Politics and Government News

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Pete Buttigieg confirmed as transportation secretary
The 39-year-old former South Bend, Ind. mayor is both the first openly gay man confirmed to a Cabinet position and the youngest member of President Joe Biden's Cabinet.
House Dems make case for conviction; Trump denies charges
House Democrats say Donald Trump endangered the lives of all members of Congress when he aimed a mob of supporters "like a loaded cannon" at the U.S. Capitol. They made the argument in a legal brief Tuesday that makes their most detailed case yet for why the former president should be convicted and permanently barred from office.
Hundreds of Myanmar lawmakers under house arrest after coup
Hundreds of members of Myanmar's Parliament were under house arrest Tuesday, confined to their government housing complex and guarded by soldiers a day after the military seized power in a coup and detained senior politicians including the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Biden signs 3 immigration executive orders; activists want more
President Joe Biden signed three executive orders on Tuesday that he said would lead to a more "fair, orderly, humane" immigration system, including one that would begin the difficult process of reuniting migrant children separated from their parents after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
How poverty makes workers less productive
A new study adds to the growing mountain of evidence that says that poverty impairs people's ability to think.
GOP's McConnell blasts 'loony lies' by Ga. Rep. Greene
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell is blasting newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, calling the far-right Georgia Republican’s embrace of conspiracy theories and “loony lies” a “cancer for the Republican Party.”
Biden meets Republicans as Democrats push on for virus aid
President Joe Biden has met with a group of Republican senators who have proposed a slimmed down $618 billion coronavirus aid package, about a third of what he's seeking. The Republicans propose fewer benefits, including $1,000 in direct payments to individuals earning up to $40,000 a year, or $80,000 for couples. 
The growing threat of right-wing extremism 
Emboldened by years of support from the president and encouraged by millions of Americans joining the disinformation whirlpool, far-right extremist groups are growing in number and in danger.
Legal cannabis bill returns with prospects still hazy
Minnesota House Democrats have again introduced legislation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, but it is unlikely to move in the Republican Senate.
Meatpacking companies, OSHA face investigation over coronavirus in plants
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis is seeking documents from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as three of the country's largest meatpacking companies.