JEFF MERKLEY

Blaming the housing crisis on hedge funds and private equity may be easy, but it’s dead wrong.

Less than two years after Texas Democrats staged a dramatic showdown to forestall sweeping changes to voting laws, the Legislature is poised to once again revisit how Texas runs elections.Entering the[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

Policymakers have mapped out familiar territory in the legislative session, with Dems seeking to expand voting access and the GOP pledging to secure elections.

The jails program has come under fire for numerous deaths. NPR and Mountain West found a previous review was managed by a retired official who oversaw the facilities when some of the deaths occurred.

Earlier this month, Senate Republicans—many of whom have endorsed a federal 15-week abortion ban, which would force people to stay pregnant against their will—blocked a bill to let pregnant workers take bathroom breaks without being fired. And on Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked a bill to ensure new parents are allowed to breastfeed on the job.

Voters in four states have approved ballot measures that will change their state constitutions to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for crime.

A tropic storm and absences of VIP guests are casting a shadow over a financial conference meant to help Hong Kong restore its image as a financial hub and destination for business travel.

A key Senate Democrat informed Insider of the decision just one day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her chamber could vote on a bill this month.

In a surprise victory for Republicans, the Senate on Thursday voted to overturn a Biden administration rule requiring rigorous environmental review of major infrastructure projects such as highways, pipelines and oil wells — a victory enabled in part by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

President Joe Biden is hailing a nascent Democratic package of climate, health care and tax initiatives as a giant step forward for the country.

A far-right internet personality has pleaded guilty to joining the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, where he streamed live video that incriminated him and other rioters.

There’s one bold move President Biden could make to curb climate change: Find a way to put a $5-a-gallon floor on gasoline prices.

In the wake of Sen. Joe Manchin’s announcement that he won’t vote for a bill addressing climate change unless inflation slows, climate leaders are calling for President Biden to declare climate change a national emergency — and it appears the White House is seriously considering it.

President Joe Biden is promising “strong executive action” to combat climate change, despite setbacks that have restricted his ability to regulate carbon emissions and boost clean energy such as wind and solar power.

Questions posed about the safety of tear gas remain unanswered, even after more than a dozen U.S. senators asked a congressional watchdog to look into the issue.

The Interior Department says it will phase out sales of plastic water bottles and other single-use products at national parks and on other public lands over the next decade, targeting a major source of U.S. pollution.

A federal judge has scheduled a trial for a far-right internet troll who balked at pleading guilty to a criminal charge stemming from the U.S. Capitol riot.

Proposals to ban stock trading by lawmakers are gaining ground in Congress and on the campaign trail.

Home-district projects for members of Congress are back, sprinkled across the government-wide $1.5 trillion bill that President Joe Biden signed recently.

U_S_ officials say the Biden administration intends to declare that Myanmar's years-long repression of the Rohingya Muslim population is a “genocide.”.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added a contaminated island on the Columbia River to the Superfund list of toxic waste sites.

The arrest of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández and the images of a leader shackled and paraded before cameras like a common criminal are a stunning reversal for a man who for years seemed impervious to growing allegations of corruption.

More than any other senator, Jeff Merkley has frayed the fabric of the chamber's vaunted 60-vote threshold. And he doesn't mind if that's used against his own party in the future.

The Senate has confirmed more than 30 ambassadors and other Biden administration nominees after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed to schedule a vote on sanctions on the company behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will deliver natural gas from Russia to Germany.

For many rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, self-incriminating messages, photos and videos that they broadcast on social media before, during and after the riot are influencing even the sentences in their criminal cases.

Two Senate Democrats said Friday they oppose the reappointment of Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, as President Joe Biden is expected to announce within days who he will pick for the nation’s most powerful economic position.

At least five people charged in the riot at the U.S. Capitol have chosen to defend themselves in court.

U.S. envoy John Kerry is on a diplomatic quest to stave off the worst scenarios of global warming, but he's running into resistance from China, the world’s biggest climate polluter.

