White House news

• 8 things we learned from PBS's excellent documentary 'Hamilton's America'

  22-10-2016 03:00
  
  History, it transpires, is not just the stuff of textbooks and sold-out Broadway musicals. It's ever-present, unfolding as we live and breathe and bear witness to remarkable events. That's equal parts common sense and a grounding realization, and it's the backbone of Hamilton's America , a PBS documentary about a historical figure and the historic musical he inspired. SEE ALSO: Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda's new version of 'Hamilton' tune with lyrics about Hillary Clinton By now, Lin-Manuel Miranda'
  
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• Furious House conservatives rail at Johnson but haven't altered his Ukraine plan

  19-04-2024 01:09 via thehill.com
  
  House conservatives are furious with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for championing another massive round of Ukraine aid.But for all the grousing, threats and public protests, none of the critics are ready to use the one tool that lends them leverage in the fight: a motion to vacate. Without it, they’re left with no viable way to stop Johnson.Conservatives raced around Capitol Hill on Thursday in various demonstrations of outrage over Johnson’s leadership style, in general, and his han
  
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• Government watchdog critical of federal mpox response

  18-04-2024 23:59 via thehill.com
  
  The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a new report that the Department of Health and Human Services's (HHS) response to the 2022 mpox outbreak was uncoordinated and lacked interagency cohesion.For its report, the GAO visited 14 U.S. jurisdictions including Los Angeles, Miami Dade County, Atlanta, Chicago and New York City. The agency also interviewed nongovernmental stakeholders and reviewed the actions HHS took in response to previous GAO recommendations.The audit was conducted fro
  
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• Speaker Johnson won’t raise bar on motion to vacate rule

  18-04-2024 22:31 via thehill.com
  
  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced Thursday that he won’t seek to raise the bar for removing a Speaker from power as part of the current debate over Ukraine aid — a prospect that had sparked an outcry from conservatives earlier in the day. Under current House rules, any single member of the House can compel a vote on a motion to vacate, but a number of moderate Republicans have pressed Johnson to use the yet-to-be-passed rule governing the foreign aid legislation to raise t
  
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• Johnson won’t make it harder to remove Speaker as part of Ukraine package

  18-04-2024 22:31 via thehill.com
  
  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced Thursday that he won’t seek to raise the bar for removing a Speaker from power as part of the current debate over Ukraine aid — a prospect that had sparked an outcry from conservatives earlier in the day. Under current House rules, any single member of the House can compel a vote on a motion to vacate, but a number of moderate Republicans have pressed Johnson to use the still-to-be-passed rule governing the foreign aid legislation to raise
  
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• Pompeo puts support behind Johnson in pushing aid for Ukraine

  18-04-2024 22:13 via thehill.com
  
  Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has come out in support of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to deliver U.S. aid for Ukraine, part of an effort to bolster defenses around the Speaker for bucking hard-line conservative opponents in his party.In a letter sent to Johnson on Thursday, Pompeo applauded him for moving ahead to “secure vital support to America’s allies and to strengthen America’s defenses.”“The danger to Americans is cl
  
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• Few in new poll say Biden law has helped fight climate change

  18-04-2024 22:11 via thehill.com
  
  Very few Americans believe the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law by President Biden in 2022, has helped fight climate change, a new survey found.The survey, conducted by The Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs and Research, found that many respondents think the IRA has not made much of a difference on climate change, while still more didn't know enough to say what its impact had been.
  Just 16 percent of respondents said the IRA has done more to help combat climate change
  
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• Greene says she doesn't care if 'Speaker's office becomes a revolving door'

  18-04-2024 21:20 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she doesn’t care if the “Speaker's office becomes a revolving door” in Thursday comments as she pushes for the removal ofHouse Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) just months after he took the position.Greene argued against foreign aid in an appearance on former White House aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast Thursday, saying she wants “an ‘America First’ economy,” and that “we are going to dem
  
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• Trump asks why Europe isn't giving Ukraine more aid as Johnson presses forward

  18-04-2024 21:11 via thehill.com
  
  Former President Trump questioned why European nations weren't providing more support to Ukraine, but stopped short of weighing in on a foreign aid package proposed by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) that has sparked outcry from some House Republicans."Why isn’t Europe giving more money to help Ukraine? Why is it that the United States is over $100 Billion Dollars into the Ukraine War more than Europe, and we have an Ocean between us as separation!" Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social as he
  
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• Education Department admits 'challenging year' for FAFSA: 'We're not at the point we would like to be'

  18-04-2024 21:08 via thehill.com
  
  The Department of Education acknowledged on Thursday that it's been a “challenging year” for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process as officials are desperate to get more forms filled out.  “We’re not at the point we would like to be at,” Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal told reporters before revealing about 7.7 million FAFSA applications have been received from college applicants. Around 18 million forms are filed in a typical yea
  
