State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller momentarily interrupted a press briefing Thursday afternoon when he noticed a cockroach crawling on the wall near a reporter’s head. “I hate to interrupt, there’s a big cockroach on the wall, over your head there. We’ll defer that — no insecticide, no roach-icide in the briefing, Matt," Miller said,...
The IRS is getting blasted with bogus claims for the employee retention tax credit (ERC) and is asking Congress for help. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel also said Thursday that the IRS had completed an internal review of the ERC claim process and will use information from the review to “deny billions of dollars of clearly...
Advocates for the expansion of federal benefits to Americans exposed to radiation by the federal government expressed disappointment after a meeting with staffers for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) this week, saying they believe the Speaker hopes to wait them out and deliver a smaller bill. On a conference call with advocates for the expansion of...
Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville ripped iinto a new Louisiana law that requires public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, calling it the "dumbest waste of time." "I think given the storm season is coming up, we don't need the Ten Commandments, we need a Hail Mary. It would be, you know,...
Attorneys for former President Trump on Thursday demanded that the judge who oversaw his civil fraud trial recuse himself from the case over allegations he improperly discussed it with an outside party. "Allegations have surfaced revealing this Court may have engaged in actions fundamentally incompatible with the responsibilities attendant to donning the black robe and...
Two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a new defense agreement, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced a bill to declare Russia a state sponsor of terror. Holding up a photo of Kim and Putin to start off the press conference unveiling the bill,...
Warmer temperatures may be catalyzing a climb in vaporized chemical contaminants across Los Angeles, a new study has found. Even though the California city, like so many other U.S. urban hotspots, boasts meaningful declines in transportation-related emissions, residents are still contending with unhealthy air pollution levels, the study authors noted. The contaminants in question are...
Around 80 percent of same-sex married couples are concerned about no longer having marriage equality, according to a new report. The report, from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, found 79.3 percent of same-sex married couples said they were either “very” or “somewhat concerned” about Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme...
Nearly half of New York voters approved of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) decision to pause the state’s congestion pricing plan, according to a new survey. The new Siena College poll found that 45 percent of registered voters in New York support Hochul delaying the congestion pricing system that would have charged drivers a pricey toll...
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has introduced legislation aimed at preventing "bad-apple gun dealers" from being involved in federal contracts. The gun safety bill, titled the Clean Firearm Procurement Act, would require the attorney general to identify and make public a list of the firearms that are "consistently and dramatically overrepresented" in violent crime and crimes,...
The chair of the Illinois Republican Party announced Wednesday that he is resigning from his position, citing turmoil within the state party. “When I took on this full-time volunteer job in February, 2021, I thought I would be spending most of my time fighting Democrats, helping elect Republicans, raising money to pay for more Party...
House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) warned of a "Cuban missile crisis in space" if Russia launches a nuclear weapon into orbit, a threat that Turner and the U.S. have repeatedly warned about. Speaking at a Center for Strategic and International studies (CSIS) event Thursday, Turner said if Russia were to detonate a...
Former President Trump blasted Fox News on Thursday after the network published a poll showing him trailing President Biden nationally for the first time this year. The poll found that 50 percent of respondents said they would vote for Biden in November, while 48 percent said they would back Trump. It’s a 3-point improvement for...
Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week reiterated the U.S. is committed to backing the Philippines as the Pacific nation continues to clash with Chinese boats in the South China Sea, spurring fears that tensions will escalate into a wider conflict. Blinken spoke with his counterpart, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, on Wednesday...
