federal government

Where do we currently stand on the government shutdown?  As of today, the federal government has been partially shutdown for 31 days and counting – the longest stretch in history. While most of us know about the shutdown, not everyone understands how it is playing out for workers, for millions of Americans who rely on […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chances look slim for ending the partial government shutdown any time soon. House lawmakers are being told not to expect further votes this week, all but ensuring the shutdown will enter a second week and stretch toward the new year. Lawmakers are away from Washington for the holidays and have been told […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chances look slim for ending the partial government shutdown any time soon. House lawmakers are being told not to expect further votes this week, all but ensuring the shutdown will enter a second week and stretch toward the new year. Lawmakers are away from Washington for the holidays and have been told […]

President Donald Trump says he’ll do “whatever it takes” to get funding for border security, signaling no end in sight to the partial government shutdown. Trump declined to tell reporters Wednesday what amount of wall funding he would accept to end the shutdown. Instead he cast blame on Democrats and said “the American public is […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress sped toward reopening the government late Monday as Democrats reluctantly voted to temporarily pay for resumed operations. They relented in return for Republican assurances that the Senate will soon take up the plight of young immigrant “dreamers” and other contentious issues. The vote set the stage for hundreds of thousands of […]

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — National parks in the U.S. will sharply drop the number of days they allow visitors to get in for free, a move that was criticized by opponents of the parks’ plan to raise entrance costs at other times of the year. After waiving fees 16 days in 2016 and 10 days […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — After Hurricane Maria damaged tens of thousands of homes in Puerto Rico, a newly created Florida company with an unproven record won more than $30 million in contracts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide emergency tarps and plastic sheeting for repairs. Bronze Star LLC never delivered those urgently needed supplies, […]

State Representative Al Green of Houston talks about the damage done by Hurricane Harvey. “What you see on tv is a good rendition. But to see it up close is moving and shocking. It’s very difficult to be graphic enough to get people to understand,” explained Green. Sybil asked if the state representative had heard […]

SEATTLE (AP) — Legal challenges against President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban mounted Thursday as Washington state said it would renew its request to block the executive order and a judge granted Oregon’s request to join the case. The events happened a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit, and Washington state Attorney General Bob […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans pressed Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Tuesday over the Obama administration’s plan to allow thousands more Syrian war refugees into the country following last week’s attacks in Paris. Lynch told the House Judiciary Committee that protecting the U.S. from the threat of the Islamic State and other terrorist groups is the […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hackers stole Social Security numbers, health histories and other highly sensitive data from more than 21 million people, the Obama administration said Thursday, acknowledging that the breach of U.S. government computer systems was far more severe than previously disclosed. The scope of the data breach — believed to be the biggest in […]

When Republican Gene Alday, a member of the Mississippi state legislature, made news because of his very public statement to the media that African-Americans in his hometown of Walls, Mississippi, are unemployed and on food stamps, he was basically ‘talking out the side of his neck.’ He has since backpedaled and apologized. “I come from a town […]