Ramsey Touchberry

Shutdown looms amid fight to save border policy in spending bill

The Senate remained logjammed Thursday over an effort to fast-track a bipartisan $1.7 trillion government funding package to avoid a midnight Friday shutdown amid Sen. Mike Lee's demand for an amendment vote to preserve the Title 42 border policy.

December 22, 2022

Congress’ big spending bill to create ‘Nancy Pelosi Federal Building’ in San Francisco

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's name will soon appear on a federal building in her hometown thanks to an item slipped into a massive must-pass spending bill that Congress is rushing to approve this week.

December 21, 2022

Biden pledge to boost foreign climate aid goes up in smoke

President Biden's commitment to provide billions of dollars per year in international climate aid for poor countries to mitigate the effects of climate change has largely dried up.

December 21, 2022

Republicans in Senate, House spar over budget

Senate Republicans touted a string of victories including slashing the IRS budget and boosting military spending when a $1.7 trillion federal spending bill was unveiled Tuesday, and they scored those wins despite Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress.

December 20, 2022

Lawmakers unveil $1.7T bill to avoid shutdown, boost Ukraine

Congress is scrambling to avoid a government shutdown Friday with a giant $1.7 trillion spending bill.

December 20, 2022

Democrats dismiss GOP worries on tech, censorship

Senate Democrats want to take on Big Tech in the next Congress, but that doesn't include tackling the censorship of conservative voices on social media.

December 19, 2022

Henry Cuellar: Biden advisers doing president a ‘disservice’ on border

The rebuke from the conservative Democrat comes days before an immigration policy meant to curb the flow of asylum seekers and more swiftly deport migrants is set to expire.

December 18, 2022

Joe Manchin on possibility of ditching Democrats: ‘I’ll let you know later’

The conservative West Virginia Democrat, who is up for reelection in 2024, is a frequent critic of his party and toxic Washington politics but said he still has no plans of becoming an independent like Ms. Sinema of Arizona.

December 18, 2022

Sen. Pat Toomey knocks Trump for ‘unbelievably terrible rollout’ of 2024 campaign

Mr. Trump has been criticized by many in the party for recently dining with rapper Kanye West and Nick Fuentes, both of whom espouse antisemitic views.

December 18, 2022

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott predicts ‘total chaos’ at border if Title 42 expiration not halted

Critics have accused Republicans of hypocrisy for wanting to end pandemic-era rules while at the same time wanting to keep Title 42 in place, which limits the number of asylum seekers and allows the U.S. to more quickly deport migrants.

December 18, 2022

GOP Rep. Chip Roy accuses Dems of using migrants as ‘political pawns’

Rep. Chip Roy on Sunday accused Democrats of using migrants as "political pawns" amid a surge of crossings at the U.S. southern border as a Trump-era immigration policy limiting asylum seekers is set to expire.

December 18, 2022

Rep. Adam Schiff says Jan. 6 committee has ‘sufficient evidence’ to charge Trump

Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday that the House Jan. 6 committee has "sufficient evidence" to charge Donald Trump for last year's attack on the U.S. Capitol.

December 18, 2022

Congress averts government shutdown with stopgap funding bill

Congress passed a stopgap spending measure Thursday night to fund the federal government through Dec. 23 as it races to finish a long-term budget, narrowly avoiding a partial shutdown that was set to ensue at midnight on Friday.

December 15, 2022

Texas state Republicans grill BlackRock in committee hearing over ‘woke’ investment practices

Major Wall Street firms such as BlackRock were grilled by the Texas Legislature on Thursday about their ESG investment practices with state pensions, marking a rare opportunity for Republicans to publicly interrogate some of the world's largest financial institutions that they accuse of being woke.

December 15, 2022

GOP senators: McConnell ‘coercing’ them into backing big Democrat spending

A small but vocal group of Republican senators is furious with GOP leadership over the agreement with Democrats to approve a massive year-end spending bill that will fund the federal government through next September.

December 14, 2022

House GOP bill would empower states to regulate petroleum projects on federal land

States also would not be subject to core environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and the Administrative Procedures Act.

December 14, 2022

Dems take another stab at Manchin’s ‘zombie’ energy bill that ‘won’t stay dead’

Climate activists dressed as zombies protested outside the U.S. Capitol against the proposal.

December 13, 2022

McConnell closes in on full-year spending deal, touts boost to defense and check on Dems’ agenda

The move is sure to draw criticism from Republicans on both sides of the Capitol, some of whom have accused Senate Republican leadership of consistently rolling over for Democrats when it comes to big spending bills.

December 13, 2022

Sen. Lankford to keep blocking Pentagon nominees until COVID vax rule repealed

Sen. James Lankford will not lift his hold on President Biden's Department of Defense nominees, even with the impending repeal of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the armed services that's included in an annual defense policy bill working its way through Congress.

December 13, 2022

Manchin: ‘No intention’ of switching to independent but doesn’t close door to leaving Dems

Sen. Joe Manchin III said Monday he doesn't plan to follow in the footsteps of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and switch his party affiliation from Democrat to independent, despite the moderate West Virginian frequently butting heads with his party.

December 12, 2022