After the success that Democrats in Georgia had in 2020, the Deep South battleground is working with other Southern states to help expand Democrats' national footprint.

In a bid to block a voting restrictions bill, House Democrats for weeks have denied the lower chamber the number of present members needed to pass legislation. House Speaker Dade Phelan has already signed dozens of civil arrest warrants.

Texas Republicans have again authorized using law enforcement to find Democrats who are still refusing to come back to the state Capitol in a bid to stop new voting restrictions.

Texas Democrats are still refusing to return to the state Capitol.

Top congressional Democrats will huddle with President Joe Biden, looking to salvage their push to enact voting rights legislation.

A Joliet-area husband and wife were arrested Monday on federal charges alleging they breached the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection and posted photos of themselves inside the building’s historic rotunda.

Environmental groups hailed a sweeping $3.5 trillion domestic spending plan announced by Democrats, saying it would make “transformational investments” in clean energy and put the nation on a path to cut greenhouse emissions by at least 50% by 2030.

The Senate appears unlikely to be able to pass the For the People Act, or any other voting rights bill, in the face of Republican opposition.

Six decades after University of California forestry professor Harold Biswell experimented with prescribed burns and was treated with ridicule, he is seen as someone whose ideas could save the U.S. West’s forests and ease wildfire dangers.

The Democrats' sweeping attempt to rewrite U.S. election and voting law has suffered a major setback in the U.S. Senate.

As the nation this week made Juneteenth a federal holiday, lawmakers revived calls to end a loophole in the Constitution that has allowed another form of slavery to endure.

Karol Chwiesiuk, 29, has been a member of the Chicago Police Department since December 2018. He also worked for the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

A Chicago police officer has been charged with breaching the U.S. Capitol and entering a senator’s office during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Manchin said he wouldn't vote for an elections bill with no bipartisan support. He cosponsored the same bill in 2019 when it had zero GOP cosponsors.

Ten liberal senators are urging President Joe Biden to back India and South Africa’s appeal to the World Trade Organization to temporarily relax intellectual property rules so coronavirus vaccines can be manufactured by nations that are struggling to inoculate their populations.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has fresh options for advancing President Joe Biden’s priorities over Republican obstruction in the 50-50 split Senate.

With a powerful new tool, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has fresh options for advancing President Joe Biden’s priorities over Republican obstruction in the 50-50 split Senate.

When President Biden expressed support for a modest filibuster change this week, reform advocates took it as a major turning point. "It will be Armageddon," Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley told CBS News when asked whether Democrats will suffer in the midterms if they don't enact filibuster reforms. Former President Obama endorsed killing the filibuster to protect voting rights, noting that it has traditionally been used to block civil rights legislation. And there are limits to how much the talking filibuster that he endorsed could actually alleviate obstruction, if 60 votes would still be required to move on to the bill after debate. "Not just the endorsement of a talking filibuster, but also his reflection of the use of the filibuster since his time in the Senate, which shows he's thinking very seriously about this."

When President Biden expressed support for a modest filibuster change this week, reform advocates took it as a major turning point. "It will be Armageddon," Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley told CBS News when asked whether Democrats will suffer in the midterms if they don't enact filibuster reforms. Former President Obama endorsed killing the filibuster to protect voting rights, noting that it has traditionally been used to block civil rights legislation. And there are limits to how much the talking filibuster that he endorsed could actually alleviate obstruction, if 60 votes would still be required to move on to the bill after debate. "Not just the endorsement of a talking filibuster, but also his reflection of the use of the filibuster since his time in the Senate, which shows he's thinking very seriously about this."

