In the News

There were tense moments in a House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday, where executives from the world's biggest oil and gas companies took questions about their role in the climate crisis. It's the first time all were testifying together.

In April 1994, seven top tobacco CEOs testified to Congress that they didn't believe nicotine was addictive. Two years later, they were all under federal investigation for potentially lying under oath and no longer leading their embattled cigarette companies.

Democrats believe the oil industry and trade association leaders appearing tomorrow at a high-profile hearing on climate change disinformation could meet a similar fate.

A group of congressional Democrats said Wednesday that they plan to work with Paris Hilton to create new regulations to prevent the abuse of children in facilities for troubled teens.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he is drafting legislation that would give children in youth facilities the right to call their parents, be free from restraints, and have access to clean drinking water and nutritional meals — none of which is currently ensured for thousands of children in these facilities nationwide.

For weeks, President Biden has met repeatedly with Democratic lawmakers as part of the tortuous negotiations over his agenda — but to the frustration of many, he has revealed few opinions of his own on what should remain in the plan and what should be jettisoned.

This week, however, Biden is doing something new: getting specific and plunging into details, telling lawmakers exactly what he thinks needs to go into the package that could define his presidency.

What happened: She pioneered the modern reality TV show, but Paris Hilton broke sober new ground Wednesday. The celeb implored Congress to do more to address what she described as systemic physical, sexual and emotional abuse at residential children's treatment centers around the country. Hilton said, during her time in these centers, she endured strangulation, male staff watching her shower, no access to the outdoors and forced medication, among other abuse.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., reiterated calls to drastically up government funding levels for technology-driving research and development—and to form a new executive branch agency with a focus on innovation.

Legislation introduced by the Silicon Valley congressman on Friday includes proposals that would affect multiple federal agencies and stand up the Federal Institute of Technology. Deemed FIT for short, that institute would be a portion of lawmakers' broader aims to make technology-centered investments, particularly in rural areas.

Congressional investigators are planning to question an Exxon Mobil Corp. lobbyist who inadvertently confirmed a decadeslong effort by the company to derail federal action on climate change in a secretly recorded video, according to officials involved in the effort.

The interview by the House Oversight and Reform Committee will likely precede what stands to be a blockbuster hearing with Exxon CEO Darren Woods and other executives of major oil and gas producers.

A new bipartisan cybersecurity measure, headed for the House floor, would allow experts to rotate through different federal agencies in order to create a consistent attack response across government, Rep. Ro Khanna told CNBC on Wednesday.

It's supposed to attract "the best talent" into the federal government, the California Democrat said on "Squawk Box," appearing with fellow co-author of the bill Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace.