Author: Reilly Lowery

President Donald Trump outright denied former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a press conference Friday afternoon, forcing a question many GOP lawmakers don’t want to answer: do they trust Trump or Comey? “No, I didn’t say that, and I didn’t say the other,” Trump defiantly told reporters Friday afternoon. When asked if he would dispute Comey’s claims under oath, Trump answered, “100 percent.” During the hearing, Comey repeated his allegations that Trump asked him for his loyalty and later asked him to let former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn off the hook under oath. Directly

Unanimous huckleberries to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, to celebrate this week’s unanimous Senate passage of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. Tester, a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, was a lead sponsor of the legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs’ process for reviewing complaints about VA employees. The bill is meant to allow the VA more freedom to fire those who perform poorly, while also providing for more protection for those who call attention to problems and better training for VA leadership. In these increasingly partisan times, it’s encouraging to see bipartisan agreement on anything. U.S. Sen.

Unanimous huckleberries to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, to celebrate this week’s unanimous Senate passage of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. Tester, a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, was a lead sponsor of the legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs’ process for reviewing complaints about VA employees. The bill is meant to allow the VA more freedom to fire those who perform poorly, while also providing for more protection for those who call attention to problems and better training for VA leadership. In these increasingly partisan times, it’s encouraging to see bipartisan agreement on anything. U.S. Sen.

Nine blows of the original Granite Mountain whistle sounded Thursday night to break a moment of silence for the lives lost in the 1917 fire at the Granite Mountain and Speculator mines. Nine whistles meant that an uncontrollable fire was burning in the mine. Some in the crowd at the memorial site wore T-shirts commemorating the anniversary of the Granite Mountain-Speculator Mine fire of June 8, 1917, which remains the worst disaster in hard-rock mining history 100 years later. Hard-rock miners Larry Hoffman and Matt Krattiger wore helmets with carbide lamps, their open flames jumping and flickering in the breeze.

Montana’s U.S. senators both honored the victims and survivors of the Granite Mountain-Speculator mine disaster with statements on the Senate floor and in the Congressional Record. On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines read a Senate proclamation “meant to recognize the strength of those Montanans who sacrificed their lives in support our nation’s military work in World War I, as well as those who jumped to help a fallen brother without question.” He added, “One hundred years after this tragedy, we are also reminded of how far we have come in hard rock mining. Jobs that were once seen as high

The U.S. Forest Service’s proposed 2018 budget presents its public and private observers with lots of rebuilding work to do. On Wednesday, Montana’s Democratic and Republican senators both challenged Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell to replace or re-energize programs slashed in President Donald Trump’s preliminary budget plan. And more locally, Forest Service partners have started bracing for dramatic losses of funding. “This budget is a wreck,” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana told Tidwell during a hearing before the Senate Interior Appropriations Committee. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, pressed Tidwell for stronger efforts to get national forest timber into local sawmills and maintain

U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) railed against bullying and sexual harassment in the National Park system—specifically in Yellowstone National Park. Earlier this year, investigators from the U.S. Department of the Interior released a report alleging “credible evidence” of sexual harassment in the Yellowstone workforce, especially in the maintenance division. The report came after allegations surfaced across the National Park system. Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk has promised broad changes to how the park handles harassment, acknowledging that problems are “not limited to one unit of Yellowstone National Park.” According to the Billings Gazette, Daines voiced his comments during a subcommittee hearing about workplace problems in the National Park Service. “As a son, husband and father of

U.S. Senator Steve Daines announced 20 Montana airports, including those in Cut Bank, Shelby and Conrad, have received $8,989,592.00 in funding for critical upgrades and maintenance. “Montana’s community airports play a critical role in connecting our state,” Daines stated. “Every single dollar makes a huge difference to keeping our rural airports reliable and ready to use.” Daines secured the following provisions in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization: Airport Improvement Program (AIP) dollars which build and maintain Montana’s critical aviation infrastructure such as runways. Daines has also engaged the FAA to expedite grants to northern states with short construction seasons. The funding