biden administration

Water tupelo near a walkway in Louisiana Purchase State Park near Brinkley, Arkansas. (Courtesy of Arkansas State Parks)

Federal judge temporarily blocks new Biden WOTUS rule in two dozen states

BY: - April 12, 2023

A federal judge in North Dakota on Wednesday blocked in 24 states the Biden administration’s newly effective definition of waters that can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland, a George W. Bush appointee on retired status in the North Dakota District, issued a preliminary injunction in a case two […]

Biden administration proposes to strengthen patient privacy for those seeking abortions

BY: - April 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is trying to enhance the federal law that guards patient privacy to further protect those who seek legal abortion care and other reproductive health care services.  The announcement comes amid two major ongoing federal court cases dealing with access to the abortion pill and fears that the pill’s U.S. Food […]

Water tupelo near a walkway in Louisiana Purchase State Park near Brinkley, Arkansas. (Courtesy of Arkansas State Parks)

Biden vetoes attempt to repeal WOTUS rule on wetlands

BY: - April 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday vetoed a measure that would repeal a rule expanding which types of wetlands can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. Biden promised to veto the legislation that saw Democrats crossing party lines in both chambers to join Republicans in rolling back a rule that is unpopular with […]

U.S. House passes sweeping energy bill pushing back against Biden climate policies

BY: - March 30, 2023

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House on Thursday approved a bill packed with Republican energy priorities meant to counteract the Biden administration’s approach and boost U.S. oil and gas production. Numbered H.R. 1 as a signal that energy policy is the House majority’s top legislative priority, the bill includes a package of GOP proposals, ranging from […]

Biden administration details potential cuts in education, food aid and more under GOP plan

BY: - March 20, 2023

WASHINGTON — Federal departments and agencies say U.S. House Republicans’ plans to cut federal spending would result in reductions to key programs like food aid, education assistance and wildfire management. The series of letters from across the federal government released Monday detail exactly how plans to cut at least $130 billion in domestic spending during […]

Vice President Kamala Harris participated in a panel discussion on the climate crisis at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities west of Denver on March 6, 2023. Democratic U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood was also on the panel. (Screenshot from White House livestream)

Kamala Harris visits Colorado to highlight Biden administration’s climate action

BY: - March 7, 2023

Vice President Kamala Harris joined an audience of Colorado elected officials and other stakeholders in Arvada to talk about the Biden administration’s latest efforts to tackle climate change. In a panel discussion led by U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood as well as rock climber and environmental advocate Sasha DiGiulian of Boulder at the Arvada […]

Biden student debt relief plan met with skepticism from U.S. Supreme Court conservatives

BY: - February 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — The majority conservative wing of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical Tuesday that the Biden administration had the authority to implement a federal student debt relief program that was estimated to potentially aid millions of borrowers. The conservative justices, who hold a 6-3 majority on the court, questioned whether the Department of Education […]

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., blocked the Biden administration Tuesday from using Title 42, a controversial rule to send asylum seekers back to Mexico to await a decision on their status. Here an asylum (right) waits outside the San Ysidro Port of Entry in March 2022 in Tijuana, Mexico. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Biden administration proposes major new limits on asylum at the border

BY: - February 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is rolling out a proposed rule that for two years would bar migrants from applying for asylum at the Southern border if they have not first asked for protection in a country they traveled through. The administration is seeking to limit asylum requests at the U.S.-Mexico border as a pandemic-era […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Republicans in Congress have raised the prospect of using the debt limit to force Democrats to the negotiating table on spending cuts. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. likely to default on debt between July and September unless Congress acts, CBO says

BY: - February 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress has until at least July to broker a bipartisan debt agreement if lawmakers want to avoid a first-ever default, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  The nonpartisan scorekeeper, which typically details how much legislation would cost, released a report Wednesday saying that U.S. lawmakers and the Biden administration have until sometime between […]

Midwestern, Western states in spotlight after mystery flying objects shot down by military

BY: and - February 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — Military posts in Midwestern and Western states played key roles in the unprecedented downings of multiple unmanned aerial objects over the North American continent this weekend. Members of Congress and governors from the states involved and from both parties have shared information about the downings on Twitter and in statements, in some cases […]

Longtime tensions over federal wetlands rule return in U.S. House WOTUS hearing

BY: - February 9, 2023

A U.S. House panel renewed the decades-long fight Wednesday over how standing waters on farmland and other private property should be defined and regulated by federal authorities, with Republicans calling for a pause until the U.S. Supreme Court can provide more clarity. The definition of so-called Waters of the United States, or WOTUS — wetlands […]

Democrats in Congress condemn Biden administration expansion of Title 42

BY: - January 26, 2023

WASHINGTON — Nearly 80 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to the White House expressing their “great concern” that the Biden administration is walking back on its promise to restore migrants’ access to asylum. In the letter, they also condemned the administration’s expansion of a controversial policy that immediately turns away migrants at the […]