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@ISIDEWITH submitted…4wks4W
The Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a defense policy bill directing $895 billion toward the Pentagon and other military activities, moving over the objections of some Democrats who opposed a provision added late in the negotiations that would deny coverage for transgender health procedures for minors.The 85-to-14 vote, coming a week after a divided House passed the same measure, cleared the bill for President Biden’s signature.Most Republicans and many Democrats supported the measure, which provides a 14.5 percent pay raise to junior enlisted service members and a 4.5 percent pay raise for all other service members. It also expands access to meal assistance, housing and child care programs that benefit those in uniform.But several Democrats withheld their backing in protest of a provision preventing TRICARE, the military’s health care plan for service members, from covering “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization” for children under 18.The language, which would affect the gender-transitioning children of service members, was recently added to the measure at the insistence of Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, who refused to bring a defense bill to the House floor without it, according to aides familiar with the negotiations.Twenty-one Democrats, led by Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, proposed an amendment to strip the provision from the bill, but the matter was never brought to a vote. Several of them took to the floor on Tuesday to lodge their objections.“It’s flat-out wrong to put this provision in this bill and take away a service member’s freedom to make that decision for their families,” Ms. Baldwin said, estimating that the provision could negatively affect as many as 6,000 to 7,000 military families.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…5 days5D
The world breached 1.5C of warming last year for the first time, top international agencies said, as an “extraordinary” spike in the global average temperature sparked fears that climate change is accelerating faster than expected. Europe’s Copernicus observation agency confirmed on Friday that 2024…
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…7 days7D
The Los Angeles Fire Department had its budget cut by a staggering $17.6 million this financial year, records show — as fire crews continue to battle out-of-control blazes ravaging the City of Angels.The drastic decrease in funding for the fire department was the second-largest cut to come out of embattled Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass‘ 2024-25 fiscal year budget, according to city figures.The police budget, meanwhile, increased by $126 million, a graphic shared by LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia shows.Bass had initially wanted to cut the fire department by even more — a staggering $23 million.The details on Bass’ budget slashing resurfaced as the mayor faced widespread backlash Wednesday after it was revealed she was away in Africa for the Ghana president’s inauguration — even as wind-whipped wildfires turned parts of her city into an apocalyptic hellscape.In her absence, Bass found time to praise firefighters and other emergency crews for working “overnight to protect Angelenos affected by fires.”“Angelenos should be advised that the windstorm is expected to worsen through the morning and to heed local warnings, stay vigilant and stay safe,” Bass said in a post on X.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…2 days2D
The Biden administration announced a new round of student loan forgiveness on Monday, extending relief to an additional 150,000 borrowers and bringing the total number of beneficiaries during Biden's term to over 5 million. The latest wave of debt relief targets three specific groups: 85,000 people who were defrauded by their educational institutions, 61,000 borrowers with permanent or total disabilities, and 6,100 public service workers.The total cost of student loan forgiveness under the Biden administration has now reached $183.6 billion. This record-breaking amount of relief was achieved through significant reforms to both the Borrower Defense program and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The PSLF program alone has helped over 1 million borrowers during Biden's term, compared to just 7,000 before his administration.Education Secretary Miguel Cardona emphasized the administration's commitment to making the system more accountable to both students and taxpayers. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal highlighted how the program has helped various groups, including public servants, disabled individuals, those defrauded by their colleges, and long-term borrowers who have made payments for decades.The announcement comes as the administration prepares for the transition to President-elect Trump, with officials noting that federal efforts on student loan relief are likely to slow down after the change in leadership. While the administration celebrated reaching this milestone of helping 5 million borrowers, officials declined to specify whether additional relief would be announced before Biden leaves office next week.The program represents a fulfillment of Biden's campaign promise to address issues in the student loan system, with Cardona noting that the achievement surpasses that of any previous administration in history.
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Biden has been to enough presidential and vice-presidential funerals over the years to know what tweaks and specifics he’ll want for his own.Still, an uncomfortable thought has circulated among some Biden aides and longtime supporters in the days since Carter died: If Biden passes while Trump is president, would he get a state funeral? Trump has already railed against the flags set to still be at half-staff through his inauguration – would he lower them for the only person who ever beat him, or would he decline to like he initially did when Arizona Sen. John McCain died in 2018? They hope Biden lives a long time, but, several of those aides and supporters told CNN, they want him to live to see the end of Trump’s time as president and not have to worry about questions like these.Trump, who again criticized Carter in his press conference on Tuesday, will also be in Washington for the funeral, after briefly paying his respects to the coffin during a visit to the Capitol on Wednesday evening. If he and Biden speak there, it will be their first in-person conversation since Biden welcomed him to the Oval Office post-election, and one of their few conversations ever overall.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…1 day1D
When JD Vance, his wife Usha and their three young children move into the Naval Observatory residence on Jan. 20, it will be their first time inside the white Queen Anne-style mansion that has been home to vice presidents since the 1970s.Vice President Kamala Harris has not extended an invitation for a formal sit-down or tour, multiple Democratic and Republican sources told CBS News.In November, Usha Vance, via intermediaries, reached out to staff for the home's current occupants, Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, seeking details including what they would need to childproof it. Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel Vance are all under the age of eight.The questions were initially rebuffed by a Harris political appointee. But there has since been communication between the Vance team and Navy aides who oversee the residence. Before Christmas, Navy officials provided an overview of the house to discuss the layout of the residence, logistics and practicalities of the move-in, and to help answer any questions the Vances had, a person familiar with the call said.Usha Vance spoke with Emhoff for about 40 minutes last week, sources said. Harris sources said that arrangements are underway to accommodate the Vance children.Spokespeople for Vance and Harris declined to comment. But people close to Harris say she was never afforded an opportunity to visit the home before she was sworn in in 2021. However, she took office during the COVID outbreak, just after the Capitol riot — and Donald Trump had refused to admit he had been defeated in the election.Advisers to then-Vice President Mike Pence dispute that an invitation was never offered. They say he quietly gave Harris and Emhoff a chance to visit in the waning days of the Trump administration. The invitation came discreetly because Trump resisted accommodating the incoming administration. No formal sit-down between Pence and Harris ever took place, Democratic and Republican sources said. People close to Harris defended her decision not to invite Vance to visit, a tradition that was broken during the Trump-Pence administration. Harris' team has been focused on an overseas trip that was canceled and on the California wildfires.In 2016, then-Vice President Biden and his wife Jill hosted the Pences at the Northwest Washington residence not long after the election.
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