Author: Donna Cassata
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Trump delays new policy on importing elephant parts
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WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump said Friday he’s delaying a new policy allowing the body parts of African elephants shot for sport to be imported until he can review “all conservation facts.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday it would allow such importation, arguing that encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill the threatened species…
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Senate confirms Christopher Wray, Trump’s choice for FBI
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly confirmed Christopher Wray to lead the FBI, replacing James Comey, who was abruptly fired by President Donald Trump amid the investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election. The vote was 92-5 for Wray, a former high-ranking official in President George W. Bush’s Justice Department who oversaw…
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Doctors: Sen. John McCain has brain tumor
WASHINGTON — Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee with a well-known maverick streak that often vexes his GOP colleagues, has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, his office said in a statement Wednesday. The 80-year-old lawmaker has glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, where McCain…
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Trump objects after House GOP votes to gut ethics office
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FILE- In this May 19, 2015, file photo, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., listens to testimony on Capitol Hill in Washington. House Republicans on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, voted to eviscerate the Office of Congressional Ethics. Under the ethics change pushed by Goodlatte, the independent body would fall under the control of…
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Congress ushers in new era of all-Republican rule
WASHINGTON — Congress ushers in a new era of all-Republican rule. On Tuesday at noon, with plenty of pomp and pageantry, members of the 115th Congress will be sworn in, with an emboldened GOP intent on unraveling eight years of President Barack Obama’s Democratic agenda and targeting massive legacy programs from Franklin D. Roosevelt and…
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House grudgingly approves arms for Syrian rebels
WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House voted grudgingly to give the administration authority to train and arm Syrian rebels on Wednesday as President Barack Obama emphasized anew that American forces “do not and will not have a combat mission” in the struggle against Islamic State militants in either Iraq or Syria. The 273-156 vote crossed party…
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Senate GOP blocks bill on contraception coverage touted by Udall
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats suffered what looked like a difficult setback on birth control Wednesday, but they hope it pays big political dividends in November. Republicans blocked a bill that was designed to override a Supreme Court ruling and ensure access to contraception for women who get their health insurance from companies with religious objections.…
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Military sexual assault bill heads for Senate vote
WASHINGTON — Opponents of legislation stripping senior military commanders of their authority to prosecute rapes and other serious offenses expressed confidence on Thursday that the far-reaching measure would fall short in a highly anticipated Senate vote. The bill, which is expected to come up for a vote Thursday afternoon, is firmly opposed by the Pentagon’s…
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Former US official describes Libya attack
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former top diplomat in Libya on Wednesday delivered a riveting minute-by-minute account of the chaotic events during the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi last September, with a 2 a.m. call from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and confusion about the fate of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.…