders (12 total make up his 32 nominees), as well as civil rights attorneys (four out of
Austin: US doesn’t want conflict with China but won’t ‘flinch when our interests are threatened’
By Brad Lendon US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that China’s claims and actions in the Indo-Pacific threaten the sovereignty of nations around the region while Washington is committed to building partnerships that guarantee the vital interest of all nations. “Beijing’s claim to the vast majority of the South China Sea has no basis in international law. That assertion treads on the sovereignty of states in the region,” Austin said in a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore. China claims almost all of the 1.3-million-square-mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory, despite much of those
‘Time for action:’ Voting and civil rights groups intensify pressure on Biden and Congress to move on federal election bills
By Fredreka Schouten Civil rights activists and voting rights groups this week are intensifying pressure on Congress to advance federal voting rights legislation as a bulwark against an array of new laws in Republican-controlled states that make it harder to vote. Activists say they also are growing increasingly impatient with President Joe Biden and his reluctance to demand an end to the Senate’s filibuster rule that establishes a 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation in the chamber. They want Biden to exert pressure on Democratic holdouts on the filibuster to allow a pair of federal voting bills to pass the Senate by a simple
Ohio House primary reveals Democratic divides that could play out across the 2022 midterm map
By Eric Bradner A congressional primary in Ohio is revealing the generational and ideological fissures in the Democratic Party that have been largely hidden in the early months of Joe Biden’s presidency — but could burst into full view as the midterm elections approach. Nina Turner, the former state senator and prominent surrogate for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns, is battling the establishment-backed Shontel Brown, the Cuyahoga County Democratic chairwoman and county council member, in a race that also features 11 other long-shot candidates bidding to represent the 11th District, which stretches from Cleveland south to Akron. The August
Bipartisan infrastructure deal enters critical week in Congress with major sticking points unresolved
By Paul LeBlanc The much-deliberated bipartisan infrastructure bill is entering a critical week on Capitol Hill with lawmakers projecting optimism ahead of a possible procedural vote this week, potentially on Monday. But a weekend of talks had yet to produce an agreement as of late Sunday, while major sticking points remained, per three sources familiar with the matter. Democratic negotiators, including the White House, sent Republicans on Sunday night a “global offer to finish every major open item,” a Democratic source close to the talks told CNN. The offer included the major unresolved issues, including funding for highways and bridges, money for
Boosters, masks and mandates: Biden’s team sorts through options for containing Covid surge among unvaccinated Americans
By Kevin Liptak The Biden administration is debating a series of steps to further contain the Covid-19 pandemic, which, after 18 months, is again surging in parts of the country where vaccination rates are low. A senior administration health official said the government is “actively exploring” how to provide extra vaccine shots to vulnerable populations, who officials now increasingly expect will require boosters, as they await the US Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the three vaccines currently authorized for emergency use. The White House on Friday announced a purchase of hundreds of millions of additional Pfizer doses, in part to be
Texas Senate advances bill to restrict how race, nation’s history is taught in schools
By Shawna Mizelle While the Texas Legislature remains embroiled in a battle over election laws, Republican senators have advanced a bill that would reshape how social studies teachers can discuss race and current events in their classrooms. SB3, which passed the Republican-led chamber in a 18-4 vote last week, now remains stalled in the state House after that chamber’s Democrats broke quorum and went to Washington, DC, to block action on a separate restrictive voting law. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott listed a proposal “concerning critical race theory” among his priorities for the legislature’s special session that convened earlier this month. With SB3, Republican