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Members of Congress from both parties urge tough sanctions on Russia
WASHINGTON — Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress on Tuesday called on President Joe Biden to impose severe sanctions on Russia after the country declared a broad section of eastern Ukraine independent before sending troops into the region. Members of Congress appear unified, for the moment, that the most the United States should do is […]
Biden warns of U.S. energy price spikes if Russia invades Ukraine
WASHINGTON — American service members will not deploy to Ukraine in the event of a “distinctly possible” Russian invasion, but strong economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies could reverberate and prompt energy price spikes, President Joe Biden said in a live address from the White House Tuesday. Biden urged Russian President […]
Electricity CEOs tout Biden clean energy tax credits, despite stalled plan
Clean energy tax credits President Joe Biden proposed in his massive domestic spending and climate measure last year would help electric utilities build resilience and transmission lines, utility CEOs told Biden at a White House event Wednesday. But the $1.9 trillion budget measure, which Biden and allies call Build Back Better, is in limbo because […]
Arizona GOP chair sues to block Jan. 6 panel’s records subpoena
Kelli Ward, the chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party, and her husband, Michael Ward, filed a federal lawsuit last week challenging a subpoena from the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The subpoena sought phone records from Nov. 1, 2020, through Jan. 31, 2021, for four phone numbers associated with […]
Biden cites 40-day timeline for Supreme Court confirmation
WASHINGTON — The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dick Durbin, and the panel’s top Republican, Chuck Grassley, met with the president Tuesday afternoon to discuss a 40-day confirmation timeline for a new Supreme Court pick. “The Constitution says, ‘advise and consent, advice and consent,’ and I’m serious when I say that I want the […]
White House methane plan funds orphan well cleanup, rewards reduced farm emissions
The federal government will provide $1.15 billion this year to help states cap defunct oil and gas wells, the White House said Monday, as part of a broad plan to reduce methane emissions. The government-wide methane reduction plan comes about two months after President Joe Biden joined a pledge at the United Nations Climate Conference in Scotland […]
Governors attempt to bridge deep political divides in big D.C. meeting
WASHINGTON — Governors of both parties from throughout the United States met here over the weekend to try to speak on a unified front about what their states need from the federal government. But the waters were muddied by governors’ clearly divided political views about two major issues of the moment — voting laws and […]
Federal judge cites climate effect in canceling Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale
A federal judge invalidated leases to drill for oil and gas in a broad swath of the Gulf of Mexico, telling the Biden administration to weigh climate impacts before allowing development. The ruling late Thursday handed a victory to environmental groups that had challenged the Interior Department’s move to comply with a separate court order […]
Reports: Supreme Court Justice Breyer to step down
WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is planning to announce his retirement in the coming days, according to multiple press reports Wednesday. The decision by the 83-year-old justice, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1994, would give President Joe Biden his first chance to nominate a member of the Supreme Court, […]
Expansion in Gulf of Mexico drilling splits U.S. House panel along party lines
As the Biden administration’s move to scrap new oil and gas leases remains in unsettled legal territory, Democrats and Republicans on a U.S. House panel sharply disagreed about the merits of new energy development in the Gulf of Mexico. Democrats on the House Natural Resources Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, including Chairman Alan Lowenthal of […]
Biden says ‘big chunks’ of his spending bill could still succeed, including climate plan
President Joe Biden said Wednesday the climate and child care provisions in his domestic spending agenda could still become law this year, even as the larger plan has stalled in the Senate over other items that Biden conceded may not pass — such as an expanded child tax credit. In a nearly two-hour news conference, […]
Federal pipeline standards backed by top energy regulator after Colonial Pipeline hack
New federal powers are needed to prevent major energy disruptions like the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline that left the East Coast short of gas at the pumps for days, the chairman of the federal commission overseeing energy and some U.S. House Democrats said Wednesday. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee discussed a proposal by […]