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White House calls on financial regulators to bring back safeguards for regional banks
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration, placing blame on Trump-era rollbacks, Thursday called on federal banking regulators to reinstate safeguards for regional banks after the record-setting collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank of New York earlier this month. The White House wants the agencies to revive regular stress testing at banks in the $100- […]
U.S. judge rules insurers don’t have to cover many free preventive health services
WASHINGTON — Health insurance companies may no longer need to cover a wide swath of preventive health care services that were required by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, under a federal judge’s ruling issued Thursday in Texas. The decision could affect millions of Americans’ access to no-cost preventive health care — including pregnancy-related care, cancer […]
Alabama senator blocking military promotions over abortion policy says he’ll ‘work it out’
WASHINGTON — Sen. Tommy Tuberville insisted he will smooth things over with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after the top Pentagon official said Tuesday that the Alabama senator’s continued hold on 160 defense nominees will affect U.S. military readiness. “We’re gonna work it out,” Tuberville told States Newsroom on his way to the Senate floor Tuesday […]
Members of U.S. Senate panel press financial regulators on massive bank failures
WASHINGTON — Financial regulators promised a full review of Silicon Valley Bank’s massive failure as members of a key U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday interrogated the officials about what led to the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history. Members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs asked if the Federal Reserve could […]
A Rhode Island Democrat exits Congress, in search of an impact no longer found in D.C.
WASHINGTON — Rhode Island’s longtime U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, a leader on the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump, an advocate for breaking up big tech and a champion for LGBTQ+ rights, will step down from Congress in late May to lead his state’s largest community foundation. The Democrat, elected in 2010 to represent […]
DOJ memo on threats to local school boards lambasted by Republicans at U.S. House hearing
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Thursday continued to press accusations that a “woke agenda” is deteriorating parents’ rights in their local school districts. The first hearing this Congress of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government convened to examine whether a 2021 Department of Justice memo played a role in […]
Virginia senator defends rollback of U.S. banking rules, blames managers for bank failures
WASHINGTON — The recent bank failures that shocked the markets and caused a speedy government bailout were “basic prudential regulation failure” by management, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia said Monday. The Democratic senator, who sits on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, told reporters he stands by his position that 2018 […]
As opioids overdose deaths keep rising, report urges lawmakers to develop new approaches
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers should view America’s staggering opioid crisis, including the rise of illicit fentanyl, through an “ecosystems” approach, argues a massive RAND Corporation report published Thursday. That means they should examine the gaps and interconnections among emergency response, data collection, education, treatment, housing and law enforcement, the report advises. The 600-page volume — which […]
Pentagon to halt use of firefighting foam that contains PFAS as cleanup costs mount
WASHINGTON — Battered by years of criticism from U.S. lawmakers and environmental advocates, the Department of Defense will stop purchasing PFAS-containing firefighting foam later this year and phase it out entirely in 2024. The replacement for Aqueous Film Forming Foam has yet to be determined, and advocates are frustrated it’s taken so long to halt […]
Biden says U.S. bank deposits are safe despite tumult over California bank collapse
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden reassured Americans early Monday that their money is safe in U.S. banks, after a tumultuous weekend following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and a move by regulators to shut down a second lender. Americans “should feel confident that their deposits will be there, if and when they need them,” […]
GOP bill mandating federal Parents Bill of Rights passed by U.S. House committee
WASHINGTON — A national “Parents Bill of Rights” is headed for a full U.S. House vote after the House Committee on Education and the Workforce early Thursday approved the measure designed to empower parents to inspect books and other teaching materials in schools. Lawmakers on the committee debated the GOP-backed bill that would federally mandate […]
U.S. Senate panel probes how crypto mining increases energy consumption
WASHINGTON — The so-called mining for digital assets, or cryptocurrency, consumes as much electricity as some entire nations, and U.S. senators explored the issue Tuesday in what they said was their first-ever hearing focused on the energy implications of digital currency. Crypto mining in both Nebraska and Pennsylvania was discussed in particular by the members […]