White House news

• Exclusive: Lead poisoning afflicts neighborhoods across California

  22-03-2017 16:40
  
  By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. PellNEW YORK (Reuters) - Dozens of California communities have experienced recent rates of childhood lead poisoning that surpass those of Flint, Michigan, with one Fresno locale showing rates nearly three times higher, blood testing data obtained by Reuters shows.The data shows how lead poisoning affects even a state known for its environmental advocacy, with high rates of childhood exposure found in a swath of the Bay Area and downtown Los Angeles.In one central Fres
  
  Read more

• GOP senators warn Speaker to stand firm on Greene's Ukraine demand

  08-05-2024 12:00 via thehill.com
  
  Senate Republicans are urging Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) not to make any promises to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) about future military aid for Ukraine, warning it would be a “grave mistake” for the Speaker to box himself in.Senators expect the Biden administration to request another round of Ukraine aid at the end of the year, and they want Johnson to have the flexibility to move it through the House.Greene asked Johnson during a Monday meeting to commit to not su
  
  Read more

• Biden to tout $3.3 billion Microsoft investment in Wisconsin at former Foxconn site

  08-05-2024 11:30 via thehill.com
  
  President Biden will travel to Wisconsin on Wednesday, where he will seek to draw a contrast between a major investment in the state from Microsoft and the Foxconn investment in the area that never materialized during the Trump administration.Biden will head to Racine to announce a $3.3 billion investment by Microsoft to build a new artificial intelligence datacenter in the area. The project is expected to create 2,300 union construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs over time, the White House s
  
  Read more

• Rep. Victoria Spartz fends off GOP primary challenger in Indiana

  08-05-2024 02:33 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) has won the Republican nomination for another term in the House, fending off a challenge from the right, according to a projection from Decision Desk HQ. Spartz, who has represented Indiana’s 5th Congressional District since 2021, initially announced in 2023 that she would not run for reelection but later changed her mind and officially decided to seek another term in February. The first Ukrainian-born member of Congress, Spartz faced opposition from
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• US repatriates 11 Americans, 6 Canadians from northeast Syria 

  08-05-2024 01:23 via thehill.com
  
  The U.S. repatriated 11 Americans, six Canadians, four Dutch citizens and one Finnish citizen from northeast Syria Tuesday, according to a statement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken.“In conducting this complex repatriation and resettlement the Department coordinated closely with our interagency partners,” Blinken said in the Tuesday statement. “I would like to thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration S
  
  Read more

• First House Democrat calls on FDIC chair to resign after sexual harassment report

  08-05-2024 00:05 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) called on FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg to resign on Tuesday after a law firm's investigation confirmed a report of rampant sexual misconduct, lewd behavior and retaliatory administrative practices at the federal banking regulator.Foster became the first House Democrat to call for Gruenberg’s resignation, joining some fellow Republicans, including the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), and members of the Senate Banking
  
  Read more

• House passes bill to make it harder to regulate home appliance energy efficiency

  07-05-2024 23:13 via thehill.com
  
  The House on Tuesday passed a bill aimed at making it more difficult for the Energy Department to enact energy efficiency rules for household appliances — the latest in Republicans’ efforts related to such appliances. The vote was 212-195, with seven Democrats voting with Republicans in favor of the measure. The bill would both add hurdles to creating new appliance standards and make it easier to revoke existing standards. Republicans have repeatedly hammered Demo
  
  Read more

• White House: Sharing video of Ole Miss students mocking Black protester ‘beneath any elected official’

  07-05-2024 21:39 via thehill.com
  
  The White House on Tuesday criticized sharing of the video of University of Mississippi students mimicking a monkey to harass a Black protester at the college’s pro-Palestine protest after GOP Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) shared it on social media.The video, which went viral last week, showed a group of white men dancing and yelling at a Black woman who was protesting. Collins, who shared it on the social platform/ X, has since said he understands the video might have some “potentially
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Greene softens threat to force vote on ousting Speaker Johnson

  07-05-2024 21:21 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is softening her threat against Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), saying she will give the Speaker more time to demonstrate his commitment to conservative priorities before forcing a vote on her resolution to boot him from power. Last week, Greene said she would “absolutely” force her motion to vacate proposal to the floor this week, citing Johnson’s track-record of working across the aisle with President Biden on major legislation. Bu
  
  Read more

• Bipartisan lawmakers call for permanent ban on horse slaughter

  07-05-2024 21:05 via thehill.com
  
  A group of more than 100 House members from both sides of the aisle is pushing for a permanent ban on horse slaughter in the United States.In a letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, the group of 120 lawmakers requested language be included in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) budget that permanently bans tax dollars from being used in the process of horse slaughter.This would prohibit taxpayer money from being used to inspect horse slaughter plants, preventing
  
