White House news

• Biden administration dropping plan to ban menthol cigarettes: Report

  26-04-2024 20:38 via thehill.com
  
  The Biden administration has reportedly abandoned its plans to ban menthol cigarettes after warnings that it could push away some Black voters.
  The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday the White House dropped its plans for the ban after weighing the potential public health benefits against possible political repercussions."This rule has garnered historic attention and the public comment period has yielded an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and cr
  
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• These are the lawmakers who voted against tabling Greene's measure to oust Johnson

  09-05-2024 01:55 via thehill.com
  
  The overwhelming majorities of both parties voted on Wednesday to protect Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from a conservative coup in the House, dealing a major blow to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who pushed forward with her effort to oust the GOP leader from the top job earlier that afternoon.The chamber voted 359-43-7 on a motion to table Greene’s motion to vacate, preventing the removal resolution from hitting the floor for a vote. The final vote was widely expected amid bipartisa
  
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• GOP rep slams Greene's attempt to oust Johnson: 'Petty political stunt' 

  09-05-2024 00:56 via thehill.com
  
  Republican Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) on Wednesday lambasted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)'s effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), calling it a "petty political stunt."
  "Some members would rather upend Republicans’ work instead of advancing the conservative agenda. Americans sent us to Washington to govern," Womack wrote in a post on X.
  "The Motion to Vacate attempt was only a headline-grabbing, petty political stunt to distract from our duties and raise money. I’m
  
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• Biden says he'll stop sending offensive weapons to Israel if it invades Rafah

  09-05-2024 00:39 via thehill.com
  
  President Biden on Wednesday warned he would stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons like bombs and artillery shells if Israeli forces launch an invasion of Rafah, laying down a clear line amid outcry over the conflict in Gaza."Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an interview.“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone i
  
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• Trump: 'Not the time' for Greene's effort to boot Johnson as Speaker

  09-05-2024 00:21 via thehill.com
  
  Former President Trump on Wednesday said it was "not the time" for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) attempt to remove Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from the top job in the House, warning the effort displayed "disunity" in an election year.
  Trump gently criticized Greene, one of his most ardent supporters in the House, moments after the House overwhelmingly voted to torpedo the congresswoman's measure to oust the GOP leader."I absolutely love Marjorie Taylor Greene. She’s got Spirit, sh
  
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• House blocks Greene’s resolution to oust Johnson

  08-05-2024 23:49 via thehill.com
  
  The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to protect Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from a conservative coup, torpedoing an effort by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to oust the GOP leader from the top job.The chamber voted 359-43-7 on a motion to table Greene’s motion to vacate, preventing the removal resolution from hitting the floor for a vote.The final vote — which was widely expected amid bipartisan opposition to the ouster gambit — deals a major blow to Greene, w
  
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• Draft contempt report accuses Garland of 'hindering' GOP impeachment probe

  08-05-2024 23:46 via thehill.com
  
  A draft report from House Republicans advocating for holding Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress accuses the attorney general of having hindered and impeded their impeachment inquiry into President Biden by withholding an audio recording of his conversation with special counsel Robert Hur.The draft document, obtained by The Hill, will serve as the grounds for the report the House Judiciary Committee will consider next week as it mulls whether to forward the contempt resolution to the full Ho
  
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• Greene moves to oust Speaker Johnson

  08-05-2024 23:18 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) moved to force a vote on ousting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday, a momentous move that is all but certain to fail amid opposition from Democrats and conservative Republicans.Greene — who filed her motion to vacate against Johnson more than a month ago — called her resolution to the floor as privileged on Wednesday, forcing GOP leadership to move on the measure within two legislative days.
  
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• House sends Senate one-week FAA extension

  08-05-2024 23:17 via thehill.com
  
  The House approved a one-week extension of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) authority on Wednesday, a short-term patch that leadership brought to the floor as the Senate struggles to find a path forward on a five-year reauthorization bill ahead of Friday’s midnight deadline.The chamber cleared the legislation in an 385-24-1 vote, sending it to the Senate for consideration. The bill kicks the reauthorization deadline to May 17.House GOP leadership staged a last-minute vote
  
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• House sends Senate 1-week FAA extension

  08-05-2024 23:17 via thehill.com
  
  The House approved a one-week extension of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) authority Wednesday, a short-term patch leadership brought to the floor as the Senate struggles to find a path forward on a five-year reauthorization bill ahead of Friday’s midnight deadline.The chamber cleared the legislation in an 385-24-1 vote, sending it to the Senate for consideration. The bill kicks the reauthorization deadline to May 17.House GOP leadership staged a last-minute vote on the m
  
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• Biden to tighten national security, public safety asylum screenings

