United States Senate – Gloomberg News

8Mar

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Science

Bipartisan group of senators unveil bill targeting TikTok, other foreign tech companies

Washington — A bipartisan group of senators unveiled a bill Tuesday that would give the executive branch new powers to take action against tech companies with ties to foreign adversaries and cut them off from the U.S. market, a measure that would allow the Biden administration to eventually ban Chinese-owned TikTok and other tech products in the name of protecting national security.The legislation — titled the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act — would apply to technology tied to China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela that "poses an undue or unacceptable risk" to national security. "Today everybody is talking about TikTok. But before there was TiKTok, there was Huawei and ZTE. Before that, t...

1Mar

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Politics

Biden nominates Julie Su as next labor secretary

Washington — President Biden is nominating Julie Su, the current deputy and a former California official, as his next labor secretary, replacing the departing incumbent, former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.Su, a civil rights attorney and former head of California's labor department, was central to negotiations between labor and freight rail companies late last year, working to avert an economically debilitating strike. She also has worked to broaden worker training programs and crack down on wage theft. If confirmed by the Senate, Su would also be the first Asian-American in the Biden administration to serve in the Cabinet at the secretary level.In a White House ceremony Wednesday morning, the president thanked Walsh for sticking by his side, and praised Su and her qualifications. ...

22Dec

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Politics

Senate clears $1.7 trillion spending bill in sprint to beat winter storm, avert government shutdown

Washington — The Senate on Thursday approved the $1.7 trillion government spending bill, sending the bill to the House as lawmakers scramble to swiftly clear the package to stave off a partial government shutdown just before the Christmas holiday and leave Washington ahead of the approaching winter storm.The bill passed the upper chamber 68 to 29, easily clearing the 60-vote threshold. The House is expected to move quickly to take up the plan before funding for federal agencies runs out by midnight Friday.Final passage in the Senate came hours after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced an agreement to complete work on the package in the coming hours. He urged senators not to stray far from the Senate chamber in order to hasten the process, since they voted first on a slew...

8Dec

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Politics

Schumer reelected Senate leader after Democrats expand majority

Washington — Sen. Chuck Schumer was unanimously elected Thursday for another term as Senate Democratic leader, helming a bolstered 51-seat majority for a new era of divided government in Congress.Senate Democrats met behind closed doors at the Capitol to choose their leadership team for the new Congress that begins in January. As Senate majority leader, Schumer has proven to be a surprisingly steady, if frenzied, force amid one of the more consequential sessions of Congress. He took the helm in the weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and led his party through the COVID-19 crisis and unexpected legislative achievements, many of them bipartisan. A former campaign chief, he steered the party to the majority and expanded it to 51 se...

30Nov

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Politics

House approves bill to prevent rail workers strike in bipartisan vote

Washington — Congress is moving swiftly to prevent a looming U.S. rail workers strike, reluctantly intervening in a labor dispute to stop what would surely be a devastating blow to the nation's economy if the transportation of fuel, food and other critical goods were disrupted. The House on Wednesday approved a bill that would impose a compromise labor agreement that was brokered by the Biden administration but rejected by four of 12 rail unions. The unions have threatened to strike if an agreement can't be reached before a Dec. 9 deadline. President Biden had urged Congress to intervene. The House vote to impose the contract was 290 to 137, with 79 Republicans joining 211 Democrats in voting to approve the measure. Eight Democrats and 129 Republicans voted against the legislation....

Obama, on the Pennsylvania campaign trail, tells Democrats “sulking and moping is not an option”

5Nov

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Politics

Obama, on the Pennsylvania campaign trail, tells Democrats “sulking and moping is not an option”

The Democratic Party's most powerful voices warned Saturday that abortion, Social Security and democracy itself are at risk as they labored to overcome fierce political headwinds — and an ill-timed misstep from President Biden — over the final weekend of the high-stakes midterm elections."Sulking and moping is not an option," former President Barack Obama told several hundred voters on a blustery day in Pittsburgh."On Tuesday, let's make sure our country doesn't get set back 50 years," Obama said. "The only way to save democracy is if we, together, fight for it." Obama was the first president, but not last, to rally voters Saturday in Pennsylvania, a pivotal state as voters decide control of Congress and key statehouses. Polls across America will...

Biden returns to Pittsburgh to see new construction on bridge that collapsed earlier this year

20Oct

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Business

Biden returns to Pittsburgh to see new construction on bridge that collapsed earlier this year

The Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh became a symbol of the country's troubled infrastructure, collapsing into a ravine earlier this year, hours before President Biden visited the city. At the time, Mr. Biden detoured to survey the scene, where vehicles were stranded on shards of roadway and several people were injured, and pledged that help was on the way. On Thursday, the Democratic president returned to the bridge in hopes of turning it into a symbol of success for his administration. US President Joe Biden speaks about the rebuilding the nation's infrastructure at the Fern Hallow Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 20, 2022. - The bridge carrying Forbes Avenue through Frick Park, collapsed early on January 28, 2022, hours before Biden was due for a P...

Democratic Senate candidates see stronger fundraising than GOP — but they’re still being outspent on the airwaves

9Oct

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Politics

Democratic Senate candidates see stronger fundraising than GOP — but they’re still being outspent on the airwaves

Democrats in key Senate races have been breaking records with their fundraising — signaling they'll have substantial resources available to them in the final weeks of the election season. And yet, last month, Republicans outspent them on air, largely thanks to outside groups. The shift in spending has come up on the campaign trail. It hasn't escaped the notice of the Democrats that they're getting hammered by GOP ads, and they may be having an effect: polls have tightened in recent weeks in multiple battleground races.Ad spending in the general election for the Senate has now topped more than $1 billion, and more than half of that has gone into four races: Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. When it comes to the Senate races, Democrats h...

Herschel Walker denies paying for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009

4Oct

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Politics

Herschel Walker denies paying for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009

Herschel Walker, the Georgia Republican nominee for Senate, paid for an abortion for a woman he was dating in 2009, The Daily Beast reported Monday night. Walker vehemently denied the story, called it a "flat-out lie" and threatened to sue the outlet. CBS News has not confirmed the allegations and reporting by The Daily Beast.The Daily Beast reported that Walker "urged" the woman to get an abortion because "the time wasn't right for a baby." After she had the procedure, the story says that she received a $700 check from him and a "get well" card. The Republican U.S. Senate candidate for Georgia, Herschel Walker, speaks at a campaign event on September 9, 2022 in Gwinnett, Georgia. Megan Varner / Getty Images ...

Sen. Reverend Raphael Warnock: The preacher and the politician

12Jun

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Politics

Sen. Reverend Raphael Warnock: The preacher and the politician

Raphael Warnock might have two job titles, but spend enough time with him, and you'll see a lot of overlap between the preacher and the politician. At an appearance at his campaign office, he said, "You elected me, you joined my congregation!"CBS News' John Dickerson asked Warnock, "What's the difference between a political speech and a sermon?""Oh, for me, I don't know that there's much difference!" he laughed. Senator Warnock made history last year when he became the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate from Georgia, a state that had two segregationist senators when he was born in 1968. Reverend Warnock's other job title is senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the storied Atlanta congregation where John Lewis worshipped and where b...