Senate Passes Social Security Boost for Public Workers
By Anthony Adragna The Senate broadly approved a measure expanding Social Security payments to millions of certain public sector workers, sending the measure to President Joe Biden for his signature. The vote on the Social Security Fairness Act was 76-20. It previously passed the House in an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 327-75 in November after rank-and-file lawmakers used a procedural measure, known as a discharge petition, to force a floor vote without House GOP leaders’ blessing. “We will vote on taking up the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal flawed policies that eat away at the benefits of those who’ve
Trump Picks Herschel Walker as Ambassador to Bahamas
By Candace McDuffie On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump once again shocked the country with another one of his appointments. He officially named former NFL star Herschel Walker as the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas. Walker ran for a Georgia Senate seat in 2022 and lost to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. Trump announced the news on his social media platform Truth Social. “I am pleased to nominate Herschel Walker as United States Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Herschel has spent decades serving as an Ambassador to our Nation’s youth, our men and women in the Military, and athletes at home
Senate Passes Spending Bill, Avoids Holiday Shutdown
By Scott Wong, Sahil Kapur, Ali Vitali, Julie Tsirkin, Kyle Stewart and Kate Santaliz The Senate gave final passage to a bill early Saturday morning to keep the government open for three more months, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk to end the threat of a government shutdown during the holidays. The vote was 85-11. The Republican-controlled House passed the bill hours earlier. Although the final vote technically went past the midnight deadline to avert a shutdown, the White House said that Biden would sign the bill Saturday and avoid forcing U.S. troops, Border Patrol agents, air traffic controllers and millions of other federal workers to work without
Hospital Price Transparency Faces Uncertain Future
By Julie Appleby It seems simple: Require hospitals and insurers to post their negotiated prices for most health care services and — bingo — competition follows, yielding lower costs for consumers. But nearly four years after the first Trump administration’s regulations forced hospitals to post massive amounts of pricing information online, the effect on patients’ costs is unclear. And while President Joe Biden added requirements to make pricing information more user-friendly, Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House has raised questions about what’s next, even though posting prices is an area of rare bipartisan agreement. The uncertainty of what
Mayor Adams Seeks Support in Albany, D.C. Amid Indictment
By Emily Ngo New York City Mayor Eric Adams is heading today to Albany, New York, while several of his top deputies are due in Washington, all seeking to advance Adams’ state and federal priorities amid the political backlash of his criminal indictment. The outreach in the state and nation’s capitals, confirmed to POLITICO by a spokesperson for Adams, comes as the Democratic mayor warms to the GOP president-elect. And it comes a day after the city’s Campaign Finance Board voted to deny Adams $4.5 million in public funds, his closest aide disclosed she expects to be indicted on alleged corruption charges and Donald Trump said
House Democrats Back New Leaders in Major Shake-Up
By Nicholas Wu House Democrats have solidified the generational shake-up at the top of their committees, after significant behind-the-scenes influence from both current and former leaders of the caucus. The caucus faced tough races for the Agriculture, Oversight and Natural Resources Committees. Rep. Angie Craig (Minn.) won the nod for the top party spot on Agriculture, beating incumbent Rep. David Scott (Ga.), who’d faced long-standing questions about his health, and Rep. Jim Costa (Calif.). Rep. Gerry Connolly (Va.) won the Oversight recommendation over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.). And Rep. Jared Huffman (Calif.) earned the nod for the Natural Resources Committee
Top Eric Adams Aide Ingrid Lewis-Martin Abruptly Resigns
By Jeff Colton Ingrid Lewis-Martin, who engineered Eric Adams’ rise from police captain to mayor of the nation’s largest city, is abruptly resigning from City Hall. Her departure, which takes effect immediately, comes at a precarious time for the mayor: He is heading to trial for a five-count federal indictment to which he pleaded not guilty, and is up for reelection next year. Lewis-Martin herself is being eyed by local law enforcement in a separate matter. Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office have presented evidence about her to a grand jury, and could bring an indictment as soon as this
OSU Rescinds Raises After Overtime Rule Blocked in Court
By Andrea Hsu Imagine getting a pay raise, only to be told weeks later: Sorry, we’re taking it back. That’s what’s happening to 306 employees at The Ohio State University now that a federal court has struck down the Biden administration’s overtime rule. Finalized in April, the rule would have made some 4.3 million salaried workers nationwide newly eligible to earn 1.5 times their regular pay when they work more than 40 hours a week. “One of the basic principles of the American workplace is that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay,” wrote Jessica Looman, head of the
Trump Defends Tariffs, Says They Won’t Raise Prices
By Mia McCarthy President-elect Donald Trump said he “can’t guarantee anything” when asked whether his proposed tariffs would increase prices for American families, in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday. “I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t guarantee tomorrow,” Trump said, when host Kristen Welker asked if he can guarantee American families won’t pay more under his tariff plan. “But I can say that if you looked at my — just pre-Covid, we had the greatest economy in the history of our country. And I had a lot of tariffs on a lot of different countries, but
Biden Sets Record for Appointing Judges of Color
By Char Adams As President Joe Biden makes a final push to confirm judicial nominees before his term in office ends, he is on track to have appointed more federal judges of color than any president before him. On Monday, the Senate confirmed Biden’s judicial nominee for the Northern District of Georgia, Tiffany Johnson, making her the 40th Black woman he has appointed to lifetime federal judgeships — more than any president in a single term. Overall, about 60% of Biden’s 233 appointees are people of color, according to figures the White House shared with NBC News. Benjamin Cheeks and Serena