Senator Jeff Merkley warns of "election Armageddon" if Democrats don't end filibuster President Biden reignited talk of ending the Senate's controversial filibuster rule. CBSN Washington reporter Caitlin Huey-Burns joins CBSN's "Red & Blue" host Elaine Quijano to discuss the changes Mr. Biden is backing.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said "everything is on the table" to pass a comprehensive voting reform bill, the For the People Act, during a press conference introducing the legislation Wednesday. If they don't join us, our caucus will come together and decide the appropriate action to take," Schumer said. "We must find a way to pass voting rights, whether we get rid of the filibuster or not," said Warnock, who has held onto his role as senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where civil rights icon the Rev. The House passed its version of the For the People Act, H.R.1, on March 3 with all but one Democrat voting in favor of and all Republicans voting against the legislation. Voting rights activists are calling on Congress to pass voting rights legislation such as the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and for Biden to use his political clout to prioritize the bills' passage.

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)TEGUCIGALPÁ – TEGUCIGALPÁHonduran President Juan Orlando Hernández says that antinarcotics cooperation with the United States could “collapse” if U.S. authorities believe “false testimony” accusing him of cooperating with traffickers. Earlier this month, U.S. prosecutors filed documents in an upcoming trial suggesting the president himself was under investigation. One of his numerous brothers, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, was convicted in New York of a drug conspiracy in 2019.

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)TEGUCIGALPÁ – TEGUCIGALPÁHonduran President Juan Orlando Hernández warned Wednesday that antinarcotics cooperation with the United States could “collapse” if U.S. authorities believe “false testimony” in U.S. courts accusing him of cooperating with traffickers. He suggested that traffickers were trying to manipulate U.S. authorities into helping them take vengeance on the Honduran officials pursuing them. One of his numerous brothers, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, was convicted in New York of a drug conspiracy in 2019.

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2019 file photo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks to the reporters as he leaves a meeting at the Organization of American States, in Washington. Newly proposed U.S. legislation introduced Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, targets Orlando Hernandez as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)MEXICO CITY – Newly proposed U.S. legislation targets Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández as allegations of ties to drug trafficking grow. As the administration of President Joe Biden seeks to return the issues of corruption and human rights to relations with Honduras and other Central American countries, a group of Democratic senators says the U.S. government’s relationship with Honduras must change. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, immigration overshadowed everything else in the relationship.

A week after President Joe Biden signed executive orders intended to combat the worst effects of global warming, Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and other lawmakers urged him to go even further and declare a national emergency on climate change. “If there ever was an emergency, climate is one,'' the New York Democrat told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow last week, adding that an emergency declaration would give Biden “more flexibility.'' The sweeping plan is aimed at staving off the worst of global warming caused by burning fossil fuels. Sanders said the climate emergency has long been clear. But Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate energy panel, said declaring a climate emergency would effectively “muzzle Congress.''

Any computers left on could be vulnerable, and so could papers — such as personal schedules or mail — that weren’t locked away, information security experts said. Does the invasion of the Capitol pose a cybersecurity risk? How does this situation compare with other potential threats to the nation’s information security? It’s not clear yet whether Wednesday’s events included a breach of cybersecurity or information security at all, Spaulding said. Policies probably will be reviewed, and physical security as well as computer security probably will be bolstered, Varsalone said.

But Wednesday was to be a momentous day watching the Senate debate whether to throw out the Electoral College votes of Arizona and Pennsylvania. Smith Goes to Washington” you've seen my work area since a press gallery scene from the movie was filmed there more than 70 years ago. (The Senate chamber, however, was a soundstage). Behind him were three boxes holding electoral college vote certificates. The Daily Press Gallery where I work had not been breached.

Violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol Wednesday, disrupting the process. One Republican lawmaker publicly called for invoking the 25th Amendment to force Trump from office before Biden is inaugurated. The support Trump has received for his efforts to overturn the election results have badly strained the nation’s democratic guardrails. Some House lawmakers tweeted they were sheltering in place in their offices. The Pentagon said about 1,100 District of Columbia National Guard members were being mobilized to help support law enforcement at the Capitol.

