Student-loan borrowers who combined their debts with a current or former spouse just took a 'huge step' toward relief, Democratic senator says
Law prohibits student-loan borrowers from separating combined debt with a spouse, even after divorce. Sen. Mark Warner's bill would change that.
news.yahoo.comFour states receive first allocations of $10B broadband fund
More than half a billion dollars in federal funding will be sent to four U.S. states to expand broadband access as part of a sweeping national effort to bring affordable service to rural and low-income Americans, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Tuesday. Louisiana, New Hampshire, Virginia and West Virginia are the first to benefit from this aspect of the $10 billion Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, which is expected to bring internet service to 200,000 homes and businesses in the four states.
news.yahoo.comThousands of intel officers refusing vaccine risk dismissal
Thousands of intelligence officers could soon face dismissal for failing to comply with the U.S. government’s vaccine mandate, leading to concerns from Republican lawmakers about potentially hurting agencies considered critical to national security.
Warner threatens to vote against $3.5 trillion bill over housing assistance for black families
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is warning that he could vote against the $3.5 trillion budget package, if more money isn’t added for housing assistance to close the racial wealth gap in the current House version of the bill, Axios has learned.Why it matters: Warner’s threat is another indication that the proposal will face a variety of obstacles before the House and Senate can agree to a top line number, how that money is spent on specific programs — and how to pay for it all.Stay on top of the latest
news.yahoo.comMore Virginia sites set to welcome Afghan immigrant influx
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration has received notification that the Department of Defense has authorized the use of Marine Corps Base Quantico to house Afghan refugees, as well as a national guard installation in central Virginia.
Senate Democrats promise probe into chaotic Afghan withdrawal
Senate Democrats on Monday promised that they would investigate how and why the U.S. military departure from Afghanistan was bungled, even as most in President Biden’s party said that they supported his decision to pull American troops out of the country.
news.yahoo.comSenators race to seal infrastructure deal as pressure mounts
Senators are racing to seal a bipartisan infrastructure deal as soon as Monday, as pressure is mounting on all sides to show progress on President Joe Biden's top priority. Heading into a make-or-break week, key senators and staff spent the weekend trying to reach a final agreement. One major roadblock is how much money should go to public transit.
news.yahoo.comSenators race to overcome final snags in infrastructure deal
Lawmakers racing to seal a bipartisan infrastructure deal early this coming week are hitting a major roadblock over how much money should go to public transit, the group’s lead Republican negotiator said Sunday. As discussions continued through the weekend, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said both sides were “about 90% of the way there” on an agreement. “We have one issue outstanding, and we’re not getting much response from the Democrats on it,” he said.
news.yahoo.comRepublican senators claim “tentative” bipartisan infrastructure deal
Republican senators emerged from a series of closed-door, bipartisan talks Thursday boasting of reaching a "tentative" deal on infrastructure, yet their Democratic counterparts wouldn't go that far. Why it matters: Members of the s0-called G20 group of 20 senators appear to be the last, best hope for a bipartisan agreement, but the split in where the talks stand highlights the ongoing gulf between the parties on roads, bridges and more.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insight
news.yahoo.comAP sources: SolarWinds hack got emails of top DHS officials
The short answer for many security experts and federal officials is that it can’t — at least not without some significant changes. Ad“The SolarWinds hack was a victory for our foreign adversaries, and a failure for DHS,” said Sen. The FAA initially told the AP in mid-February that it had not been affected by the SolarWinds hack, only to issue a second statement a few days later that it was continuing to investigate. Federal officials said that amount is only a down payment on much bigger planned spending to improve threat detection. The hosting services of Amazon Web Services and GoDaddy were used by the SolarWinds hackers to evade detection, officials said recently.
From vote to virus, misinformation campaign targets Latinos
The effort showed how social media and other technology can be leveraged to spread misinformation so quickly that those trying to stop it cannot keep up. Straka said via email that nothing from the #WalkAway Campaign ”encourages people not to vote.” He declined further comment. Democrats blame misinformation efforts for helping Trump win larger-than-expected shares of Latino support in normally reliably blue areas. AdNow researchers will be watching to see if misinformation — especially that meant to discredit COVID-19 vaccines — spreads among congressional districts. So far, Congress isn't investigating Spanish-language misinformation to see if its origins spread beyond Latin America.
