The world’s birth rate is just about equal to, or possibly even below, the level at which the human population will hold steady — right about 2.1 babies per woman. The United States’s birth rate has been falling for 18 years, is at a record low, and is still falling. Fewer children exist in the […]
House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said Tuesday that he’s pushing for a stopgap that punts this month’s threat of a government shutdown into November to buy time for funding talks. Congress has until Sept. 30 to strike a deal to keep the government funded or risk its first shutdown in years. Asked for...
The sponsor of the discharge petition seeking to publicize all the government files on Jeffrey Epstein said Tuesday that he’s confident the motion will secure enough signatures to force a vote on his bill. “I'm not really engaged in a massive whipping effort. I just assume we'll get the votes,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) told...
Senate Republicans are zeroing in on a rule change, which would be enacted through the “nuclear option,” that would allow them to expeditiously confirm scores of President Trump’s executive branch and judicial nominees. The Republicans are hoping to move quickly and home in on a plan on Wednesday, when they convene for a special conference...
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) suggested the Trump administration is preparing the Texas National Guard for deployment to Chicago amid the president's threats to federalize law enforcement in the Windy City. "We have reason to believe that the Trump administration has already begun staging the Texas National Guard for deployment in Illinois," Pritzker said during...
Welcome to The Hill's Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security The Big Story Trump’s use of US military in LA illegal, judge rules A federal judge ruled Tuesday that National Guard troops ran afoul of the law in Los Angeles when President Trump deployed them in June to assist in immigration...
The Pentagon has approved the transfer of some of its military and civilian lawyers to the Justice Department to serve as temporary immigration judges, the Defense Department confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the Department of Justice (DOJ) requested that the Pentagon identify “qualified Judge Advocates and civilian attorneys...
California’s biggest irrigation district is throwing its support behind a controversial water diversion project that aims to help relieve the Golden State’s historic battle with drought but also faces widespread local opposition. The Imperial Irrigation District — the biggest district not only in California, but also the nation — declared on Tuesday that it was...
Two senior homeland security and cyber officials have left their roles at the Department of Defense (DOD) in another shake-up at the executive department. Ashley Manning, the principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for cyber policy, and Jonathan Owen, the acting deputy assistant secretary of Defense for homeland defense integration and defense support to civil...