WASHINGTON — Senators grilled CEOs of seven major drug companies on Tuesday over high prescription drug prices that are a drain on Medicare and Medicaid and a burden to millions of Americans. The extraordinary public accounting was a sign that Congress and the White House are moving toward legislation this...
House Dems Introduce Measure to Revoke Trump Border Edict
WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Friday introduced a resolution to block the national emergency declaration that President Donald Trump issued to fund his long-sought wall along the U.S-Mexico border. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., immediately announced that a vote would come on Tuesday. The move sets up a fight that...
Congress Urged to Fully Open Banks to Marijuana Industry
LOS ANGELES — Bank officials and others urged Congress on Wednesday to fully open the doors of the U.S. banking system to the legal marijuana industry, a change that supporters say would reduce crime risks and resolve a litany of challenges for cannabis companies, from paying taxes to getting a...
Can You Believe It? National Debt Now $22 Trillion.
WASHINGTON — The national debt has passed a milestone, topping $22 trillion for the first time. The Treasury Department's daily statement showed Tuesday that total outstanding public debt stands at $22.01 trillion. It stood at $19.95 trillion when President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2017. The debt figure...
Rep. Omar Apologizes for Tweets on AIPAC's Influence
WASHINGTON — Freshman Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar "unequivocally" apologized Monday for tweets suggesting that members of Congress support Israel because they are being paid to do so, which drew bipartisan criticism and a rebuke from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The Minnesota Democrat said she had no intention offending anyone, including...
Anti-Abortion Bills: Odds Good in GOP States, not Congress
President Donald Trump's call for a ban on late-term abortions is unlikely to prevail in Congress, but Republican legislators in several states are pushing ahead with their own tough anti-abortion bills that they hope can pass muster with the Supreme Court. Two bills proposing to outlaw abortions after a fetal...
Walters: Will the One-Percenters Flee California's High Taxes?
Reality – a new reality – is hitting home as Californians work on their 2018 federal income tax returns. Some are seeing smaller federal tax bites and bigger refunds, thanks to a more generous standard deduction in the tax overhaul that a Republican Congress and President Donald Trump enacted in...
A Different Kind of Shade: Pelosi Smirks, Dismisses Trump
WASHINGTON — So President Donald Trump blew through House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's customary introduction before his State of the Union speech. Who cares? Not Pelosi, who was the white-clad backdrop to every Trump word uttered during his first address to a joint session of Congress under divided government. With a smirk...
US Intel Lists North Korea, not Border, as Threat
WASHINGTON — Directly contradicting President Donald Trump, U.S. intelligence agencies told Congress on Tuesday that North Korea is unlikely to dismantle its nuclear arsenal, that the Islamic State group remains a threat and that the Iran nuclear deal is working. The chiefs made no mention of a crisis at the...
GOP's McCarthy Says Border Deal Doesn’t Need Word ‘Wall’
WASHINGTON — A border security compromise that Congress hopes to produce doesn't have to include the word "wall," the top House Republican said Tuesday, signaling a rhetorical retreat from a term that President Donald Trump made a keystone of his presidential campaign. The remark by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy,...