Tag: Washington news
How adults’ views on same-sex marriage have changed since 2015 Supreme Court ruling
WASHINGTON — For years, it looked as though the United States was steadily climbing toward a consensus on same-sex marriage. But 10 years after the Supreme Court ruled that there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, the split between Republicans and Democrats on the issue is wider than it’s been in decades. Recent polling…
Lawsuit challenges billions of dollars in Trump administration funding cuts
BOSTON — Attorneys general from more than 20 states and Washington, D.C. filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging billions of dollars in funding cuts made by the Trump administration that would fund everything from crime prevention to food security to scientific research. The lawsuit filed in Boston is asking a judge to limit the Trump…
Sen. Grassley calls delays at a benefits program for deceased officers ‘absolutely unacceptable’
IOWA CITY, Iowa — A powerful U.S. senator on Tuesday called on the Trump administration to fix a growing backlog and longtime management problems at the program that promises benefits when police and firefighters die or become disabled in the line of duty. Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said…
Man ordered to pay $500K for assaulting officer who killed himself after Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — A federal jury on Monday awarded $500,000 to the widow and estate of a police officer who killed himself nine days after he helped defend the U.S. Capitol from a mob of rioters, including a man who scuffled with the officer during the attack. The eight-member jury ordered that man, 69-year-old chiropractor David…
Support for solar energy, offshore wind falls among Democrats and independents: poll
Americans’ support for green energy tax credits and renewable energies like wind and solar power has decreased in recent years, according to a new poll, driven by a softening in support from Democrats and independents. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that U.S. adults’ support for tax credits for…
GOP’s food stamp plan is found to violate Senate rules. It’s the latest setback for Trump’s big bill
WASHINGTON — In another blow to the Republicans’ tax and spending cut bill, the Senate parliamentarian has advised that a proposal to shift some food stamps costs from the federal government to states — a centerpiece of GOP savings efforts — would violate the chamber’s rules. While the parliamentarian’s rulings are advisory, they are rarely,…
As the UN turns 80, its crucial humanitarian aid work faces a clouded future
KAKUMA, Kenya — At a refugee camp in northern Kenya, Aujene Cimanimpaye waits as a hot lunch of lentils and sorghum is ladled out for her and her nine children — all born while she has received United Nations assistance since fleeing her violence-wracked home in Congo in 2007. “We cannot go back home because…
Trump is silent about Juneteenth on a day he previously honored as president
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump honored Juneteenth in each of his first four years as president, even before it became a federal holiday. He even claimed once to have made it “very famous.” But on this year’s Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, the usually talkative president kept silent about a day important to Black Americans for…
DEA informant charged in alleged scheme to extort high-level cocaine traffickers
MIAMI — A drug informant who helped the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration build some of its biggest cases has been arrested and charged with scheming to extort major cocaine traffickers facing extradition from Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Jorge Hernández, 57, was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday with one count of conspiring to…
San Francisco court to hear case on National Guard deployment in LA
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court in San Francisco is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday on whether the Trump administration should return control of National Guard troops to California after they were deployed following protests in Los Angeles over immigration raids. The hearing comes after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a…