Takeaways: What hearings have revealed about Jan. 6 failures
Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Many questions remain unanswered about the failure to prevent the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The Capitol Police also did its own intelligence assessment warning that Congress could be targeted on Jan. 6. Four House committees are probing what went wrong with that data collection, including the House intelligence committee. “I don’t want our committee’s examination to be about Trump or about Jan. 6,” Warner, D-Va., said in an interview. Thousands of National Guard troops still guard the Capitol, which is now surrounded by fencing and barbed wire and closed off to the public.
Impeachment vote becomes defining moment for GOP senator
But the North Carolina Republican’s vote to convict former President Donald Trump should not have come as a shock. AdWith Burr retiring at the end of his term in 2022, it’s a vote that could end up defining his career. Exactly a year later, as the Russia investigation was wrapping up, Burr’s time leading the committee came to an abrupt end. He sided with most Republicans in a vote to dismiss the trial, creating an expectation he’d also vote to acquit. AdSo when Burr stood up to vote for Trump's conviction, many in the chamber wondered if there would be other surprises.
Suspected Russian hack fuels new US action on cybersecurity
AdThe reaction reflects the severity of a hack that was disclosed only in December. The administration has also proposed expanding by 30% the budget of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, or CISA, a little-known entity now under intense scrutiny because of the SolarWinds breach. The breach was discovered in early December by the private security firm FireEye, a cause of concern for some officials. AdRight after the hack was announced, the Treasury Department bypassed its normal competitive contracting process to hire the private security firm CrowdStrike, U.S. contract records show. “In practical terms, what that meant is they weren’t invited in because no department or agency wants to look bad,” he said.
US still unraveling 'sophisticated' hack of 9 gov't agencies
Ad“This is a sophisticated actor who did their best to hide their tracks,” she told reporters at the White House. It will take us some time to uncover this layer by layer.”U.S. authorities have said the breach, disclosed in December, appeared to be the work of Russian hackers. “This isn’t the only case of malicious cyber activity of likely Russian origin, either for us or for our allies and partners,” Neuberger added. Intelligence agencies did not detect the breach because they largely have "no visibility into private-sector networks," and it was launched within the U.S., Neuberger said. The Biden administration supports changes to “culture and authorities” that prevented the hack from being detected on the federal civilian systems, she added.
White House names SolarWinds response leader amid criticism
The White House says a senior national security official is leading the U.S. response to a massive breach of government departments and private corporations discovered late last year. The announcement that the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emergency technology, Anne Neuberger, has been in charge of the response to the SolarWinds hack follows congressional criticism of the government effort so far as disorganized. Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emergency technology, was in charge of remediating the hack, identifying issues with the federal government's response and launching a study aimed at preventing similar incidents, the White House said. In a letter released Tuesday, leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee blasted the Biden administration for what they said was a lackluster reaction to the SolarWinds hack. Also on Wednesday, the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing with cybersecurity experts to discuss the SolarWinds hack and other issues.
Biden's first Cabinet member to lead battered intel agencies
President-elect Joe Bidens pick for national intelligence director Avril Haines speaks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington. (Joe Raedle/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Avril Haines as director of national intelligence, giving President Joe Biden the first member of his Cabinet and placing the first woman in charge of the nearly two-decade old agency. In her confirmation hearing Tuesday, Haines made clear she intends to end the Trump administration's practice of pressuring officials to shape their analysis to the president’s liking. “When it comes to intelligence, there is simply no place for politics — ever,” she told the Senate Intelligence Committee. “The last four years have been hard on the intelligence community,” said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the new chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after Democrats took the majority on Wednesday.
