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…
A group opposing corporate money in elections – but that spent significantly on Montana’s 2018 U.S. Senate race – on Thursday endorsed Democrat Kathleen Williams for the state’s sole congressional seat in 2020. End Citizens United, a political-action committee formed in 2015 to oppose “big money” in politics, said Williams is a supporter of campaign-finance Read More…
With the sunset of Whitefish’s tax-increment finance district less than a year away, the Whitefish City Council is contemplating priorities for the remaining TIF revenue and potential new tax districts within the resort city. A work session from 5:30 to 7 p.m. tonight at City Hall will include a review and discussion of tax increment Read More…
A new presidential poll conducted by Mammouth University shows Gov. Steve Bullock is still at less than 1% with Democratic voters — far behind Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders who are all in a virtual tie at the top of the poll. Bullock recently took part in a CNN Town Hall , again portraying himself as Read More…
BELLEVUE — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock brought his fledgling presidential campaign to the Puget Sound region Monday night, pitching himself as the only Democratic candidate who’s won a statewide campaign in a state won by President Donald Trump. Bullock, who’s made fighting the “toxic influence of money in politics” the cornerstone of his campaign, described Read More…
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Wednesday ruled out running for the Senate next year following news that Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) would retire. “Our thoughts are with Senator Isakson and his family. Leader Abrams’ focus will not change: she will lead voter protection efforts in key states across the country, and make sure Democrats are successful in Read More…
WASHINGTON – A Washington, D.C., physician alleged in divorce filings Tuesday that her husband, a national political consultant, left her after becoming romantically involved with U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a client of his fundraising business. In an interview, Omar denied that she is separated or dating outside her marriage. “I have no interest in really allowing Read More…
On Sunday, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock made his case for why he should be the Democratic nominee for president to a nationwide TV audience. He answered questions from Democratic primary voters at an hourlong town hall in New York City, hosted by CNN. Bullock is now the last state governor remaining in the 2020 Democratic Read More…
Rep. Liz Cheney called on President Trump to reject a peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan, arguing in an op-ed that it would be tantamount to losing the war to al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Islamic State. “We should not withdraw U.S. forces based on a political timetable that grants concessions to the Read More…
CHEYENNE – An effort to change the state’s trespass laws to punish violators even if they were unaware they were on private property failed to make it out of committee Thursday. The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Interim Committee voted 8-6 against supporting the proposed legislation, which would have removed language that trespass laws only apply Read More…
For lawmakers and political candidates, 2019 could be the year of not giving a f— about cursing. Profanity — once considered a major no-no among those seeking public office — is no longer an earth-shattering political snafu. And according to new research, this year could be on track to see members of Congress swearing up a storm more than Read More…
With 21 major candidates in the race, the Democratic 2020 presidential field is set to be one of the largest, most competitive, and most unpredictable in modern history. To help make sense of where all these candidates stand, INSIDER has been conducting a recurring SurveyMonkey Audience national poll. You can download every poll here, down to Read More…
JAMESTOWN, N.D. — Gov. Doug Burgum’s third annual Summit on Innovative Education had a clear message this week: Behavior is a major issue in the state and old models of discipline aren’t working. “We have to unlearn the things from the past,” Burgum told The Forum. “The new approaches are more effective and cost less. Read More…
U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney and Sen. John Barasso met with local officials Thursday morning in Casper to discuss leveraging a federal tax incentive program designed to spur development in select zones in the area. The meeting served as a venue for leaders from Casper, Mills and Natrona County to pitch a variety of development projects Read More…
In a wealthy 2020 Democratic presidential field, Pete Buttigieg lags behind the pack. The South Bend, Indiana, mayor makes a comfortable living. He and his husband, Chasten, earned $152,643 last year, according to tax returns. Even so, Buttigieg made the least in 2018 out of the 13 Democratic presidential candidates who have released their tax Read More…
Just before the close of the 2019 legislative session in Cheyenne, Rep. Landon Brown — then a 32-year-old staffer in the state’s Department of Environmental Quality — was contemplating resignation. The Legislature was approaching concurrence on a bill to raise its $109 per diem rates for some lawmakers that, thanks to a late amendment Read More…
As Montana Gov. Steve Bullock stood on the debate stage last week and listened to his 2020 rivals bicker and criticize one another, visions of a second term for President Donald Trump kept flashing through his mind. “I saw his reelection becoming more likely with each passing minute,” Bullock said Wednesday at the National Press Read More…
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock delivered a stern warning Wednesday that his fellow Democratic presidential candidates are putting the party at risk of losing to President Donald Trump in 2020. “We are well on our way to losing this election long before it ever even has really started,” he said in a speech at the National Read More…
The day the Bidens took over Paradigm Global Advisors was a memorable one. In the late summer of 2006 Joe Biden’s son Hunter and Joe’s younger brother, James, purchased the firm. On their first day on the job, they showed up with Joe’s other son, Beau, and two large men and ordered the hedge fund’s Read More…
Gov. Mark Gordon announced Thursday that he would be ending a legal proceeding he initiated as state treasurer in 2016 over that office’s authority to approve contracts related to the state capitol building construction project. Gordon’s suit challenged the 2014 legislation that created the Capitol Building Rehabilitation and Restoration Oversight Group — the entity Read More…
More support is being thrown behind a plan to have the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction off mid-band spectrum for 5G use rather than allow satellite operators to conduct a private sale of an asset they received for free. U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., sent a letter to President Donald Trump on July 19 Read More…