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• House progressives unveil 2025 agenda 

  18-04-2024 20:06 via thehill.com
  
  The Congressional Progressive Caucus will continue to focus on increasing minimum wage and lowering the cost of living for Americans after November’s election, according to its agenda for 2025.Progressives unveiled an agenda on Thursday that highlights “proactive, top-priority policies that lift up poor and working people.” Their priorities focus on raising wages and lowering costs, addressing climate change and protecting Americans’ rights and freedoms.“Progressive
  
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• US vetoes Palestinian request for full UN membership

  18-04-2024 20:04 via thehill.com
  
  The U.S. vetoed a Palestinian bid to be recognized as a member state of the United Nations during a Security Council vote Thursday evening.The final vote on Monday had 12 members of the Security Council vote in favor of the resolution, two abstentions — the U.K. and Switzerland — and the U.S. with the lone veto, effectively killing the measure. Before the vote, Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department, described as premature an effort by the Palestini
  
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• US to veto Palestinian request for full UN membership

  18-04-2024 20:04 via thehill.com
  
  The U.S. will use its veto power against a Palestinian bid to be recognized as a member state of the United Nations during a vote at the Security Council expected to take place Thursday evening.Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department, described as premature an effort by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to gain member status at the U.N.He said there was not unanimity among the Security Council's 15 members that the Palestinian Authority had met the criteria for membersh
  
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• Kansas GOP rep says he won't run for reelection

  18-04-2024 20:02 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.) announced Thursday he will not run for reelection in November, adding himself to a growing list of members leaving Congress at the end of the term.LaTurner, 36, said he is leaving the House to better focus on his family and young children. He said he will remain in office until the end of his term in January.“The people of Kansas who elected me to serve in the United States House of Representatives have given me the professional honor of my life, but it is time
  
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• Moskowitz trolls Greene with foreign aid amendments

  18-04-2024 19:17 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) trolled Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) with a pair of amendments that highlight the Georgia Republican’s frequent embrace of pro-Russia misinformation and her opposition to foreign aid.The first amendment calls for Greene to be appointed “Vladimir Putin’s Special Envoy to the United States Congress.”The amendment says Greene has “repeatedly attempted to block aid to Ukraine, empowering Vladimir Putin’s unlawful violation of U
  
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• Top Democrat in fiery speech says House 'diddling around' while people 'dying in Ukraine' 

  18-04-2024 18:30 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, delivered a fiery speech during a debate on foreign aid Thursday, accusing the lower chamber of “diddling around” as Ukraine struggles against the Russian invasion.“We have the opportunity to do what we do here and that is to govern. And what are we doing in governing? To be a world leader,” she said during a House Rules Committee debate on foreign aid bills.“For months and months, we
  
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• Momentum grows to remove Johnson over potential change to ouster rule

  18-04-2024 18:21 via thehill.com
  
  Momentum is growing quickly behind the effort to remove Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from power if he moves to alter the motion to vacate rule as part of a package of foreign aid that's expected to pass through the House this weekend.Johnson is reportedly flirting with a proposal to raise the threshold for forcing a vote on a motion to vacate, which can currently be called by a single lawmaker. That would reverse an agreement that former GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) cut with conservatives
  
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• Comer, Raskin get into shouting match: 'Somebody needs therapy here' 

  18-04-2024 17:55 via thehill.com
  
  Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) got into a heated shouting match during a congressional hearing Wednesday.The two top lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee shouted over each other for more than five minutes during a hearing on the Chinese Communist Party on Wednesday. They hurled questions at each other during an exchange that largely focused on the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry into President Biden.“So somebody needs therapy here, but it's nobody on our si
  
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• Pelosi memoir 'The Art of Power' planned for August release

  18-04-2024 17:09 via thehill.com
  
  A new memoir penned by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will be available later this year, according to publisher Simon & Schuster.In the book, titled “The Art of Power,” Pelosi details her years in public service, legislation she's helped to enact as House Speaker and her personal account of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and her relationship working with former President Trump, among other stories.The memoir will be available Aug. 6, per the publisher.This
  
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• Only 9 percent of young Americans say US ‘headed in the right direction’: Survey

  18-04-2024 15:49 via thehill.com
  
  Only 9 percent of young Americans believe the U.S. is headed in the right direction, according to a new poll.The survey, released Thursday from Harvard Kennedy School's Insitute of Politics, found that less than 10 percent of voters 18-29 said the country is generally headed in the right direction. Roughly 58 percent of respondents said the country is headed in the wrong direction.But, more than half of the young Americans indicated in the poll that they would vote for President Biden in Novembe
  
