Nwexx

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., walks back onto the Senate floor after speaking to reporters at the U.S. Capitol Building on June 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans were closing in Monday on passing their version of the “big beautiful” tax break and spending cut bill that President Donald Trump wants to make law by a self-imposed July Fourth deadline. But the chamber’s Democrats first kicked off a marathon of amendment votes , forcing their GOP colleagues to go on the record on tough issues, including cuts to health and food safety net  programs . As of early evening, Democrats had not prevailed on any votes. The tactic is used by the opposition party during massive budget reconciliation fights to draw attention to specific issues even as their amendments are likely to fail. Democrats decried numerous measures in the mega-bill, including new work reporting requirements for Medicaid, the federal-state...

Ramped up immigration enforcement hits close to home with some Nebraskans. Sharon Boll, with boyfriend Lonnie Ortez to the left, and an image of Jesus Christ to the right, watched anti-ICE protesters from her lawn on June 10, following the immigration raid at Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner) This story originally appeared on Nebraska Examiner .  OMAHA — Richard Randall Sr. was a fan of President Donald Trump’s crusade to beef up border security — that is, until a wrong turn onto a local military base left his “little buddy” in a big bind and Randall with a whole different perspective. Richard Randall Sr. and Jazon Gonzalez Perez watch the Huskers wrestle Penn State last year at the Bob Devaney Center. (Courtesy of Richard Randal Sr.) A lifelong Nebraskan, U.S. Navy vet and dad, Randall had developed a father-son-like relationship with Jazon Gonzalez Perez, a Guatemalan migrant who managed a couple of local restaurants in the Plattsmouth area w...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters as returns to his office from the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol Building on June 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate launched a marathon amendment voting session Monday during which lawmakers will debate dozens of proposals from Republicans and Democrats that could significantly reshape the “big, beautiful bill” even as a final vote nears. The vote-a-rama is expected to last throughout Monday and potentially into Tuesday, challenging senators who aren’t accustomed to having to stay on the floor for all hours of the day and night. At the end, the Senate will vote on final passage and if the tax and spending cut bill is successful it will be taken up next in the House, possibly as soon as Wednesday morning. The first big debate and vote Monday centered around Republicans’ decision to use current policy instead of current law to determine the bill’s fiscal im...

Leigh Gwathney, Chair of the Board of Pardons and Paroles speaks during a hearing in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. Gwathney's term as chair of the parole board end on Monday but she may continue to serve until she is replaced. (Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector) Leigh Gwathney’s term as chair of the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles will end on Monday. Whether she will be gone from the board on Tuesday is unclear. As of Friday, the Speaker of the House, Senate President Pro Tempore and the Lieutenant Governor, had not publicly indicated whether they plan to nominate Gwathney once more and extend her term or submit a different to the Governor’s Office to succeed her once her term officially expires. Multiple messages were left with all three individuals seeking comment. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE “We are currently awaiting the required list of nominations from the speaker, pro tem and lieutenant governor for this appointment,” a spokesperson ...

Left: U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, speaks to the Alabama House of Representatives on April 17, 2025 in Montgomery, Alabama. Right: U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, greets an audience at a fundraiser for the Alabama Republican Party on August 4, 2023 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Britt photo: Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector; Tuberville photo: Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector) I have no inside sources in the White House. I do not have access to military intelligence. Or any expert knowledge of the Middle East. But I’ve spent my adult life watching American presidents try to bomb the region into peace. It never works. Which leaves me wondering how Alabama’s senators, who on paper have better sources than us Goat Hill wretches, think that President Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iranian nuclear facilities solved anything. “President Trump is going to win the Nobel Peace Prize, no doubt,” U.S. Sen. Katie Britt  said on Fox News last week. “He has brought peace to a region ...

Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, listens to a budget presentation in the Alabama Statehouse on Feb. 6, 2024. Kelley said Wednesday he and Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, plan to bring back a mandate for public schools to display the Ten Commandments in the 2026 Legislative session.(Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A mandate to display the Ten Commandments in public schools did not pass in the 2025 Alabama legislative session, and court challenges are likely if it ever does.  HB 178 , sponsored by Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, and SB 166 , sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, would have required public K-12 schools to display an 11-by-14-inch poster of the Ten Commandments in common areas and classrooms where American history is taught. The House passed its version of the bill 81-11 on April 22 , but it never received a final vote from the Senate. Kelley said in an interview Wednesday that he and Gidley will bring the legislation back next year as is. GET THE MORNIN...

The U.S. Capitol on Sunday, June 29, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate began floor debate on Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” Sunday afternoon, though there are several steps to go before the legislation can become law, and any one of those could lead to additional GOP opposition — potentially dooming the measure.  Senators must wrap up an ongoing review of the bill with the parliamentarian to ensure it meets the strict rules for using the reconciliation process and then run the gauntlet during a marathon amendment voting session. Additional changes to the sweeping tax and spending cuts package, some of which were being worked on as debate took place, need to garner the support of nearly every Republican in Congress. Otherwise, it will never become law. Senate Majority Leader John Thune signaled during a brief hallway interview there may be enough votes for a new twist in the Medicaid changes in the bill — an amendment reducing in s...

A patient has blood drawn as he receives a free HIV test from a medical assistant in Miami. The giant tax and spending bill under consideration in the U.S. Senate would bar clinics that provide abortions — which tend to be testing sites for sexually transmitted infections — from accepting Medicaid. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) This story originally appeared on Stateline .  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Dallen Michael Greene still remembers the fear he felt when he was diagnosed with HIV in 1999. “My heart literally sank to my knees and to my ankles,” he said. That fear is what led the 56-year-old resident of Broward County, Florida, to become a mentor and patient guide for the newly diagnosed. He’s a clinical manager at Community Care Resources of Florida, a nonprofit that offers testing for sexually transmitted infections. Greene said friends and patients feel some of that same panic and alarm as they worry whether federal action will hinder their access to treatments. Dallen Michael ...