HELENA — A third Democratic candidate has entered the 2020 race for Montana attorney general. Kalispell bankruptcy attorney Jim Cossitt registered with the state Commissioner of Political Practices’ office last week. He joins state Rep. Kim Dudik and Gov. Steve Bullock’s chief legal counsel, Raph Graybill, in the race for the Democratic nomination for the Read More…
A longtime former newspaper executive has been named the communications director for Montana Attorney General Tim Fox’s campaign for governor. Mike Gulledge, who was recently the regional publisher of the Missoulian, Billings Gazette and Ravalli Republic newspapers before taking a role with the University of Montana, begins the role for Fox immediately. “I’m honored to Read More…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s Democratic governor signed a law Tuesday requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns to appear on the state’s primary ballot, a move aimed squarely at Republican President Donald Trump. But even if the law withstands a likely legal challenge, Trump could avoid the requirements by choosing not to compete Read More…
(CNN)Democrats on Capitol Hill have a message for presidential hopefuls John Hickenlooper, the former governor of Colorado, and Steve Bullock, the current governor of Montana: you’d make great senators. Hickenlooper and Bullock have struggled to gain traction in a crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates, but as governors, they have already proven they can be elected Read More…
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler pushed to launch impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump during a closed-door meeting Wednesday, only to be rebuffed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to four sources familiar with the discussions. At a caucus meeting that came after the hotly anticipated testimony of former special counsel Robert Mueller, Nadler suggested that several Read More…
Though Gov. Doug Burgum remains mum on a 2020 re-election bid, he’s already planning another type of term. Burgum is the new chairman of the Western Governors’ Association, a coalition of 22 governors of western states and territories. He has set the organization’s 2020 annual meeting for June 29 to July 2 in Medora. Read More…
Democratic presidential candidate and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has publicly supported a national minimum wage of $15 an hour, but his official office was advertising full-time internships earlier this summer that only paid his interns $9 an hour. Bullock took to Twitter last week to call for the minimum wage to be raised by quoting Read More…
SALT LAKE CITY — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, one of two dozen Democrats running for president, rolled out his plan to bring “Good Jobs to All Americans”Thursday at the National Governors Association’s summer meeting. Some 25 governors from around the country are gathered at the Grand America Hotel for the three-day meeting set to end Friday Read More…
(CNSNews.com) — When it comes to the Constitution and illegal immigration into this country, Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said President Donald Trump has the constitutional authority “to enforce the law.” Daines added that he is “very concerned” about the “radical leftists” in the House of Representatives. At the U.S. Capitol on July 16, CNSNews.com asked Sen. Daines, Read More…
Amazon’s cloud services business recently hired one of President Donald Trump’s campaign bundlers, Jeff Miller, to lobby on its behalf, according to a recently posted disclosure form. Amazon Web Services hired Miller, who is CEO of Miller Strategies, to lobby on “issues related to cyber security and technology,” according to a lobbying registration form. The filing Read More…
Joe Biden has the fundraising muscle, the lead in the polls and the cachet with voters from his years as Barack Obama’s No. 2. But John Delaney says he’s got something to offer that the former vice president does not. “He doesn’t have any new ideas, and he’s effectively just running an old playbook,” Delaney, Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. (KCND) – Next June, North Dakota will be hosting the Western Governors Association. Governor Burgum was recently elected chairman of that organization. He says the meeting will be held in Medora. In 1997, when then-Governor Ed Schafer headed up that group, he chartered a train from BNSF, from Bismarck to Medora. Burgum says Read More…
Former Sen. Duane Mutch, 93, of Larimore, died the night of Wednesday, July 17. Mutch served in the North Dakota Senate for 47 years and was known by some as the most conservative Republican in the Legislature. District 19 first elected Mutch in 1958. He lost re-election in 1976 but regained his seat in 1979. Read More…
Jon Tester said the way for Democrats to win in states President Trump won in 2016 is to “punch him in the face” during an interview on Morning Joe Thursday morning. The Montana Democratic senator notably won reelection in 2018 despite the president campaigning for the Republican challenger Montana State Auditor Matt Rosendale multiple times in the Read More…
Scott Roy McLean announced this week that he is running for the vacant seat in the Montana legislature held by Fred Thomas, who is term limited and therefore unable to run for that position again in 2020. The district extends from Corvallis to Florence. The primary election is next June. McLean is the owner of Montana Read More…
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on paper has a strong case for the Democratic nomination for president: He’s a twice-elected governor from a state Donald Trump won in 2016, he worked with a GOP-controlled legislature to expand Medicaid this year, and he is running against dark money in politics. But so far, none of that seems Read More…
Communicating face-to-face provides an essential way for farmers and ranchers to address their concerns with government officials. During the Montana Farm Bureau Fly-In, June 10-13, in Washington, D.C. Montana Farm Bureau members had excellent opportunities to meet with lawmakers and agency personnel. The Fly-In participants—Susan Lake from Ronan, Don Steinbeisser, Jr. from Sidney and Kris Read More…
BILLINGS- The two Democrats vying to take on U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana next year in the 2020 election reacted Tuesday to a recent tweet from the Republican defending President Trump. Helena mayor Wilmot Collins, who came to the United State as a refugee from the civil war in Liberia, released a video Tuesday Read More…
Nearly three years after he began serving one of the longest prison terms ever for a member of Congress, former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah returned to federal court in Philadelphia on Friday to push for a lighter sentence now that some of his convictions were overturned on appeal. He left disappointed. Citing his still-standing convictions on 13 other Read More…
Not so long ago — as recently as the cover of the March 2019 Rolling Stone, in fact — they seemed like the best of friends. I’m referring to Nancy Pelosi and the members of “The Squad”: Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and (not pictured) Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. They shared some good times. It was Read More…