McCarthy to give prebuttal to Biden in Scranton speech

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will counter a planned prime-time address from President Joe Biden on Thursday with a speech ahead of time – in Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pa.  McCarthy, who has traveled the country campaigning with and fundraising for Republican House candidates during the August House recess, will “talk about what he has heard from the American people this summer regarding rising crime, record high inflation and other hardships brought on by the Democrats' harmful policies,” according to a release announcing the speech. The event

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DeSantis sues FDA in push to import prescription drug from Canada

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced Wednesday that he had filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), claiming the federal agency has unlawfully delayed approval of a state program that would allow the state to import prescription drugs from Canada to lower medication costs for Floridians. DeSantis said the FDA has violated federal law by dragging out the approval of the Canadian Prescription Drug Importation Program, which he first requested approval for in November 2020. "It's our view that we've waited long enough," DeSantis said at a

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Upset about the student loan debt transfer? Blame the Global War on Terror

However, many criticizing the action fail to consider that the authority for President Biden’s mandate is rooted in the frantic expansion of executive power that consumed Washington, D.C. in the years that followed 9/11.   In March 2003, Republican Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) introduced the so-called “Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act,” or HEROES Act. The bill was primarily sold as a vehicle to give student loan repayment relief to military reservists who were activated in support of the new wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, there was also a secti

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California to become refuge for transgender youth seeking gender-affirming health care

Story at a glance California lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation to shield transgender youth and their families from legal action taken by other states if they travel to California to receive gender-affirming health care. The measure, introduced by California Sen. Scott Wiener (D), would prohibit state health care providers, insurance companies or contractors from releasing information

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Three House Democrats call for tighter carbon offset standards

Three House Democrats in environmental leadership positions on Tuesday called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to strengthen standards for voluntary carbon offsets.  In the letter, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee; Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Natural Resources Water, Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee; and Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), the chairwoman of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, noted that there is no single standard for voluntary carbon offset programs. 

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