  Read more

• DC mayor agrees to testify at House hearing on GW protests

  07-05-2024 20:38 via thehill.com
  
  District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) will testify before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday in a hearing focused on the pro-Palestinian protests at George Washington University (GW).A spokesperson for the committee confirmed her attendance on Tuesday, nearly a week after she was asked by the panel's chair to testify.The hearing follows a visit to GW's campus and its pro-Palestinian encampment by members of the Oversight Committee, including Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), Rep. Byron D
  
  Read more

• White House holds daily press briefing: Watch live

  07-05-2024 20:00 via thehill.com
  
  White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is delivering a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon.President Biden earlier in the day spoke at a ceremony for the Holocaust Days of Remembrance. Biden condemned those who he characterized as having already forgotten the horrors of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.The administration continues to walk a fine line between its pledged unwavering support for Israel and its criticism of the choices Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made r
  
  Read more

• Democratic leader defends Cuellar: Charges ‘very different’ from Santos, Menendez

  07-05-2024 19:34 via thehill.com
  
  The head of the House Democratic Caucus defended the right of Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) to remain in Congress while his criminal trial runs its course, saying the Texas Democrat — recently indicted on bribery and foreign influence charges — is presumed innocent “just like every American.” “He's entitled to make his defense, he's entitled to the presumption of innocence,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) told reporters in the Capitol. “Just
  
  Read more

• Speaker Johnson: 'I intend to lead this conference in the future'

  07-05-2024 19:23 via thehill.com
  
  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday that he intends to remain in his position going forward, dismissing suggestions that his job could be at risk after the November election.“I intend to lead this conference in the future,” Johnson said at a press conference. “And the most important thing that we have to do right now is govern the country well — show the American people that we will, and that we are, as we've been doing.”Johnson said his “number one job
  
  Read more

• Speaker Johnson says conversations with Greene ‘not a negotiation’

  07-05-2024 18:53 via thehill.com
  
  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday rejected the notion that he is negotiating with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) as she threatens to force a vote on his ouster, characterizing their meeting the day before as an ordinary conversation to hear out the Georgia Republican’s ideas.Johnson huddled with Greene and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — who have introduced a motion to remove the Speaker's gavel — for roughly two hours on Monday, and they are scheduled to reco
  
  Read more

• Biden decries antisemitism, protests that forget 'terror' of Oct. 7

  07-05-2024 18:41 via thehill.com
  
  President Biden on Tuesday called on Americans who are “ignoring” the events of the Holocaust and the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel to stop, issuing additional criticism of the protests on college campuses across the United States.The president delivered the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Annual Days of Remembrance ceremony and acknowledged that on college campuses, Jewish students are “blocked, harassed, attacked while walking to class.”&l
  
  Read more

• Biden criticizes college campus protests for antisemitism, ‘ignoring’ Oct. 7

  07-05-2024 18:41 via thehill.com
  
  President Biden on Tuesday called on Americans who are “ignoring” the events of the Holocaust and the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel to stop, issuing additional criticism of the protests on college campuses across the United States.The president delivered the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Annual Days of Remembrance ceremony and acknowledged that on college campuses, Jewish students are “blocked, harassed, attacked while walking to class.”&l
  
  Read more

• Tlaib calls for court to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli officials

  07-05-2024 17:11 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials after Israel's military seized control of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday.
  Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, said with the ongoing incursion into the southern city of Rafah, there is “nowhere” safe for Palestinians in Gaza, and argued that Netanyahu will remain in his post as long as the conflict con
  
  Read more

• Garland contempt vote scheduled for next week

  07-05-2024 15:58 via thehill.com
  
  House impeachment investigators will meet next week to vote on whether to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt as part of their quest to gain access to an audio recording of an interview conducted with President Biden during his classified documents probe.  House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) have a transcript of Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, but the Justice Department has held back from sharing
  
  Read more

• Here's where the Biden-Trump race stands 6 months out from the election

  07-05-2024 12:00 via thehill.com
  
  The rematch between President Biden and former President Trump is heating up as polls show the two rivals neck and neck six months out from Election Day. Polling is likely to fluctuate in the months leading up to the election, but for the first time since October, The Hill’s Decision Desk HQ average shows Biden narrowly leading Trump, at 45 percent to 44.9 percent.
  While the news is good for the president, the data shows some bright spots for his rival as well. Trump is narrowly leadi
  
  Read more

• White House announces new steps to counter antisemitism, including on college campuses

