Political News

Republicans In U.S. Senate Form Group To Study Restructuring The CDC

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/17/2025 - 2:00am

WASHINGTON — Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy launched a working group on Wednesday that will look at ways to overhaul the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cassidy, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, or HELP, Committee, wrote in the announcement that the group of seven Republicans would draft legislation at some point to restructure the agency.

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‘Not Normal’: Democratic Mayoral Hopeful Irked That Party Leaders Communicated With Gop Challenger

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/10/2025 - 7:00am

A mail advertisement paid for by the Nebraska Democratic Party that compares Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert to President Donald Trump. The ad landed in mailboxes in late February, weeks after Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb shared it with the campaign manager of Mike McDonnell, Stothert’s top Republican challenger.
(via Flatwater Free Press)

Nebraska Democratic leaders shared an ad attacking Republican Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert with the campaign manager of her only Republican mayoral challenger weeks before they sent it to voters, according to emails posted online.

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Trump Boasts ‘America’s Momentum Is Back’ In Address To Congress As Dems Protest, Boycott

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/10/2025 - 5:00am

President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, as Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., listen.
(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP Photo)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump touted his administration’s accomplishments after just 43 days in office and the need for billions in federal funds to enact his campaign promise of mass deportations during his first address to a joint session of Congress since returning to the White House.

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How DOGE’s Cuts To The IRS Threaten To Cost More Than DOGE Will Ever Save

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/10/2025 - 4:00am

How DOGE’s Cuts to the IRS Threaten to Cost More Than DOGE Will Ever Save

by Andy Kroll

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

Dave Nershi was finalizing a report he’d worked on for months when an ominous email appeared in his inbox.

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State Public Incentive And Streetcar Project Fire Up Omaha Mayoral Race

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/03/2025 - 7:00am

The Midtown Crossing redevelopment was among Omaha tax-increment financing-assisted projects reviewed by an accounting and advisory firm the city paid $20,000 to produce a report. This view looks west near 31st and Farnam Streets along the spine of the retail and residential area.
(Cindy Gonzalez / Nebraska Examiner)

OMAHA — Omaha’s use, or potential overuse, of a longstanding, Legislature-approved incentive to help revive blighted areas again fired up the mayor’s race in Nebraska’s largest city.

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That $5,000 Check From Elon Musk? Don’t Spend It Quite Yet.

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/03/2025 - 5:00am

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, claims American taxpayers could receive a $5,000 refund from the federal government — despite no apparent support in Congress, which controls the nation’s purse strings.

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Trump Sees 'A Thirst' For His 'Gold Card' Visa Idea With $5 Million Potential Path To US Citizenship

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/03/2025 - 4:00am

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he plans to start selling a “gold card” visa with a potential pathway to U.S. citizenship for $5 million, seeking to have that new initiative replace a 35-year-old visa program for investors.

“I happen to think it’ll sell like crazy. It’s a market,” Trump said. “But we’ll know very soon.”

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Trump Administration Says It's Cutting 90% Of USAID Foreign Aid Contracts

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/03/2025 - 3:00am

Demonstrators protest against cuts to American foreign aid spending, including USAID and the PEPFAR program to combat HIV/AIDS, at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Washington.
(Mark Schiefelbein / AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said it is eliminating more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world, putting numbers on its plans to eliminate the majority of U.S. development and humanitarian help abroad.

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North Korea Appears To Have Sent More Troops To Russia To Back Its War Against Ukraine, Seoul Says

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/03/2025 - 2:00am

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s spy agency said Thursday that North Korea appears to have sent additional troops to Russia, after its soldiers deployed on the Russian-Ukraine fronts suffered heavy casualties.

The National Intelligence Service said in a brief statement it was trying to determine exactly how many more troops North Korea has deployed to Russia.

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Pillen Visits Cruiser Of McAcy, State Trooper Who Died In Line Of Duty

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 02/24/2025 - 7:00am

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and First Lady Suzanne Pillen pay their respects at the cruiser of fallen Nebraska State Patrol trooper Kyle McAcy in the Troop A Headquarters parking lot in Omaha.
(Courtesy of the Governor’s Office)

OMAHA — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen ordered flags to be flown at half-staff on Feb. 27 for the funeral of Nebraska State Patrol trooper Kyle McAcy, who died Monday while responding to a wreck along Interstate 80 between Ashland and Greenwood.