Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a coalition of 21 states in filing an amicus brief supporting President Donald Trump’s decision to reduce the workforce at the Department of Education, a move aimed at returning more educational authority to state governments. The brief was filed on Monday in the case State of New York v. Read More…
The Wyoming Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday regarding the classification of abortion as healthcare, a case that could significantly impact the future of abortion access in the state. The state is challenging a Teton County judge’s ruling that abortion is a form of healthcare, arguing that laws passed in 2023, which could impose a near-total Read More…
Governor Kelly Armstrong signed Senate Bill 2214 into law today, officially approving the merger of the North Dakota Securities Department into the North Dakota Insurance Department. The consolidation aims to streamline regulatory oversight of the state’s financial services industry. Under the new law, regulatory authority will be unified under the elected insurance commissioner. The merger Read More…
Two bills aimed at laying the groundwork for a nuclear energy industry in Montana have passed the state legislature and are awaiting the governor’s signature. House Bill 623 would permit the establishment of nuclear waste storage facilities in the state. This measure aligns with national Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements, which mandate that nuclear power plants Read More…
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who is running as a Democratic Senate candidate in a tight race rated a toss-up by the Cook Political Report, filled his 25-member coronavirus task force with several high-dollar donors who then informed his administration how to distribute more than $1 billion in federal stimulus aid, records reviewed by Fox News show. The task force, known Read More…
Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and his Democratic challenger, Gov. Steve Bullock, are arming up for Montana’s most expensive, high-profile battle of 2020 – a marquee race that could decide control of the U.S. Senate. But in some of their first remarks after the June 2 primary, both men also are aiming for the political Read More…
HELENA — As the 2020 general-election race for Montana governor gets under way, Republican candidate Greg Gianforte’s campaign has accumulated almost four times the money of his Democratic competitor, Mike Cooney – but that total includes $1.5 million of Gianforte’s own money. Gianforte reported Monday that his campaign has raised about $3.83 million through June Read More…
Executive and legislative relationships could be set back as a result of Gov. Doug Burgum’s hefty donations to a political group that successfully targeted a powerful fellow Republican in the June election, according to a top House lawmaker. Burgum disputes that he’s done anything out of the ordinary and denies having a rocky relationship Read More…
The latest Big Sky Poll from the University of Montana just finished up a year-long investigation with nearly 1,000 respondents in an attempt to understand how and why individuals participate in civic engagement. More than 40% of participants were young people in Montana, including the unique perspective of Native American youth in the state. Sarah Rinfret is Read More…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans unveiled proposed changes to police procedures and accountability Wednesday including an enhanced use-of-force database, restrictions on chokeholds and new commissions to study law enforcement and race, according to a draft obtained by The Associated Press. The “Justice Act” is the most ambitious GOP policing proposal in years, a direct response Read More…
Masks have become the norm inside the House of Representatives, where some politicians now embrace the novel coronavirus precaution with colorful odes to their home districts. But there are holdouts: A small group of Republican representatives who have consistently declined to wear face coverings in Congress. Now, as nine states hit record highs for infections, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is Read More…
AOC is going AWOL for the city’s only in-person debate ahead of next week’s Democratic Party primary. First-term Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Queens/Bronx) plans to skip out on a face-to-face showdown with three challengers Wednesday, her office told The Post. Ironically, the Parkchester Times-sponsored debate is the same one the previous incumbent, 10-term Rep. Joseph Crowley, shirked Read More…
The United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was at the Forest Service Smokejumper Center on Friday to sign a stewardship memorandum that contained a blueprint to modernize the U.S. Forest Service. Perdue outlines aspects of the agreement officially signed on Friday. “It increases productivity,” said Secretary Perdue. “These are renewable resources. We are Read More…
The Montana Speaker of the House has denied a request from a national watchdog group to investigate potential ethics violations by a Republican state lawmaker from Gallatin County. The Campaign for Accountability asked Rep. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, to look into Rep. Kerry White for breaking state law by serving as a legislator while also working as Read More…
