Month: December 2017

Republicans pushed a nearly $1.5 trillion tax bill through the Senate early Saturday after burst of eleventh-hour horse trading, as a party starved all year for a major legislative triumph took a giant step toward giving President Donald Trump one of his top priorities by Christmas. “Big bills are rarely popular. You remember how unpopular…

As U.S. lawmakers grapple with allegations of sexual harassment in their ranks, some senior American diplomats are speaking out about their struggles over the years. Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, who was U.S. ambassador to Malta from 2012-2016, told her story about serving at the State Department and the White House. “There was one occasion in the department…

More than half of the registered lobbyists in Washington have worked on tax issues in 2017, a report showed on Friday, as lawmakers in the U.S. capital scramble to conclude a year-long effort to pass a tax reform bill before Christmas. About 6,200 lobbyists, or 57 percent of those who reported activity in 2017, have…

President Donald Trump is calling reports that he is trying to force Rex Tillerson out as secretary of state “fake news.” Trump tweeted Friday: ​On Thursday, news outlets quoted senior administration officials as saying the president could name Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo to replace Tillerson within the next several weeks. Both the White…

Despite criticism from Washington over Cambodia’s crackdown on the opposition and accusations that the U.S. helped plot Prime Minister Hun Sen’s downfall, U.S. Ambassador William Heidt has said that America’s support for Cambodia’s economy will not be negatively impacted. Heidt told VOA’s Khmer service on Wednesday that the embassy’s mission to strengthen the bilateral relationship…

The acquittal Thursday of a Mexican immigrant accused of murdering a woman in the western U.S. city of San Francisco has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump, who said the verdict was “disgraceful” and suggested it would cost Democrats in upcoming elections. The case against Jose Ines Garcia Zarate became a rallying cry for…

U.S. President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty Friday to lying to federal investigators over his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. Flynn’s guilty plea on Friday is yet another indication the former aide is cooperating with a special counsel investigation into Russia’s 2016 presidential election meddling and possible collusion…

Another woman — the fourth — has spoken out against the longest-serving member of Congress, Democrat John Conyers, Thursday, accusing him of harassing her repeatedly over the decade during which she worked for him. Meanwhile, Conyers’ lawyer told reporters that the 88-year-old congressman has been admitted to the hospital. Esha Sarai reports. …

The White House dismissed reports Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo as reported in the news media. The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other major U.S. news outlets quoted senior administration officials saying the plan to oust Tillerson could…