FILE - This Nov. 29, 2011, file photo shows the signature of president Abraham Lincoln on a rare, restored copy of the 13th Amendment that ended slavery, in Chicago. As ratified, the original amendment has permitted exploitation of labor by convicted felons for over 155 years since the abolition of slavery. Constitutional amendments are rare and require approval by two-thirds of the House and Senate, as well as ratification by three-quarters of state legislatures. In Merkley’s Oregon, voters in 2002 approved the elimination of constitutional language that prohibited Black Americans from living in the state unless they were enslaved. The prevalence of prison labor has been largely accepted as a means for promoting rehabilitation, teaching trade skills and reducing idleness among prisoners.

(AP Photo/Noah Berger)The Portland Police Bureau declared an unlawful assembly Saturday night when people gathered outside a police precinct in Oregon's largest city and threw bottles toward officers, police said. Speakers included activists as well as Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. For the first time since the presence of federal agents in Portland diminished law enforcement and protesters noticeably clashed Saturday night. Just before 10 p.m., Portland police declared an unlawful assembly and told people to disperse or they may be subject to use of force or be arrested. In early July, President Donald Trump sent more federal agents to the city to protect the federal courthouse, but local officials said their presence made things worse.

At a time of unprecedented gridlock, even some fellow Democrats warn Biden's lengthy to-do list faces long odds in Congress. If Democrats win the White House, they would need to pick up three seats in the Senate to retake the majority. As a 36-year veteran of the Senate, Biden has been reluctant to end its traditions. More fundamentally, Biden would face resistance from most Republicans and some Democrats because of the steep cost of his proposals. The one thing I know about Joe Biden, hes always been willing to sit down and negotiate, Manchin said.

State leaders are imploring federal forces to leave the progressive city, saying they're escalating a volatile situation. Parker was charged with pointing a semi-automatic rifle at armed federal agents but ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Kate Brown has compared the presence of federal agents at the Portland protests to pouring gasoline on a fire. The idea that now federal agents are storm-troopers of death I find quite hypocritical." They surrendered as federal agents moved in Feb. 10.

WASHINGTON The Senate on Thursday joined the House in defying a veto threat from President Donald Trump to approve defense legislation that would remove the names of Confederate officers from American military bases such as Fort Bragg and Fort Benning. The Senate approved the annual policy measure, 86-14, a margin that suggests more than enough support to override a potential Trump veto. The White House said in a statement this week that it supports the overall spending figure but expressed serious concerns about the House bill, including the mandate on base renaming. President Trump is deploying dangerous authoritarian tactics on our streets as a twisted campaign strategy,'' Merkley said in a statement explaining his vote against the defense bill. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., called Merkley's proposal nothing more than "political messaging ... designed to exploit violence in the streets for political gain and defeat President Trump.''

Federal officers deployed tear gas and fired less-lethal rounds into a crowd of protesters late Thursday. The actions came just hours after the head of the Department of Homeland Security called the protesters violent anarchists. Federal agents, some wearing camouflage and some wearing dark Homeland Security uniforms, used tear gas at least twice to break up crowds late Friday night, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said Friday night she was also suing Homeland Security and the Marshals Service. Federal officers deployed tear gas again just before midnight after a few protesters placed dismantled fencing in front of plywood doors covering the entrance of the federal courthouse.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), flanked by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (not pictured) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) (not pictured) holds a news conference following the weekly Senate party caucus luncheons at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 10, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer, on Tuesday said that President Donald Trumps recent promise to release the transcript of a phone call believed to be at the heart of a whistleblower complaint about Trump was not enough. We need the complaint, Schumer said. Simply to release the transcript is not going to come close.

REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday called on Senate Republicans to issue a subpoena for a whistleblower complaint from an unidentified U.S. government official and demand a transcript of President Donald Trumps July 25 call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. It is the Senates duty - duty - to take this national security matter seriously and investigate now. Senate Republicans have the sole power and the overwhelming responsibility to see that it does, Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor. He also said the Republican-controlled Senate should determine which administration officials directed security assistance for Ukraine to be delayed. Schumer said he made his request for a Senate investigation in a letter to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.