Poli Alert Political & Civics

Nikita Biryukov, New Jersey Monitor First lady Tammy Murphy withdrew her candidacy for the U.S. Senate on Sunday, ending her bid to become the first woman elected to represent New Jersey in the Senate. Murphy, who lagged chief rival Rep. Andy Kim in polls as they both sought to succeed …

Jennifer Shutt, Michigan Advance U.S. House Republican leaders have spent the last year holding up a broadly bipartisan, Senate-approved bill that would repeal the authorizations for use of military force from the 1990s and early 2000s that were intended for the wars in Iraq. The Senate approved the legislation following a 66-30 vote last …

Jennifer Shutt, Alaska Beacon The same U.S. Supreme Court that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion will hear oral arguments Tuesday over access to mifepristone, a pharmaceutical used in both medication abortion and miscarriage care. The nine justices will then decide whether to leave access to the drug intact …

Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams The U.S. House of Representatives started a two-week recess on Friday, but not before a series of events that provoked fresh declarations of what has become a familiar phrase over the past few years: “Republicans in disarray.” Before leaving Capitol Hill, House members passed a spending …

Jennifer Shutt, Iowa Capital Dispatch The U.S. Senate took a broadly bipartisan vote early Saturday to approve a $1.2 trillion spending package, sending the measure to President Joe Biden for his signature with no time to spare after missing a midnight deadline. The 74-24 vote wraps up the government funding …

Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder Congress released the final six government funding bills early Thursday, starting off a sprint toward the Friday midnight deadline to wrap up work that was supposed to be finished nearly six months ago. The bipartisan agreement on the $1.2 trillion spending package, which emerged just before …

Jimmy Williams A recent budget proposal by the Republican Study Committee, a group of influential House Republicans, outlines significant changes to Social Security and Medicare, hinting at future GOP governance strategies and setting the stage for potential policy clashes with President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party in the upcoming …

Backed by dozens of progressive groups and congressional Democrats, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday reintroduced legislation designed to tackle both the affordable housing crisis and the climate emergency. The New York Democrat and Vermont Independent are leading the renewed fight for the Green New Deal …

Nikita Biryukov, New Jersey Monitor Sen. Bob Menendez will not seek the Democratic nod for his own seat this June as he faces charges of bribery and acting as a foreign agent, though he is leaving the door open to an independent campaign in the fall. The senator said in …

Alejandro Serrano and Uriel J. García, The Texas Tribune A federal appeals court late Tuesday night stopped a state law allowing Texas police to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border — hours after the U.S. Supreme Court had allowed it to go into effect. Earlier in the …

Jimmy Williams Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani and a key figure in the Trump impeachment inquiry, testified before the House Oversight Committee, condemning former President Donald Trump and his allies for spreading false allegations against the Biden family. Parnas accused Trump, Giuliani, and others of creating falsehoods …

Jimmy Williams The Biden-Harris Administration announced today the approval of $5.8 billion in additional student loan debt relief for 77,700 borrowers. These approvals are the result of fixes made by the Administration to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Today’s announcement brings the total loan forgiveness approved by the Biden-Harris Administration …

Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder Congressional staff were scrambling Wednesday to finalize sweeping legislation that would fund much of the federal government, but time was running short ahead of a Friday midnight deadline. Leaders of the House and Senate and the Biden administration announced Tuesday they’d reached consensus on the final …

Ariana Figueroa, Georgia Recorder Last year, neither chamber in Congress passed any meaningful civil rights legislation, according to an analysis of legislative and voting records of the first session of the 118th Congress by a coalition of civil rights groups. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Voting Record report found …

Jimmy Williams Former President Donald Trump is pushing for absolute immunity in the legal battle over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. In a new filing with the Supreme Court, Trump’s legal team argues that he should be shielded from prosecution for any official acts he undertook while …