U.S. House of Representatives

Fireplaces inside the U.S. Capitol send smoke into the sky on Jan. 6, 2023. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Shutdown inches closer as U.S. House GOP fails to pass defense bill, lawmakers exit D.C.

BY: - September 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans were unable for a third time Thursday to begin debate on the Defense funding bill, throwing another wrench into Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership tenure. The 212-216 vote that rejected the rule for the $826 billion Defense spending measure was unexpected, coming less than a day after House GOP lawmakers gathered […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in the U.S. Capitol. (Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)

U.S. House Speaker McCarthy tells committees to launch Biden impeachment probe

BY: - September 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday announced that he has directed several House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into unproven GOP allegations that President Joe Biden profited from his son’s business dealings when he was vice president in the Obama administration. “These allegations paint a picture, a picture of corruption,” […]

COMMENTARY
U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, speaks to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on June 14, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy of Rep. Johnson's Office)

Johnson subjects military funding to partisan politics, despite pledging otherwise

BY: - August 5, 2023

How times have changed for the Republican Party. It was once the party of law and order. Now Donald Trump, its top candidate for president, is facing his third recent indictment, this time for fomenting the overthrow of the very government he purportedly wants to lead. It was once the party of business, but now […]

A sign on the Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Johnson votes yes on VA spending bill that renews abortion, transgender fights

BY: - July 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans approved their first government spending bill Thursday, following tense debate about whether the Department of Veterans Affairs should provide abortions in limited circumstances and the GOP’s decision to cut military construction funding. The 219-211 mostly party-line vote (Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, voted yes) on the Military Construction-VA appropriations bill […]

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs held a hearing Wednesday, July 26, 2023, exploring reported sightings of unidentified anomalous phenomena. Witnesses being sworn in from left to right: retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. David Fravor, former Department of Defense National Reconnaissance Officer Representative of the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force David Grusch and Ryan Graves, executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

Is there evidence of extraterrestrial life? Congress tries to figure it out

BY: - July 26, 2023

WASHINGTON — During an otherworldly hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday, lawmakers and witnesses launched accusations that the Pentagon is stonewalling Congress and the public from information about unidentified anomalous phenomena, more often referred to as UFOs. That includes a 2014 encounter when a “dark gray or black cube inside a clear sphere” traveled within 50 […]

An American Airlines plane takes off from Los Angeles International Airport on Oct. 1, 2020, in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

House passes aviation bill, including Johnson amendment, that boosts smaller airports 

BY: - July 20, 2023

The U.S. House overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday that would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration for five years, including a big increase in subsidies for airlines providing flights to smaller markets. The chamber voted 351-67 to approve the bill, which would authorize $104 billion for the agency through 2028, increase authorized spending levels for rural […]

Immigrants wait overnight next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence to seek asylum in the United States on Jan. 7, 2023, as viewed from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Public schools banned from sheltering migrants under bill passed by U.S. House

BY: - July 19, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Wednesday night passed a bill to bar the use of public K-12 school facilities to provide shelter for migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. The bill, approved 222-201 with a yes vote from Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, is known as the “Schools Not Shelters Act” and is a rebuke […]

U.S. Air Force ceremonial guardsmen from the 28th Bomb Wing present the colors during a change of command ceremony at Ellsworth Air Force Base, June 23, 2023. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Airman 1st Class Yendi Borjas)

Johnson votes yes on defense bill that targets abortion access, trans health, racial equity

BY: - July 14, 2023

The U.S. House approved Friday an annual defense authorization bill loaded with GOP rollbacks of Pentagon policies on abortion and transgender health care, as well as efforts to boost racial equity. Republican amendments targeting social policy issues turned a typically bipartisan measure preserving the nation’s military security into another front for the culture wars, similar […]

(Getty Images)

U.S. House Republicans pass overhaul of federal elections system out of committee

BY: - July 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — On a party-line vote, the U.S. Committee on House Administration on Thursday night passed a bill that would enact strict new voting laws for states, such as requiring copies of IDs for voting by mail, and set penalties for states that allow voting by noncitizens in local elections. The 224-page bill, H.R. 4563, […]

The busts of U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln tower over the Black Hills at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 2, 2020, near Keystone. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Park Service opposes Johnson’s Mount Rushmore Protection Act, calling it ‘unnecessary’

BY: - July 13, 2023

The National Park Service, which manages the preservation and upkeep of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills, testified in opposition to South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson’s “Mount Rushmore Protection Act” on Thursday — not because the agency disagrees with the bill’s intent, but because the agency views the bill as “unnecessary.” NPS Deputy Director for […]

A wetland area in the Chesapeake Bay. (Courtesy EPA)

U.S. House Dems want data on impact of Supreme Court ruling on wetlands protection

BY: - July 10, 2023

Top Democrats on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee asked federal agencies Monday to track possible negative effects from a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited federal authority to regulate clean water. Washington’s Rick Larsen, the ranking Democrat on the committee, and Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee ranking member Grace Napolitano of California, […]

View of the Black Hills from Black Elk Peak trail. (Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight)

Recreational rock climbing on federal lands would be regulated under bill in Congress

BY: - June 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill that would establish standards for recreational rock climbing on federal lands is one step closer to becoming law. The Protecting America’s Rock Climbing Act was approved by the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources in late June, giving a boost to the millions of climbing advocates working to safeguard the […]