News

Presented by Lilly {beacon}   Health Care Health Care PRESENTED BY The Big Story Administration threatens to withhold Medicaid funding over fraud prosecutions The Trump administration is escalating its fight against alleged fraud by withholding $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California over hospice care. © AP Vice President JD Vance threatened to suspend federal funding to...

The House on Wednesday passed a bill to codify year-round sales of E15 ethanol fuel, a major win for members from corn-producing states but one that drew fierce opposition from other Republicans.  The vote was 218-203, with 122 Republicans, 95 Democrats and 1 independent voting in favor, and 90 Republicans and 113 Democrats opposing the...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s appearance before House and Senate appropriators on Tuesday hasn’t settled the debate in Congress over two mounting questions about the Iran war: whether U.S. stockpiles are dangerously low and how much firepower Tehran maintains. Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday remained dubious of Hegseth’s claims that the U.S. military’s weapons stockpiles remain strong...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered indirect praise for Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) on Wednesday after the centrist Democrat broke party lines on a vote confirming Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair. Bessent hailed Republican senators and Fetterman for putting “country before political ideology” in a post on the social platform X following the...

{beacon} Technology Technology The Big Story  Senate crypto talks go down to the wire before key test Senators are racing to reach an agreement on a cryptocurrency regulation bill before it faces a key hurdle in the upper chamber.  © Greg Nash The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on a bill meant...

The apparent recent surge in sicknesses aboard cruise liners prompts the question: Are cruises breeding grounds for disease?

The California Attorney General’s Office is investigating whether FIFA's ticketing practices for upcoming World Cup games in the state violated California law. In a letter to FIFA’s chief legal officer on Wednesday, state Attorney General Rob Bonta raised concerns about reports that the sports organization sold tickets for seating zones that were later changed after...

A bipartisan group of senators have advised against “unilateral changes” in American policy toward Taiwan, with President Trump on a visit to China this week. In a Tuesday letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the senators said they were writing “to reaffirm congressional support for the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and our firm...

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) is planning to call state lawmakers back for a special session next week to take up a new congressional map that would wholly favor Republicans, according to multiple local media reports. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (R) told reporters on Wednesday that legislative leadership was in the process of...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Wednesday that the state’s immigration detention facility, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” will soon close. “When we opened it in the summer of 2025, it was always intended to be temporary, because we were only doing it, because the federal government didn't have the resources to hold these people themselves,”...

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) on Wednesday said he will cancel a special session to consider new voting maps for the state's three Supreme Court voting districts. Reeves announced the cancellation while on Supertalk Radio's "Mornings with Richard Cross." He said the decision follows the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision on Monday to...

The Pentagon reached deals with several defense firms that would allow it to buy more than 10,000 low-cost, ‌containerized missiles over the next three years, the department announced Wednesday.  The Pentagon struck new framework agreements with Anduril, CoAspire, Leidos and Zone 5 to launch the Low-Cost Containerized Missiles (LCCM) program. Separately, the Defense Department (DOD)...

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s chief spokesperson resigned from the role on Wednesday, citing irreconcilable differences with an effort to advance e-cigarette flavors that could cause children to become addicted.  Rich Danker left his role as assistant secretary for public affairs a day after Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty...

Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) on Wednesday pressed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on how his department awarded the contract for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation project to Atlantic Industrial Coatings. During Burgum’s appearance before the House Natural Resource Committee on President Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request, Neguse asked the Interior secretary if he was “familiar”...