Portman among 47 GOP senators to sign letter to Iran WASHINGTON — In a move Democrats denounced as trying to sabotage the Obama administration’s foreign policy, Sen. Rob Portman and 46 other Senate Republicans yesterday warned Iran’s leadership that any agreement to limit Tehran’s apparent efforts to build a nuclear bomb would need Senate approval to stay in effect beyond 2016. More
EPA, other US agencies expand urban waters effort The Environmental Protection Agency, the White House and other federal departments announced Friday that they are expanding a program for restoring and improving urban waterways nationwide. More
Republicans to back Obama's student loan plan House Republicans are willing to give President Barack Obama a rare win, the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee said Thursday in outlining a deal that would let college students avoid a costly hike on their student loans. More
“House Republicans’ mainstream wing is warning Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) not to repeat his predecessor’s mistake of giving away the store to his right-wing detractors to retain his gavel,” Axios reports.
“Johnson is facing roughly a dozen right-wing holdouts on the eve of Friday’s speaker election — in which he will only be able to afford a handful of GOP defections.”
“Hoping to generate new tips, the FBI is disclosing new information, including previously unreleased video, about a suspect who planted pipe bombs four years ago outside the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees near the Capitol,” Stars and Stripes reports.
New York Times: “The suspect, wearing a mask, a gray hooded sweatshirt, dark pants and Nike Air Max Speed Turf sneakers, put two homemade bombs outside the Democratic and Republican national party headquarters the night before the formal congressional ceremony acknowledging Joseph Biden had won the 2020 election.”
“Neither device exploded, but their discovery that morning added to the fear and confusion on a day when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, briefly delaying the certification of the results.”
“President Biden is likely to announce a decision as soon as Friday on whether he will approve Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion acquisition of U. S. Steel,” CBS News reports.
A watchdog group that has sounded the alarm about various picks for U. S. President-elect Donald Trump's next administration released a Monday report focused on the consulting and nonprofit work of incoming immigration official Tom Homan.
Homan, who was acting director of U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during Trump's first term, is set to serve as "border czar," a post that does not require Senate confirmation.
The new analysis by Accountable.