Sluggish pace of confirmations vexes Biden White House
The Senate’s willingness to confirm a president’s nominees took a downward turn during Donald Trump’s first year in office. And it has only gotten worse for President Joe Biden.
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Colin Powell: A trailblazing legacy, blotted by Iraq war
A child of working-class Jamaican immigrants in the Bronx, Colin Powell rose from neighborhood store clerk to warehouse floor-mopper to the highest echelons of the U.S. government.
Hammerle on… “Titane,” “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and infrastructure
Indianapolis defense lawyer Bob Hammerle reviews “Titane” and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” then shares his frustrations with infrastructure policies at the local and national levels.
Biden signs bill to avert partial government shutdown
With only hours to spare, President Joe Biden signed legislation to avoid a partial federal shutdown and keep the government funded through Dec. 3. Congress had passed the bill earlier Thursday.
Congress trying to stave off partial government shutdown
Congress is trying to avert one crisis while staving off another with the Senate poised to approve legislation that would fund the federal government into early December.
Former Rep. Messer jumps to Bose Public Affairs Group
Former U.S. Rep. Luke Messer has left law firm Faegre Drinker to join Indianapolis-based Bose Public Affairs Group LLC, where he will counsel corporate clients in Indiana and in Washington, D.C., on governmental matters.
FDA backs Pfizer COVID-19 boosters for seniors, high-risk
The U.S. moved a step closer Wednesday to offering booster doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to senior citizens and others at high risk from the virus as the Food and Drug Administration signed off on the targeted use of extra shots.
Holcomb calls Biden’s vaccine order ‘a bridge too far’
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, who has long urged Hoosiers to get COVID-19 vaccines, on Friday pushed back against President Biden’s order that all businesses with more than 100 employees require their workers to be immunized or face weekly testing.
Special event offers Hoosiers’ insider stories from the White House
Hoosiers who have formerly served in the White House will be dishing out stories and behind-the-scenes insights into what working in the executive branch is really like during a special brunch hosted by the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site.
Supreme Court allows evictions to resume during pandemic
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority is allowing evictions to resume across the United States, blocking the Biden administration from enforcing a temporary ban that was put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Man surrenders after claiming to have bomb near US Capitol
A North Carolina man who claimed to have a bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol surrendered to law enforcement after an hourslong standoff Thursday that prompted a massive police response and the evacuations of government buildings in the area.
Federal court set to rule on eviction moratorium this week
A three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is expected to rule this week on whether a moratorium against evictions imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will stand.
Federal judge leaves CDC evictions moratorium in place
A federal judge is refusing landlords’ request to put the Biden administration’s new eviction moratorium on hold, though she made clear she thinks it’s illegal.
Immigrant detentions soar despite Biden’s campaign promises
The number of U.S. immigrant detainees has more than doubled since the end of February, to nearly 27,000 as of July 22, according to the most recent data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The rising detentions is a sore point for President Joe Biden’s immigration allies, who hoped he would reverse his predecessor’s hardline approach.
Parties in enhanced unemployment payment dispute argue ‘irreparable harm’ in COA briefs
A group of Hoosier workers and the state of Indiana are arguing over who will be hurt worse in the continued dispute over the flow of federal enhanced unemployment benefits that is now before the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Indiana getting $1 million to help deal with opioid use
The federal government is awarding Indiana more than $1 million to train workers in 25 counties to help deal with widespread opioid use, addiction and overdoses.
Is Biden overlooking Bureau of Prisons as reform target?
President Joe Biden took quick action after his inauguration to start shifting federal inmates out of privately run prisons, where complaints of abuses abound.
50-year war on drugs imprisoned millions of Black Americans
Fifty years ago this summer, President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs. Today, with the U.S. mired in a deadly opioid epidemic that did not abate during the coronavirus pandemic’s worst days, it is questionable whether anyone won the war. Yet the loser is clear: Black and Latino Americans, their families and their communities.
Legislation approved that would grant LSC $600 million for legal aid
The Legal Services Corporation could get an additional $135 million in its pockets, the largest single increase in the legal aid organization’s history, following an approval of funding legislation by the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations.
Indiana delays unemployment benefits despite judge’s ruling
Indiana’s Department of Workforce Development said Wednesday that it still hasn’t decided how to continue payment of federal unemployment benefits, more than a week after a judge ruled that the state must restart the extra $300 weekly payments to unemployed workers.