Author: Reporter

When President Joe Biden speaks about the “scourge” of gun violence, his go-to answer is to zero in on assault weapons. America has heard it hundreds of times, including this week after shootings in Colorado and Virginia: The president wants to sign into law a ban on high-powered guns that have the capacity to kill many people very quickly. “The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. Just sick,” Biden said. “I’m going to try to get rid of assault weapons.” After the mass killing on November 19 at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs,...

The Biden administration is reinstating a task force that is aimed at helping immigrants and refugees integrate into the United States. The Task Force on New Americans will be run by the Domestic Policy Council and the focus will be workforce training, education and financial access as well as language learning and the health of immigrants who have green cards and other types of legal status, according to the White House. A version of the task force had been in existence off and on since the mid-2000s, most recently under former President Barack Obama before it lapsed under Donald...

Outside special interest groups spent at least 50% more than the previous record high in the midterm election in Wisconsin this year, pouring more than $93 million into races for governor and other state offices. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign reported the financial results on December 6. The largest majority of money, nearly $79 million, was spent on the governor’s race won by Democratic incumbent Governor Tony Evers over Republican challenger Tim Michels. The previous record of nearly $62 million was set in the 2018 midterm election. Spending by outside groups that operate under different rules that candidates has been...

A nonprofit group that became a point of controversy for distributing hundreds of millions of dollars in election grants during the 2020 presidential campaign is releasing a fresh round of money to local election offices, including in states where Republican lawmakers tried to ban the practice. The Chicago-based Center for Tech and Civic Life has released only general details about how much money each office will receive or what it will fund. It has said 10 county and municipal election offices will be part of the first group to receive grant money under the center’s U.S. Alliance for Election...

Before Election Day, anxiety mounted over potential chaos at the polls. Election officials warned about poll watchers who had been steeped in conspiracy theories falsely claiming that then-President Donald Trump did not actually lose the 2020 election. Democrats and voting rights groups worried about the effects of new election laws, in some Republican-controlled states, that President Joe Biden decried as “Jim Crow 2.0.” Law enforcement agencies were monitoring possible threats at the polls. Yet Election Day, and the weeks of early voting before it, went fairly smoothly. There were some reports of unruly poll watchers disrupting voting, but they...

President Joe Biden is inviting thousands to celebrate at the White House on December 13 as he signs into law gay marriage legislation before a bipartisan crowd that reflects growing acceptance of same-sex unions. Lawmakers from both parties will be there, as will first lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. The White House promised musical performances but was trying to maintain suspense about the headliners. The triumphant mood will play out against the backdrop of a right-wing backlash over gender issues, which has alarmed gay and transgender people and their advocates. Among...