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• Senate Commerce chair backs amended bill that could ban TikTok  

  18-04-2024 15:26 via thehill.com
  
  Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) announced her support Wednesday for a bipartisan bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell the app or face a ban in the U.S.after it was updated to extend the period of time for the sale.The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversarial Controlled Applications Act passed the House in a broad bipartisan vote in March, just a week after it was initially introduced. Support from the Commerce Committee chair clears a
  
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• Raskin: Greene 'recycling direct Russian propaganda'

  18-04-2024 14:57 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said on Wednesday that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is “recycling” Russian propaganda in falsely saying Ukraine is a Nazi state.In an interview on MSNBC’s “The Reid Out,” Raskin noted concerns – even from high-ranking GOP lawmakers like House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) – about the influence of Russian propaganda in the Republican Par
  
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• NJ Democrat remains hospitalized following cardiac episode last week 

  18-04-2024 14:35 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.) remains hospitalized and in stable condition after suffering from a cardiac episode last week, his office said Wednesday. “Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. suffered a cardiac episode based on complications from his diabetes last week. Today, he is in stable condition at a local hospital and continues to be under doctor’s care," the office wrote in a statement. "While we hope for a full recovery, we ask everyone to keep him in your prayers."Payne&rs
  
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• GOP rep: Greene 'theater' has to 'come to an end'

  18-04-2024 14:26 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) political “theater” must “come to an end,” likely referring to his colleague's looming threat to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Ga.).“Her theater and this constant effort to hold the Congress hostage has to come to an end,” Molinaro said in an interview on CNN’s “The Source” on Wednesday. “I’m going to have no part in it.”“And a good number of m
  
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• Lauren Sánchez's state dinner dress ignites red-hot debate over White House fashion

  18-04-2024 12:00 via thehill.com
  
  In a town typically light on fashion and heavy on partisan friction, what one high-profile figure wore to a swanky White House affair has ignited a ferocious debate seemingly just as polarizing as politics in Washington.Lauren Sánchez, the former TV host-turned-philanthropist and fiancee of Amazon founder and The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, turned heads at the White House last week when she sported a ruby red dress at the state dinner for Japan. The $2,300 corset gown
  
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• Johnson turns to Democrats on Ukraine aid amid ouster threat

  18-04-2024 03:56 via thehill.com
  
  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will lean heavily on Democrats to move a series of bills in the coming days providing aid to Ukraine, Israel and other democratic allies overseas — a strategy that acknowledges the nuances of governing in a divided Washington but also heightens the risk of his removal by disgruntled conservatives.In rejecting a Senate-passed foreign aid bill favored by Democrats, the Speaker has sought to mollify his hardline GOP critics and put a more conservative stamp o
  
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• GOP unveils national security bill as last piece of Ukraine aid package

  18-04-2024 03:07 via thehill.com
  
  House GOP leaders on Wednesday unveiled a catch-all package of Republican national security priorities designed to sweeten a massive round of new funding for Ukraine and other foreign allies in the face of fierce conservative opposition.The bill features the “innovations” promised by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) when he rejected a Senate-passed foreign-aid package in favor of a House version he said would better reflect the interests and concerns of lower chamber lawmakers.His propos
  
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• Frost criticizes Greene after she disavows white supremacists: 'damn hypocrisy'

  18-04-2024 02:53 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.) went after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Wednesday after she disavowed white supremacy in a House Oversight Committee hearing, calling back to her previous interactions with Nick Fuentes.“It’s interesting to hear my colleague just now talk about disavowing white supremacists, when in 2022 she spoke at an event led by white supremacists and white nationalist Nick Fuentes,” Frost said in the hearing. “And when asked about it, d
  
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• House GOP unveils border bill as conservatives slam foreign aid measures

  18-04-2024 02:15 via thehill.com
  
  House GOP leaders on Wednesday introduced a new border security bill designed to appease conservatives who are up in arms that Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) foreign aid package excluded tougher measures to battle migration.Johnson announced Wednesday morning that he was plowing ahead with sending aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan despite outspoken opposition from hard-line Republicans, many of whom were incensed that his plan excluded border security. For months, the Speaker had said that
  
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• Russia, Iran turning Israel and Ukraine into 'battlefield laboratories,' experts say

  18-04-2024 02:01 via thehill.com
  
  Russia and Iran are using Ukraine and Israel as “battlefield laboratories” to probe at Western military vulnerabilities, experts told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee Wednesday. “Together, Russia and Iran are using Ukraine and the Middle East as battlefield laboratories to improve their weapons and develop techniques to overcome U.S. and allied defensive systems,” Dana Stroul, director of research at the Washington Institute, told lawmakers at a hearing on the "D
  
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