Author
USDA’s climate grants for farms and forests run into Republican buzzsaw
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is spending more than $3 billion to cultivate more American farmers and forest landowners as partners to mitigate climate change — even while some Republicans on Capitol Hill try to stop the program entirely. The administration launched a new farm program, Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities, this year. It is […]
Alexander seeks emergency federal help for private school tuition
WASHINGTON — Sen. Lamar Alexander is pushing Congress to underwrite private school tuition as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic —-one of his final acts as the Tennessee Republican heads for retirement from Congress. Alexander, the powerful chairman of the Senate panel that oversees education policy, is a leader in a growing drive […]
Top Homeland Security official vows federal agents ‘will not back away’ from violent protest
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s number two at the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday defended federal law enforcement officers’ intervention in protests in Portland, Oregon, and other cities this summer. Characterizing some of the protests as “mob rule,” Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told lawmakers that federal agents could exert force in […]
Border officials did not follow guidelines on migrant children’s health care, government investigators find
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has not consistently followed new guidelines for medical care of migrant children and spent some of the agency’s money designated for “medical care” on unrelated items like printers, speakers and its canine program, according to a new federal investigation. The U.S. Government Accountability Office, an independent “congressional watchdog,” found gaps […]
Fauci: UT students shouldn’t expect COVID-19 vaccine before fall term
WASHINGTON — Students preparing to head to the University of Tennessee this fall shouldn’t expect to get a COVID-19 vaccine before then, a top public health official told Congress on Tuesday. Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the U.S. Senate committee that oversees health and education, asked top Trump administration health officials at a […]