  08-05-2024 22:34 via thehill.com
  
  The Biden administration on Thursday will announce new measures to more quickly screen asylum applicants for potential public safety or national security risks.The proposed regulation will essentially move up those screenings to an earlier stage in the asylum process, increasing the chances that migrants who do pose a potential threat would be quickly removed from the country.The regulation will still need to go through a public comment period — it won’t be the administration’s
  
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• GOP rep links RFK Jr.'s brain worm to Kennedy assassinations

  08-05-2024 22:22 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) appeared to link the story about presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying that a doctor told him that a parasite ate a part of his brain to the assassinations of his father and uncle.“You either die a Kennedy with a hole in the brain or live long enough to become a Kennedy with a hole in the brain,” Collins said in a post on the social platform X Wednesday. Kennedy’s father, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and uncle, former P
  
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• Kerry slams ‘chaos agent’ Trump on anniversary of Iran deal withdrawal

  08-05-2024 22:04 via thehill.com
  
  Former Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday ripped former President Trump over his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal six years ago, saying the move made Americans “less safe.”“When Donald Trump refused the appeals of our closest allies and pulled the United States out of the JCPOA, it created a more dangerous region, empowered Iran, and isolated the United States instead of isolating Tehran,” Kerry said in a statement obtained exclusively by T
  
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• Republicans unveil legislation protecting NCAA, conferences from legal challenges

  08-05-2024 21:57 via thehill.com
  
  A pair of GOP lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation to protect the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), college conferences and member schools amid ongoing legal challenges and allow them to continue regulating student-athletes’ compensation and other matters.Republican Reps. Russell Fry (S.C.) and Barry Moore (Ala.) unveiled The Protect the Ball Act on Wednesday, which would “provide new benefits for student-athletes, establish and enforce rules, and comply with
  
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• Nearly 700 Jewish professors call on Biden not to sign controversial antisemitism legislation

  08-05-2024 21:52 via thehill.com
  
  A group of nearly 700 Jewish college faculty signed a letter to President Biden on Wednesday encouraging him not to back the controversial Antisemitism Awareness Act. The academics took issue with the act’s use of the International Holocaust Awareness Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which has raised concerns that legitimate criticisms of the state of Israel could be seen as antisemitic under the bill.The bill easily passed the House last week, though 21 Republicans
  
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• GOP winner of Indiana House primary died in March

  08-05-2024 21:28 via thehill.com
  
  It's unclear who will represent the Republican party in the race for Indiana’s 7th Congressional District, as the winner of the party's primary Tuesday night died earlier this year.
  Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.) currently represents Indiana’s 7th District, which is forecast to be a “safe” seat for Democrats in the upcoming 2024 House elections. Carson won reelection in 2022 by over 30 percent, according to state election results.Jennifer Pace, the winner of the GOP primary b
  
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• House GOP chairs lash out at Biden over pause in Israeli arms shipment

  08-05-2024 20:55 via thehill.com
  
  The top House Republicans with oversight of U.S. foreign and military affairs slammed the Biden administration on Wednesday for pausing a shipment to Israel of an estimated 3,000 heavy bombs. Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Alabama) said the administration was weakening Israel’s position in the face of threats from Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. “We are appalled that the admi
  
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• Chip Roy: 'Sharia law' will soon be 'forced upon the American people'

  08-05-2024 20:27 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said he has concerns about Sharia law being “forced upon the American people” during remarks on the House floor Tuesday.
  “Well, I've got some pretty strong concerns about Sharia law,” Roy said while discussing his broader worries about border security and foreign aid. “And whether that'll be forced upon the American people.”In the remarks, Roy referenced a "massive Muslim takeover of the United Kingdom" and said he had "pretty strong co
  
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• Chip Roy raises 'strong concerns' Sharia law will be 'forced upon the American people'

  08-05-2024 20:27 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said he has concerns about Sharia law being “forced upon the American people” during remarks on the House floor Tuesday.
  “Well, I've got some pretty strong concerns about Sharia law,” Roy said while discussing his broader worries about border security and foreign aid. “And whether that'll be forced upon the American people.”In the remarks, Roy referenced a "massive Muslim takeover of the United Kingdom" and said he had "pretty strong c
  
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• House Republicans accuse K-12 leaders of weak response to antisemitism in schools

  08-05-2024 20:09 via thehill.com
  
  Republican lawmakers on Wednesday went after the leaders of prominent K-12 school systems in the U.S. over what they say is a lack of enforcement when antisemitic incidents occur in their districts.  “The topic of today's hearing is particularly troubling. It's hard to grasp how antisemitism has become such a dominant force in our K through 12 schools,” said Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), head of the Education panel subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education
  