Impeachment complicates the early days of Biden's presidency
Now Biden will have to do it with President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial beginning potentially as soon as his first day in office. “We’re going to have to move simultaneously in a whole bunch of areas.”Biden has so far stayed largely out of public deliberations over Trump's impeachment for inciting a riot. So let him do his job — and let the Senate do their work,” said California Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat. And there’s the prospect they could further exacerbate the already fraught atmosphere on Capitol Hill, politicizing Biden’s agenda and making it tougher for him to get support from winnable Republican senators. And Democrats on Capitol Hill are barreling ahead as well, refusing to accept the prospect that impeachment will deter them from their legislative goals.
Confirmation hearing postponed for Biden's intel chief pick
FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2020, file photo President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines speaks at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)WASHINGTON – A confirmation hearing for President-elect Joe Biden's pick for national intelligence director has been postponed until next week, according to leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Avril Haines, a former CIA deputy director and former deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration, was to have appeared Friday before the Senate Intelligence Committee. The hearing was announced Wednesday, setting Haines up to be the first of Biden's picks to face a Senate committee for confirmation. “We are disappointed the hearing was delayed, particularly given the urgency to have national security leaders in place in this time of crisis.
Impeachment complicates the early days of Biden's presidency
Now Biden will have to do it with President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial beginning potentially as soon as his first day in office. “We’re going to have to move simultaneously in a whole bunch of areas.”Biden has so far stayed largely out of public deliberations over Trump's impeachment for inciting a riot. So let him do his job — and let the Senate do their work,” said California Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat. And there’s the prospect they could further exacerbate the already fraught atmosphere on Capitol Hill, politicizing Biden’s agenda and making it tougher for him to get support from winnable Republican senators. And Democrats on Capitol Hill are barreling ahead as well, refusing to accept the prospect that impeachment will deter them from their legislative goals.
The Latest: Pelosi ties rioters' actions to 'whiteness'
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., holds a news conference on the day after violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. “It has been an epiphany for the world to see that there are people in our country led by this president, for the moment, who have chosen their whiteness over democracy,” Pelosi said. Pelosi says, “The complicity, not only the complicity, the instigation of the president of United States, must and will be addressed.”___1:25 p.m. Flight attendants have expressed concern that their flights could be carrying supporters of President Donald Trump who took part in Wednesday’s violent protest and siege of the U.S. Capitol. ___2:25 a.m.Democrats in Congress are laying the groundwork to impeach President Donald Trump.
US: Hack of federal agencies 'likely Russian in origin'
The U.S. government on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, said a devastating hack of federal agencies is likely Russian in origin and said the operation appeared to be an intelligence gathering effort. The assessment was disclosed in a rare public statement from the FBI and other investigative agencies. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)WASHINGTON – Top national security agencies confirmed Tuesday that Russia was likely responsible for a massive hack of U.S. government departments and corporations, rejecting President Donald Trump's claim that China might be to blame. The agencies made clear the Russian operation was “ongoing” and indicated the hunt for threats was not over. Even so, the announcement puts the imprimatur of national security agencies, albeit belatedly, on information that members of Congress had clamored for the White House to make public.
Senator says Trump, McConnell likely to back COVID-19 relief
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)WASHINGTON – A proposed COVID-19 relief bill is expected to get backing from President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell but it won't include $1,200 in direct payments to most Americans, a Republican senator involved in the bipartisan talks says. “President Trump has indicated that he would sign a $908 billion package — there’s only one $908 billion package out there and it’s ours,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said Sunday. While favoring the $1,200 checks, Biden said the emerging compromise was "immediately needed” and that additional assistance could follow later. On Sunday, lawmakers involved in the negotiations said the direct payments would have to wait until after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The direct payments, he said, will be a task for Biden.
Lawmakers say COVID-19 relief bill won't offer $1,200 checks
The $908 billion aid package to be released Monday would be attached to a larger year-end spending bill needed to avert a government shutdown this coming weekend. “This is not a stimulus bill, it’s a relief bill,” he said. While favoring the $1,200 checks, Biden said the emerging compromise was "immediately needed” and that additional assistance could follow later. On Sunday, lawmakers involved in the negotiations said the direct payments would have to wait until after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The direct payments, he said, will be a task for Biden.