All posts tagged: Senate

Senate overturns Boundary Waters protections, a boon for Chilean mining company

Senate overturns Boundary Waters protections, a boon for Chilean mining company

Published by Sam Flores

Outdoor enthusiasts travel by canoe through several of the hundreds of fresh water lakes that make up the Boundary Waters in the northern woods of Minnesota. Andrew Lichtenstein | Corbis News | Getty Images The Senate on Thursday overturned a mining moratorium in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, a boon for a Chilean mining company subsidiary and a stinging loss for environmentalists trying to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The chamber voted 50-49 to overturn a protection imposed by President Joe Biden in 2023 that he set for 20 years. It clears the way for a long-stalled mine project proposed by Twin Metals Minnesota to restart plans to access the immense stores of copper and other minerals in the Superior National Forest near the Boundary Waters. It’s the latest step in a long battle over mining in the area, which has seesawed for years between Democratic and Republican administrations as environmental groups warn the project could pollute the country’s most visited wilderness area. The mine sought by Twin Metals, a subsidiary of Chilean mining …

Senate votes to repeal Biden-era wilderness protections in Minnesota, sending bill to Trump’s desk

Senate votes to repeal Biden-era wilderness protections in Minnesota, sending bill to Trump’s desk

Published by Sam Flores

The Senate on Thursday voted to repeal Biden-era protections for a contentious wilderness area in Minnesota, sending the question to President Trump’s desk. The Senate voted 50-49 to overturn a Biden-era move to block mining in an area around Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Trump is likely to sign the measure, which has already passed the House,… Source link

Drugmakers raised prices on hundreds of meds despite Trump deals, Senate Democrats’ report finds

Drugmakers raised prices on hundreds of meds despite Trump deals, Senate Democrats’ report finds

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said his deals with drugmakers would bring down prescription drug prices in the U.S. But a report released by Senate Democrats finds prices have continued to climb — in some cases, sharply. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. The report — released Thursday by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, ahead of a hearing focused on drug prices — found that companies that signed drug pricing deals with Trump have raised the cost of hundreds of medications and launched new ones at an average price of $353,000 a year. “American people continue to pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, and that was true before President Trump was president. In most cases, it is even more accurate today,” Sanders said at the hearing. The price hikes include expensive gene therapies, cancer medications and multiple sclerosis drugs. The report also said the companies that signed deals with …

Epstein accusations fly in Senate after César Chávez Monument row

Epstein accusations fly in Senate after César Chávez Monument row

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah (left) and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) Chip Somodevilla | Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Images Jeffrey Epstein allegations flew during a spat between Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., over the fate of the César Chávez National Monument. Heinrich, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, objected to a bill on Tuesday to defund and close the monument after multiple women accused Chávez — an icon in the farm labor movement — of sexual assault. Heinrich objected to the bill, citing concerns that erasing the monument would diminish the work of other leaders in the farm labor movement. “I agree unequivocally that we should no longer have a monument named after Cesar Chavez,” he said on the Senate floor after objecting. “But we absolutely should not erase the monuments telling of the story of the farm labor movement. That is a story that belongs to many people, including the survivors of Chavez’s violence.” Chávez, who died in 1993, was accused by several women who …

Senate Republicans again block Democratic effort to end Trump’s Iran war

Senate Republicans again block Democratic effort to end Trump’s Iran war

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans voted down a resolution Wednesday pushed by Democrats to prohibit President Donald Trump from taking further military action in Iran. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. The vote was 47-52, largely along party lines. Once again, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only Republican to vote for the measure and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the only Democrat or independent to vote against it. (Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., missed the vote.) It was the latest instance of Republicans rejecting attempts to end the war or rein in Trump’s authority to act without congressional approval. While Trump has said for weeks he wants the war to wrap up soon, there is no clear end in sight. The measure, offered by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., says: “Congress hereby directs the President to remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Iran, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or a specific authorization for use of military force.” FORSUBSCRIBERS How we …

David Ellison Won’t Appear at Senate Hearing Due to a Death in Family

David Ellison Won’t Appear at Senate Hearing Due to a Death in Family

Published by Daniella Wilson

A Senate hearing over Paramount‘s blockbuster $111 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery will move forward without the sale’s primary player David Ellison. The mogul’s Paramount policy team informed Sen. Cory Booker, the top Democrat on the Senate antitrust subcommittee, that Ellison won’t be able to attend the Washington, D.C. hearing due to an undisclosed death in the family. “Regretfully, Mr. Ellison is unable to be in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, as he is attending a funeral due to a death in the family,” Paramount policy exec Ted Lehman wrote in a reply to Booker. A studio rep declined to elaborate on the circumstances of that funeral. Lehman added, “As discussed in person with you earlier this year and in our written statement to the Antitrust Subcommittee at your request, our view on the proposed Paramount Skydance/Warner Bros. Discovery deal is quite straight forward: We believe the transaction should be reviewed on the merits. And on the merits, the transaction is procompetitive.” In a letter sent on Monday to the Paramount mogul, Booker had …

Funding Effort for ICE, Border Patrol Could Begin in Senate Next Week, Majority Leader Says

Funding Effort for ICE, Border Patrol Could Begin in Senate Next Week, Majority Leader Says

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) – Partisan legislation to fund Donald Trump’s ⁠immigration ⁠enforcement activities through the end of his ⁠presidency in January 2029 could begin moving through the U.S. Senate by the end ​of this month, according to Republican senators and aides. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, is pushing for quick action on a bill ‌that would pave the way for ‌funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol, which are parts of the Department of Homeland Security. He told reporters ⁠on Tuesday the ⁠full Senate could begin work “as early as next week.” The Senate is scheduled to ​begin a week-long recess on May 1. This year’s annual funding for ICE and Border Patrol has been held up amid a disagreement between congressional Republicans and Democrats over imposing new operating procedures for the two agencies. REPUBLICANS AIM FOR MAJORITY TO PASS BILL In a move to get ​new money approved without Democratic support, Republicans want to use a special Senate procedure allowing bills to pass by ⁠a ⁠simple majority, instead …

Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh clears a hurdle to Senate hearing

Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh clears a hurdle to Senate hearing

Published by Sam Flores

Kevin Warsh, fellow in economics at the Hoover Institution and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference in New York, May 8, 2017. Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh has submitted required paperwork to the Senate, two people familiar with the matter said Monday, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive information ahead of its public release. Filing his financial disclosures puts Warsh one step closer to a Senate hearing. A prior plan to hold that hearing this week had to be delayed after a holdup with the paperwork. Warsh is married to Estée Lauder heir Jane Lauder, whose net worth Forbes estimates at $1.9 billion. The Senate will also need to receive Warsh’s answers to questions from the Senate Banking Committee, one of the people said. Once that questionnaire is received, the Senate can go ahead with formally giving notice of the hearing. It would take place next week at the earliest. Read more CNBC politics coverage Warsh’s path to a full Senate vote is …