(Bloomberg) — Kamala Harris is on even stronger footing in Joe Biden’s search for a running mate as he faces intensifying pressure to choose a black woman in the middle of a national debate over race. Harris has long been near the top of Biden’s list but as other candidates slip in the eyes of Read More…
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Thursday to authorize 53 subpoenas in connection with an investigation into the origins of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. The afternoon vote along party lines grants the committee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the authority to issue the subpoenas, Read More…
Minneapolis (CNN)Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council on Sunday announced they intend to defund and dismantle the city’s police department following the police killing of George Floyd. “We committed to dismantling policing as we know it in the city of Minneapolis and to rebuild with our community a new model of public safety that actually Read More…
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio promised his staff that more NYPD officers will be disciplined over violent clashes with protesters throughout last week. In seeking to quell an uprising among city employees, some of whom are planning to rally against de Blasio on Monday morning, the mayor explained that he Read More…
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals extended its order Thursday blocking a lower court’s sweeping ruling that would have allowed all Texas voters to qualify to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic. With early voting for the primary runoff elections starting later this month — and the Texas Supreme Court also blocking Read More…
Illustrating the divide in the Democratic Party, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has endorsed 16-term incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx) after progressive darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez threw her weight behind his challenger, Jamaal Bowman. “I firmly support Eliot Engel for Congress and I support Alexandria for Congress as well,” Pelosi told reporters Thursday. “I think the people of Read More…
CHEYENNE — Governor Mark Gordon announced Thursday that Wyoming should expect a decline in economic activity this coming fiscal year and the years to follow. In a press release earlier Thursday, he said some businesses and mines may have to do layoffs, furloughs, salary reductions, benefit reductions, and consider other options as Wyoming could see revenue Read More…
President Donald J. Trump said on social media Friday that he would once again visit Montana, this time to help Sen. Steve Daines in his reelection bid in what is being touted as one of the most hotly contested U.S. Senate races in the country. Daines is running against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock in a race Read More…
Joe Biden’s choice of a running mate is getting more treacherous with each news cycle. Real-life events — from the outcry over the recent killing of black men in Minnesota and Georgia and a black woman in Kentucky to a mundane request for boating privileges in Michigan — are crashing into his already fraught decision Read More…
Montana is heading for a high-stakes battle between popular two-term Gov. Steve Bullock (D) and first-term Sen. Steve Daines (R) that could help determine control of the upper chamber. Though Montana has traditionally voted Republican in presidential elections — handing President Trump a 20-point victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 — it has split its votes for statewide offices, including electing Democratic Sen. Jon Read More…
Anthrax and poisoning have been ruled out as the cause of a rising number of unexplained elephant deaths in Botswana, the country with the world’s biggest population of the animals. Wildlife authorities have now discovered 110 carcasses in north west Botswana, up from the 56 announced earlier in May according to a government statement. “I Read More…
Waters, a Democrat from California who frequently launches wild attacks at Trump, told TMZ she thinks the Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin, who was filmed with his neck on Floyd’s knee, “enjoyed doing it.” Trump on Wednesday called the death “very sad and tragic”. Video from Monday night shows Chauvin holding Floyd, a 46-year-old who was suspected of using a forged check at a deli, down Read More…
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is publicly urging judges in their mid- to late 60s to consider stepping aside ahead of Election Day to help ensure that their seats could be filled by Republicans. Asked during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt if he knew if any judges would take “senior status,” a semi-retirement status that Read More…
Collapsing energy prices and the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to cost Wyoming up to $1.5 billion in revenues through June 2022, preliminary estimates released Tuesday show, setting the stage for steep budget cuts, new taxes, or a mix of both. In a preliminary report delivered Tuesday to members of the Legislature’s Joint Revenue Committee, Read More…
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) outraised Sen. Steve Daines (R) in the state’s high-profile Senate race as Democrats hope to score an upset. Bullock raised about $2.4 million in the first half of the second quarter and has about $4.1 million in the bank, according to his campaign’s latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. Daines raised $1.3 million and has a war Read More…
Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is elevating a longtime top political adviser to the president to the role of deputy campaign manager. Bill Stepien, who formerly served as White House political director and had been advising the reelection effort, will serve under Brad Parscale, who has been campaign manager since 2018. Those familiar with the decision, Read More…
A New Jersey-based company that sells caller ID spoofing services and the state of North Dakota are asking a federal judge to decide the fate of North Dakota’s new anti-spoofing law. Attorneys for both sides have filed motions in U.S. District Court asking the judge to decide the case based on their arguments, rather than Read More…
Three pieces of legislation providing relief from coronavirus impacts for businesses and renters in Wyoming were approved by the Legislature during its two-day special session. During the session, which ended Saturday, legislators approved bills authorizing Gov. Mark Gordon to spend $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds and specifying how some of the money will Read More…
Montana GOP Rep. Greg Gianforte voted against the $3 trillion COVID-19 package passed Friday by the House, saying it was “careless” and a liberal wish-list. The Associated Press reported that the 208-199 vote, with all but one Republican opposed, advances a campaign-season display of Democratic economic and health-care priorities. The bill, which would cost more than the four previous Read More…
Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Susan Good Geise said Friday she’s withdrawing from the race, because the Covid-19 pandemic will demand all her time as a Lewis and Clark County commissioner. Geise, who chairs the commission, said she thought the federal government would take the lead on responding to the crisis, but that the burden is Read More…
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will ask donors to give as much as $620,600 to support his White House bid and down-ballot candidates, dramatically expanding his fundraising capability to compete with President Trump’s big-money machine. The Biden Victory Fund, a committee that raises money with the Democratic National Committee, on Saturday filed an agreement that Read More…
Joe Biden’s shortlist for vice president is deep in Democratic talent, filled with governors, senators and former rivals for the presidential nomination. But one of the least-known among them is attracting an increasing amount of attention from Biden advisers, donors and Democrats in Congress — Val Demings. The presumptive nominee himself acknowledged her appeal after Read More…
Gov. Steve Bullock said during a Wednesday call with the press he believes the state will remain “financially strong” coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the state is in a better financial position than most other states. The governor said his office is predicting the state’s general fund balance will be $113 million Read More…
The coronavirus has altered yet another thing — ballot initiatives. Montana’s secretary of state has determined that MTCARES, the group behind a ballot initiative that would require 80% of the state’s energy come from renewable sources by 2034, can mail in non-notarized signatures to qualify for the November ballot. The decision came shortly after a Montana Read More…
(Bloomberg) — Michigan closed down its capitol in Lansing on Thursday and canceled its legislative session rather than face the possibility of an armed protest and death threats against Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The gathering, meant to advocate opening the state for business despite the coronavirus pandemic, followed one April 30 that resulted in pictures Read More…
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has been named the most bipartisan member of the Senate for the seventh year in a row by the Georgetown University and the Lugar Center, based on a voting index compiled by the two organizations. Collins, a Republican seeking her fifth term, is in what is expected to be her toughest Read More…
Idaho’s May 19 primary election will be the state’s first all-absentee-ballot election, a move to curb the spread of COVID-19. The Idaho Press partnered with the League of Women Voters to conduct candidate surveys for local races. Find their answers in the links below or do a ballot search using your home address at vote411.org. Tuesday, Read More…
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Before the coronavirus pandemic the state of South Dakota appeared to be able to afford to pay for historic new unemployment claims caused by an economic downturn, according to reports from the Federal Reserve in Minneapolis and the U.S. Department of Labor. But the state has reached historic new unemployment Read More…
WYOMING — The Wyoming State Legislature will convene for a special session on May 15 and May 16 to consider four bills aimed at providing critical relief and support to Wyoming communities, hospitals, workers, and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. They will appropriate some of the funds from the $1.25 billion in emergency funding Read More…
The Supreme Court on Wednesday wrestled with a dispute over whether Electoral College voters have a constitutional right to diverge from their state’s popular vote in two cases that could have implications for November’s presidential election. The arguments featured hypotheticals about what would happen if electors were to take a bribe, get hacked by a Read More…