The House has passed a $1 trillion bipartisan plan to rebuild roads and bridges, modernize public works systems and boost broadband internet, among other major improvements to the nation’s infrastructure. The legislation now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature. Once it is signed by Biden, the new law will reach virtually every corner…
read moreAfter a daylong standoff, Democrats set aside divisions between progressives and centrists to pass a $1 trillion package of highway, broadband and other infrastructure improvement, sending it on to President Joe Biden to sign into law. The 228-206 vote is a substantial triumph for Biden’s Democrats, who have bickered for months over the ambitious spending…
read moreThe 3- and 4-year-olds who attend prekindergarten at Two Rivers Public Charter School in Washington are part of the roughly 60% of U.S. children who go to preschool. U.S. President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better spending plan aims to make pre-K free and universal, expanding it to millions more youngsters. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has our…
read moreA U.S. federal grand jury has indicted the Russian analyst who contributed to the “Steele dossier” alleging potential ties between Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign and Russia, a special prosecutor investigating the matter said Thursday. Analyst Igor Danchenko is accused of five counts of making false statements to the FBI relating to sources for the…
read moreTexas’ abortion law has landed in the nation’s capital this week, as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether limitations on a woman’s ability to terminate her pregnancy are legal. Lawmakers heard from experts Thursday who urged the high court to strike it down. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more. Producer: Katherine Gypson. …
read moreU.S. Republicans won big Tuesday in at least one off-year state election. As VOA’s Carolyn Presutti reports, some see Democrats’ losses in the state of Virginia as a warning sign for the party ahead of next year’s midterm elections, when all seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and a third of the U.S. Senate…
read moreA Russian analyst who provided information for a dossier of research used during the Trump-Russia investigation has been arrested by U.S. authorities as part of an ongoing special counsel investigation, the Justice Department said Thursday. Igor Danchenko is the third person, and second in a two-month span, to face charges in special counsel John Durham’s…
read moreNot every mayor-elect of an American city gets post-election congratulations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan. Soon after news broke late Tuesday that Michelle Wu won the race for mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted its “heartiest congratulations to @wutrain on winning the #Boston mayoral race. We couldn’t be prouder of the 1st woman & Asian American to hold the city’s top job. More power to her…
read moreAs elections took place in states across America on Tuesday, Asian American candidates made history with solidified and projected victories in three major cities. Mayoral races in Boston, Cincinnati and Seattle drew just as much national attention as the tight gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. Michelle Wu, the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, claimed…
read moreNew Jersey Democratic Governor Phil Murphy narrowly won reelection Wednesday, eking out a victory that spared Democrats the loss of a second gubernatorial seat. He’s the state’s first Democratic governor to get a second straight term in 44 years, defeating Republican former New Jersey General Assembly member Jack Ciattarelli. AP called the race Wednesday evening…
read moreSweeping police reforms have been at the center of a debate in the United States since the May 2020 death of African American George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A year-and-a-half later, amid spiking violent crime rates nationwide, voters in the city rejected scrapping its police department and replacing it with a proposed…
read moreIn an election with implications far beyond its borders, the state of Virginia on Tuesday elected Republican businessman and political neophyte Glenn Youngkin to serve as governor, ending a decade-long trend of Democratic domination of state-wide offices and signaling trouble for that party’s fate in next year’s congressional midterms. “Together we will change the trajectory…
read moreBoston voters, marking a key milestone in the city’s long political history, for the first time elected a woman and an Asian American as mayor on Tuesday, tapping City Councilor Michelle Wu to serve in the city’s top political office. Wu’s victory marks a turning point for the city. Boston had only elected white men…
read moreDemocrat Eric Adams has been elected New York City mayor, defeating Republican Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday in a contest far easier than his next task: steering a damaged city through its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Adams, a former New York City police captain and the Brooklyn borough president, will become the second Black mayor…
read moreRepublican Glenn Youngkin won an election Tuesday to become the next governor of the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia in one of several closely watched races nationally ahead of next year’s midterm congressional elections. The political newcomer defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe, a former Virginia governor, capturing 51% of the vote to McAuliffe’s 48% with most ballots counted. Ahead of Tuesday’s election, both…
read moreDemocrats reached agreement Tuesday on a plan to lower prescription drug costs for most older people, capping out-of-pocket Medicare costs at $2,000 and reducing the price of insulin, salvaging a campaign promise as part of President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion domestic policy proposal. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the deal, which is one of…
read moreElections taking place across the U.S. on Tuesday will be the first to test new voting restrictions in some Republican-controlled states and give elections officials a chance to counter a year’s worth of misinformation about voting security. Officials said demonstrating secure, consistent and fair practices could help reassure those who still have doubts about last…
read moreVoters are casting ballots Tuesday for governor in the U.S. states of Virginia and New Jersey, two closely watched races ahead of next year’s midterm congressional elections. In Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who served as the state’s governor from 2014 to 2018, is facing Republican Glenn Youngkin, a political newcomer. Both candidates held final campaign events Monday…
read moreSenator Joe Manchin wavered Monday on his support for President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1.75 trillion domestic policy proposal, saying instead it’s “time to vote” on a slimmer $1 trillion infrastructure package that has stalled amid talks. The West Virginia Democrat’s announcement comes as Democrats want a signal from Manchin that he will support Biden’s big…
read moreUS President Joe Biden is in Glasgow, Scotland, this week for the UN climate summit, while back at home Democrats try to hammer out an agreement on a massive spending bill. Michelle Quinn reports. Producer: Mary Cieslak …
read moreA Texas abortion law that was signed in May by Governor Greg Abbott is considered the most restrictive abortion legislation in the country. After the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in September to at least temporarily uphold the law, the court once again will hear arguments regarding the case on Monday. Texans across the state, meanwhile,…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden will arrive at COP 26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Glasgow next week, with the promise, if not the guarantee, that the United States is about to commit to the largest single investment in combating climate change in history. The White House and Democratic leaders in Congress…
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