  07-05-2024 11:00 via thehill.com
  
  The White House on Tuesday announced a handful of additional actions intended to curb antisemitism on college campuses and elsewhere amid a rise in discrimination toward Jewish people following the terrorist attacks in Israel last October.The Biden administration rolled out the new measures to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day. President Biden will mark the day by delivering remarks at a ceremony hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.The additional steps include new guidance from th
  
  Read more

• House swears in New York Democrat, thinning GOP majority

  07-05-2024 01:49 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-N.Y.) was sworn in on the House floor Monday, replacing the now-retired Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) and leaving Republicans with just a one-vote margin for any partisan vote.Kennedy, previously a state senator, defeated GOP candidate Gary Dickson in a special election for New York’s 26th Congressional District last week.“I stand before you humbled by the opportunity God has given us to be together in this moment,” he said on the floor after being sworn in. &
  
  Read more

• Virginia Democrat uses voice assist to give House floor speech: 'An inspiration'

  07-05-2024 01:35 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) on Monday used voice assist to deliver a speech on the House floor, more than a year after she revealed her Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.“Last year I was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy — or PSP,” Wexton began her floor speech Monday, using voice assist. “PSP makes it very difficult for me to speak, and I use an assistive app so that you and our colleagues can understand me.”Wexton went on to discuss her bill pr
  
  Read more

• Virginia Dem uses voice assist to give House floor speech: 'An inspiration'

  07-05-2024 01:35 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) on Monday used voice assist to deliver a speech on the House floor, more than a year after she revealed her Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.“Last year I was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy – or PSP,” Wexton began her floor speech Monday, using voice assist. “PSP makes it very difficult for me to speak and I use an assistive app so that you and our colleagues can understand me.”Wexton went on to discuss her bill pro
  
  Read more

• Greene signals possible offramp for Johnson ouster vote

  07-05-2024 01:03 via thehill.com
  
  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) huddled Monday for almost two hours with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — a marathon meeting suggesting the pair is seeking a deal to defuse tensions and preclude floor action on the Georgia firebrand's resolution to boot Johnson from power.The two emerged from the Speaker’s office separately but bearing the same message: The discussion was constructive enough that they’ve agreed to meet again Tuesday morning. Greene declined to say if she
  
  Read more

• Greene vs conservatives: Georgia Republican on an island

  07-05-2024 00:24 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) lonely effort to boot Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from power is emblematic of a larger trend that’s followed the Georgia firebrand throughout her time on Capitol Hill: She might be the face of the MAGA movement in Congress, but she’s alienated a long list of fellow conservatives in getting there.Plenty of Republican hard-liners are furious with Johnson for his willingness to compromise with Democrats on major legislation, vowing they won&
  
  Read more

• Florida Democrat deletes post after being 'called out' over stereotype

  06-05-2024 22:53 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) on Monday took down a social media post regarding South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s (R) meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after being accused of reinforcing the stereotype that Asians eat dogs.The remarks were made in Moskowitz's repost of a clip from CBS Mornings’ interview with Noem — a potential vice presidential pick for former President Trump — in which the governor discussed her request to remove an anecdote about her meeting
  
  Read more

• Greene 'going to lose' Johnson ouster effort, Mace says

  06-05-2024 22:21 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) sharply criticized Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for pushing forward with her effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from his post despite the prevailing consensus in the conference against such an effort.“She’s going to lose. I don’t know why she’s doing this because the votes aren’t there. She’s going to lose the motion to vacate, and I don’t know why she’s doing it,” Mace said in an interview on Newsmax
  
  Read more

• White House: Noem should ‘stop digging herself into a hole’ after suggestion to shoot Biden’s dog

  06-05-2024 21:45 via thehill.com
  
  The White House on Monday said that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) should "stop digging herself into a hole" after she suggested that President Biden’s dog, Commander, should haven been shot after biting Secret Service agents.Noem has been criticized recently for revealing in her soon-to-be-released memoir that she shot her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, about 20 years ago. In an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, she suggested Biden’s Ger
  
  Read more

• White House on canceled Columbia commencement: 'Unfortunate' small group cost their classmates this event

  06-05-2024 21:20 via thehill.com
  
  The White House on Monday called it "unfortunate" that protests on campus at Columbia University over the war in Gaza prompted the school to cancel its main commencement ceremony this year."It is unfortunate that a small group of people went too far and cost their classmates this important event," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
  "When it comes to commencement day and when it comes to speaking at commencement events, this is something the president has done for some time now, a
  
  Read more

Follow @NwslWhiteHouse on Twitter!