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• Biden mocks Trump over failed Foxconn project in Wisconsin

  08-05-2024 19:37 via thehill.com
  
  President Biden declared Wednesday that the Trump administration's much-touted efforts to bring a Foxconn facility to Wisconsin were nothing more than a "con," contrasting the failed project with a new investment in the state from Microsoft.Biden traveled to Racine, Wis., to announce Microsoft would invest $3.3 billion to build a new artificial intelligence data center at the same site of the Foxconn project that did not develop as promised. Biden invoked former President Trump's visit to W
  
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• Biden gives remarks on Investing in America agenda in Wisconsin: Watch live

  08-05-2024 18:33 via thehill.com
  
  President Biden is speaking Wednesday at an event in Wisconsin to highlight a new, multibillion-dollar Microsoft AI facility. The project is expected to employ thousands of workers in construction and operation.The site in Racine County, south of Milwaukee, allows the Biden administration to draw a contrast with former President Trump’s record. In 2017, Trump appeared at a groundbreaking event on the same spot for a Foxconn facility that never came to fruition.Wednesday’s visit is B
  
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• Democrats push Biden for executive action to secure border

  08-05-2024 18:24 via thehill.com
  
  More than a dozen House Democrats are pressing President Biden to tap his executive powers to secure the border, arguing that Congress’s partisan stalemate on the issue leaves him no choice but to act unilaterally. In a letter delivered to the president on Tuesday, 15 Democrats — most of them in competitive reelection contests — said the only lasting solution for curbing the migrant tide and the flow of fentanyl is for both parties to join forces and pass le
  
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• Activist says GOP congressman knocked phone from her hand during questioning about war in Gaza

  08-05-2024 17:10 via thehill.com
  
  An activist with the anti-war group CodePink said she had her cellphone knocked from her hand by a Republican congressman Tuesday when she questioned him about the Israel-Hamas war.Rep. Mike Ezell (R-Miss.) was walking in a hallway before a House committee when two people approached him. According to camera footage posted to social platform X, one woman asks Ezell if Israel should accept a peace proposal and the representative responds sharply, “Get away from me.”The second woman, id
  
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• Activist says GOP congressman knocked phone from her hand during questioning about Gaza war

  08-05-2024 17:10 via thehill.com
  
  An activist with the antiwar group CodePink said she had her cellphone knocked from her hand by a Republican congressman Tuesday when she questioned him about the Israel-Hamas war.Rep. Mike Ezell (R-Miss.) was walking in a hallway before a House committee when two people approached him. According to camera footage posted to X, one woman asks Ezell if Israel should accept a peace proposal and the congressman responds sharply, “Get away from me.”The second woman, identified as Sumer Mo
  
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• Biden to visit West Coast for fundraising swing

  08-05-2024 15:50 via thehill.com
  
  President Biden is set to travel to San Francisco and Seattle this week for a West Coast fundraising swing as he ramps up his campaign efforts.He will travel on Thursday to San Francisco and participate in two campaign receptions in the Bay Area on Friday. He will then travel to Seattle on Friday and participate in campaign receptions there over the weekend.The president traveled to the Democratic-friendly San Francisco Bay Area multiple times over the last year, including in February when he fu
  
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• Voters in new poll say they're not very familiar with Biden domestic spending initiatives

  08-05-2024 15:17 via thehill.com
  
  Voters in a new poll say they are not familiar with President Biden’s domestic spending initiatives, with many sharing that they know nothing at all about major laws that have passed during this administration.A new Politico-Morning Consult poll asked voters how much they had seen, read or heard about the four major domestic policy laws — the 2021 American Rescue Plan, the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.For the
  
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• US paused bomb shipment to Israel over Rafah invasion concerns, official says

  08-05-2024 14:49 via thehill.com
  
  The Biden administration recently paused an arms shipment to Israel due to concerns the country could launch a full-scale assault on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza — a move the U.S. has strongly opposed.The shipment would have included roughly 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, a senior administration official told The Associated Press Tuesday.
  More than a million civilians have sheltered in Rafah after being forced to evacuate other areas in Gaza due to the ongoing war bet
  
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• Biden on track to miss deadline for report to Congress on Israel war conduct in Gaza 

  08-05-2024 14:30 via thehill.com
  
  The Biden administration is warning it is likely to miss its Wednesday deadline to deliver a report to Congress detailing its assessment over Israeli actions in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip that could impact American military assistance to the country. The report is mandated by a national security memorandum issued by President Biden in February and scrutinizes if Israel has violated international humanitarian law or hindered the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Consequences
  
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• 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
  
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