In the News
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is proposing that President Trump and the two chambers of Congress each appoint mediators to collaborate to end the partial government shutdown.
Khanna told the news network Cheddar that he "floated" the idea of having Trump, the House and the Senate each hire two independent experts to negotiate proposals.
"Put them in a room, six votes, and have them come up with proposals that are going to be 6-0," he said.
He added that arbitrators and mediators "do this all the time."
Congress is expected to make an unprecedented challenge to Donald Trump's authority to take the US into a war in the coming weeks, with a bipartisan measure calling for the end of US military involvement in the Yemen conflict.
IN THE FIRST major strike since the U.S. Supreme Court struck a blow to public-sector unions last June, more than 30,000 Los Angeles public school teachers took to the rainy streets Monday to launch the LA teachers union's first labor stoppage in 30 years. It's the seventh major teacher protest over the last year, but unlike their counterparts in Arizona, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, the Los Angeles teachers are not striking against austere Republican state legislatures.
Los Angeles public school teachers went on strike on Monday after 20 months of failed negotiations for higher pay, greater school funding and more support staff.
THE HOUSE OF Representatives plans to vote in January on a new War Powers Resolution introduced by California Rep. Ro Khanna that would effectively end U.S. military intervention on behalf of Saudi Arabia in the Yemeni civil war.
But the president's back-to-back announcements Wednesday and Thursday that American troops would be leaving Syria and Afghanistan has broadened the focus of de-escalation efforts — motivating progressive Democrats in the House to work on legislation that would ensure that withdrawal doesn't worsen conditions in the region.
Progressives were on the march in 2018. They weren't just resisting Trump; they were outlining the alternative to Trumpism.
n its first act next January, the new House is scheduled to take up the most important civil rights bill in half a century. The bill signals a profoundly comprehensive understanding of the flaws that have evolved within our democracy. That it is scheduled first screams a recognition that these flaws must be fixed first, if we're to have a Congress that is free to do the other critically important work that Congress must do.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS OF Vermont would seek to raise gobs of money early, with designs on amassing north of $275 million for a primary campaign.
For a significantly lesser known Midwest mayor, like 36-year-old Pete Buttigieg, a haul of just a few million dollars in a quarter would be notable.
As a fleet of potential Democratic presidential candidates calculate how much money they can – and will need to – raise for a prospective 2020 run, they're also confronting a new reality that where their money comes from could factor almost as greatly as how much they collect.
An international conflict group reported this week that casualties from the war in Yemen has surpassed 60,000 since 2016, the Associated Press reports.
Where things stand: While the war rages on and the death toll climbs, Washington is divided. It's a clear struggle between those in Congress who believe a message must be sent to Saudi Arabia, and the president, who has refused to break from the Saudis.
In the Senate...
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.):
House Democrats have backed off a proposed rule that would have made it more difficult for them to raise taxes and pass their most ambitious goals, an early victory for the left-flank of the party that is about to take control of the House.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), incoming chair of the House Rules Committee, told lawmakers Tuesday he will not advance "supermajority" rules requiring three-fifths majorities to approve tax hikes for most taxpayers, according to Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.