Category: News Article

Democrats ground the Senate to a halt on Wednesday, forcing Republicans to abruptly end or postpone committee hearings in protest of President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.   On Wednesday morning, Minority Whip Dick Durbin — the number-two Senate Democrat — said that the Senate is currently facing an important “constitutional question” and made the unusual move of preventing the Senate from holding committee hearings, where senators research and debate bills, and conduct oversight of federal agencies.   Durbin cited Comey’s firing when he objected to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s request to allow 13 committees

Grant money for a college preparation program that helps people from low-income families appears to still be in limbo. In March, the U.S. Department of Education ruled some Upward Bound applications, including the one from the University of Montana, ineligible for funding due to minor formatting errors. For example, UM failed to double-space one page, the budget page, out of a total of 65 pages. UM resubmitted its application with correct formatting, and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, has been a leading voice calling on the federal agency to reconsider grant requests based on substance, not spacing. U.S. Sen.

Hanna Harris was killed on July 4, 2013, and since then, her family has been working to raise awareness of the issue of missing and murdered Native American women around the country. This week, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution marking May 5th as National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. The day is in honor of Hanna, on what would have been her 25th birthday, and the hundreds of other missing or murdered Native women around the country. “This is a very big day for the family because it turned into a national day of

Family and friends gathered at Malmstrom Air Force Base Friday to welcome home the last returning airmen of the 819th RED HORSE unit. Around 70 airmen returned to Great Falls after being deployed to the Middle East for around six months. “They’ve been in Jordan, they’ve been in Afghanistan, they’ve been in Iraq, in fact they were there in the Mosul area making preparations for the offensive here as we’re working to eradicate ISIS; so this unit right here in Montana is tied directly to what’s going on as we’re combating terrorism around the world and could not be more proud of them,”

Late last month, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced plans to begin placing duties on softwood lumber imports from Canada, a move many in the statewide industry hope will bring Canadian producers to the table to renegotiate a new trade deal after the last agreement expired in 2015. Following a one-year grace period after the softwood lumber agreement’s sunset, the U.S. Lumber Coalition last November filed petitions with the department and the U.S. International Trade Commission, requesting the tariffs and alleging that cheap Canadian lumber products flowing across the border were the result of unfair subsidies by the Canadian government.

LAME DEER — Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., called Friday on law enforcement to better respond to cases involving murdered and missing Native American women. As part of an awareness march in Lame Deer Friday, Daines walked alongside Melinda Harris, mother of Billings West High School graduate Hanna Harris, who was killed in 2013 age 21. Melinda Harris reported her daughter missing when she didn’t come home after celebrating on July 4, 2013. Bureau of Indian Affairs investigators notified the FBI about the case four days later, and Harris’ body was found the next day. Her body was too decomposed for a cause

LAME DEER – Hanna Harris was killed on July 4, 2013 and since then, her family has been working to bring awareness to the issue of missing and murdered Native American women around the country.   This week, the Senate passed a resolution marking May 5 as National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.   The day is in honor of Hanna, on what would have been her 25th birthday, and the hundreds of other missing or murdered Native women around the country.   “This is a very big day for the family because it

After legislation that could spell the end for Medicaid expansion in states like Montana cleared the U.S. House on a close vote, some are calling on Montana’s senators to defeat a Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The Montana Budget and Policy Center, a nonprofit that researches budget, tax and economic issues, said Thursday the revised version of the American Health Care Act would effectively end Medicaid expansion in Montana, which has extended coverage to more than 70,000 people. “The bill passed by the US House of Representatives is even worse for Montanans and our state

The Senate voted Thursday to approve a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September, preventing a government shutdown.   President Trump is expected to sign the measure, which passed 79 to 18. It includes more than $15 billion in new defense spending and $1.5 billion in money for U.S. border security, ahead of a deadline to keep the government open past Friday.   The five-month spending measure clears the way for Congress to begin talks over spending priorities for the fiscal year that begins in October. Trump has already outlined a request for GOP lawmakers to slash

Vice President Mike Pence called a House vote set for Thursday to repeal and replace portions of Obamacare as “one of the defining victories for life.” “When we vote to repeal and replace Obamacare we will finally vote to defund Planned Parenthood,” Pence said to a standing ovation. Pence was speaking at the 10th anniversary “Campaign for Life” gala in Washington, held by Susan B. Anthony List, an organization that lobbies in favor of abortion restrictions. Roughly 650 guest gathered for the event. The bill the House is voting on Thursday to repeal and replace parts of Obamacare, the American