Voters in multiple U.S. states cast ballots Tuesday in primary elections ahead of the November general elections that will decide control of the U.S. congress. In the state of Arizona, Karrin Taylor Robson and Kari Lake were about even in the Republican race for governor with three-quarters of the ballots counted early Wednesday. Lake has the…
read moreA bill enhancing health care and disability benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits won final approval in the Senate on Tuesday, ending a brief stalemate over the measure that had infuriated advocates and inspired some to camp outside the Capitol. The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 86-11. It…
read moreThree Republican U.S. House members who voted to impeach Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection are being challenged in Tuesday’s primary elections by rivals endorsed by the former president. The primaries for Reps. Peter Meijer, Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse are the biggest test yet for Republican Party (GOP) incumbents who broke with…
read moreU.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed Sunday she is leading a congressional delegation to Asia but did not mention whether she will defy China by making a stop in Taiwan. In a statement, Pelosi said she is leading a group of five other Democratic Party lawmakers to Asia “to reaffirm America’s strong and unshakeable commitment…
read moreU.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to East Asia and Africa next week seeking to counter the influence of Russia and China in a fight for global influence. Blinken begins his travels Tuesday on a tour that will take him to Cambodia, the Philippines, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.…
read moreThe House passed legislation Friday to revive a ban on semiautomatic guns, the first vote of its kind in years and a direct response to the firearms often used in the crush of mass shootings ripping through communities nationwide. Once banned in the U.S., the high-powered firearms are now widely seen as the weapon of…
read moreMedia reports indicated U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will depart with a delegation of lawmakers on her trip to Asia late Friday, but whether she plans to go through with a controversial visit to Taiwan is unclear. During a briefing Friday, Pelosi, as she has repeatedly done in recent days, refused to discuss a departure…
read moreU.S. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said Wednesday that he had reached a deal with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on a bill to increase corporate taxes, reduce the national debt, invest in energy technologies and lower the cost of prescription drugs. Manchin has often been a roadblock to President Joe Biden’s policy goals, including those…
read moreThe U.S. Senate passed the CHIPs bill by a vote of 64-33 Wednesday, advancing legislation that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say will be key in addressing U.S. economic competition with China. The $280 billion bill provides $52 billion in grants and incentives to domestic producers of semiconductors, a key element in a…
read moreThe U.S. Justice Department is investigating Donald Trump’s actions in its criminal probe of the former president’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing sources. The Justice Department has been interviewing former White House officials, including the former chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, who…
read moreFormer U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated his false claim that he won the 2020 election during a wide-ranging policy speech that marked his defiant return to Washington – and hinted at his possible return to politics. “I always say I ran the first time and I won,” he said, speaking to about 600…
read moreU.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential plan to visit Taiwan during her trip to Asia in August has prompted a belligerent response from China, with the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry warning that Beijing would “act strongly to resolutely respond” and “take countermeasures” if Pelosi traveled to the island. In a news conference on Monday,…
read moreCalling semiconductors “the building blocks for the modern economy,” President Joe Biden on Monday asked Congress to move quickly and send him a bipartisan bill designed to boost the computer chips industry and high-tech research in the United States. The Senate was originally expected to take a critical vote in the evening to advance the…
read moreCongresswoman Liz Cheney, one of the leaders of the investigation into the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last year, said Sunday that Donald Trump engaged in the “most serious misconduct” of any U.S. president in history by inciting the mayhem and then refusing for more than three hours to call off the rioters.…
read moreHere is a summary of Native American-related news around the U.S. this week: Haaland not hindered by leg injury Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, is recovering from an injury she incurred while hiking in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park on Sunday. An Interior Department statement released…
read moreCalifornia’s governor signed into law Friday new gun control legislation modeled on a legal approach used in Texas to curb access to abortions. Last year, well before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to an abortion, the Republican-controlled state of Texas enacted a new law allowing individuals to sue anyone helping to terminate…
read moreAs the war in Ukraine approaches the end of its fifth month and Russian attacks on civilian sites are reported on a near-daily basis, pressure is mounting on the Biden administration to officially designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. This week, according to reporting by Politico, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Secretary of…
read moreThe January 6 Committee wrapped up its first round of public hearings Thursday with a minute-by-minute examination of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions during the attack on the U.S. Capitol. As VOA Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, the investigation provided new insight into Trump’s actions. …
read moreU.S. lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol last year said then-President Donald Trump chose not to act for more than three hours as thousands of his supporters rampaged through the Capitol trying to block the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory. “President Trump sat at his dining table and watched the…
read moreThe White House says President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing “very mild symptoms.” The president’s diagnosis comes amid another wave of the coronavirus in the United States, driven this time by the BA.5 variant. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …
read moreAs the congressional committee examining the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol wraps up its first round of public hearings this week, the Justice Department faces rising pressure to prosecute former President Donald Trump in connection with the bloody assault. The Justice Department has charged more than 800 Trump supporters involved in the…
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