Democrats

Politico reports: When Sen. Joe Manchin upbraided EPA on Wednesday for requiring power plants to reduce their carbon emissions, he didn’t mention that the agency’s rules could threaten his personal income. The West Virginia Democrat vowed to oppose Biden’s EPA nominees because the agency’s rules being proposed Thursday could push coal- and gas-fired power plants “out of existence,” he said. …

The Associated Press reports: Officials in Missouri’s largest city are moving to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state officials who are intent on banning it for minors and restricting it for adults. A Kansas City Council committee approved such a resolution Wednesday. The full council will now consider it Thursday. The council members …

AlterNet reports: A Democratic candidate is taking aim at Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) in hopes of unseating the embattled lawmaker. With a video that highlighted the ongoing controversies Santos is currently entangled in, Kaplan shared her reason for running for office as she emphasized what her main objective is. “George Santos is a disgrace,” the ad begins. It also offered …

Bloomberg News reports: Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein returned to the Capitol Wednesday, navigating the building in a wheelchair and voting for the first time in nearly three months. The 89-year-old lawmaker’s extended absence while recovering from shingles stalled a handful of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees and prompted calls by several prominent progressives for her resignation. Senate Democratic leader Chuck …

Politico reports: President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he was “considering” the use of the 14th amendment as a means to circumvent the debt ceiling standoff he currently finds himself in with House Republicans. But he cast some doubt on whether it could work, saying it would “have to be litigated and in the meantime without an extension it’d still …

NBC News reports: California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is returning to the Senate after a nearly three-month absence due to health problems, according to a spokesperson for the senator. Feinstein is expected to cast a vote Wednesday — her first recorded vote since Feb. 16 — after missing 91 floor votes while recovering from shingles, according to an NBC News tally. …

The Texas Tribune reports: In a surprise move days after the Allen mall shooting and hours before a key legislative deadline, a Texas House committee advanced a bill Monday that would raise the minimum age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles. The bill faces an uphill climb to becoming state law, but the vote marked a milestone for the proposal that …

The Hill reports: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday said the “tangled web” around Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is facing criticism over his financial disclosures, “just gets worse.” “This tangled web around Justice Clarence Thomas just gets worse and worse by the day. I don’t know what’s going to come up next. I thought I’d heard it all, …

From the editorial board of the New York Times: Without Senator Dianne Feinstein, there might never have been an assault weapons ban in 1994. Or the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994. Or the revelatory report on the C.I.A.’s torture program in 2014. She has had a distinguished career in the U.S. Senate, but her infirmities and illness now force her …

Congress Minutes reports: Senate HELP Chair Bernie Sanders is escalating his push to raise the minimum wage even as moderate Democrats double down on past concerns with the effort. Details: The Vermont independent rolled out a new bill Thursday that would hike the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour over five years. It’s a step up from his last …

Bloomberg News reports: Jill Biden has celebrated the athleticism of wounded service members with Prince Harry, discussed the value of early childhood education with Princess Kate and sipped tea poured by Queen Elizabeth II. Now the first lady is back in London for another royal engagement. President Joe Biden has dispatched his wife to represent the United States at Saturday’s …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: After five days of behind-the-scenes drama and deliberations, jurors found former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum not guilty of lying to the FBI about a “Hamilton” ticket and other gifts he got from undercover FBI agents in New York. They deadlocked on the most serious charges against Gillum, the 2018 Democratic nominee for governor, and his co-defendant, …

Time Magazine reports: Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, will spend the rest of the month deciding whether he will run for U.S. Senate, in what is already shaping up to be a crowded primary battle to replace outgoing Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. “After five months of chemo, I am taking the month of May to seriously investigate the 2024 …

Axios reports: Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) on Wednesday announced his candidacy to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), adding to a potentially hotly contested Democratic primary. Trone, a three-term House member and co-founder of Total Wine & More, has a personal fortune and electoral record that could make him a serious contender for the seat. Trone is one of the …

Politico reports: Illinois is poised to become the first state to punish public institutions that ban books. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has said he supports a House bill that would withhold state funding from any of the state’s 1,600 public or school libraries that remove books from their shelves. It passed in the Illinois Senate on Wednesday, and Pritzker is …

Axios reports: Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) on Wednesday announced his bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2024. Allred is the highest-profile Democrat vying to unseat Cruz, who is one of just a handful of potentially vulnerable Senate Republicans up for reelection this cycle. In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, Allred took aim at Cruz’s support …

The Associated Press reports: Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the transgender state lawmaker silenced after telling Republicans they would have blood on their hands for opposing gender-affirming health care for kids, was barred from returning to the Montana House floor in a Tuesday court ruling that came just hours before the Legislature wrapped up its biennial session. District Court Judge Mike Menahan …

First, a reminder about yesterday’s evil bitches: Republicans moved to sideline Zephyr further by canceling some meetings of the two committees on which she serves and moving the bills they were to hear to other committees, Democrats said. She spent the first day of her exile last week battling to use a bench in a statehouse hallway. Her key card …

Axios reports: President Biden has called the four House and Senate leaders proposing a May 9 meeting on the debt ceiling. The Department of the Treasury and Congressional Budget Office said Monday the U.S. may stop being able to pay off its debts as soon as early June – a startlingly short timeline to reach a resolution. Senate Majority Leader …

Gothamist reports: Anna Kaplan, a former Democratic state senator from Long Island, has filed paperwork to challenge embattled Republican Congressman George Santos in 2024. Kaplan, 57, submitted a “statement of candidacy” on Monday morning with the Federal Election Commission, a move that acknowledges that she is raising money for a campaign to represent the district that includes parts of northeastern …