A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from using Medicaid data obtained from Washington and 19 other states for immigration enforcement purposes. The order also bars the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from sharing such data with DHS. The injunction comes after Washington and Read More…
U.S. Senator Steve Daines visited the Bull Mountains Mine in Musselshell County on Friday, celebrating what he called a major victory for Montana jobs and American energy. The mine, one of the state’s three large-scale active coal operations, had faced the prospect of closure in recent years but will remain open due to a provision Read More…
Tyler Newcombe has stepped down as executive director of the Montana Republican Party (MTGOP) after serving in the role since January, the party announced this month. “It has been an incredible honor to work with such a dedicated team on advancing conservative values across Montana,” Newcombe said in a statement. “I’m proud of what we Read More…
Governor Brad Little signed Executive Order 2025-05, known as “The Idaho Act,” aimed at creating efficiencies in state government, reducing spending, and supporting public schools while implementing federal tax cuts for Idahoans. The order directs state executive branch agencies — excluding K-12 public schools — to identify opportunities for consolidation, revert unfilled positions, reduce contract Read More…
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants her followers to show Bernie the money. The Congresswoman’s plea for donations to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign came in a joint fundraising email. “The only reason I believed I could launch a long shot run for Congress is because Bernie’s campaign proved that you can build a grassroots movement and win,” Read More…
HELENA – Montana Gov. Steve Bullock endorsed Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney in the 2020 gubernatorial race on Friday, saying Cooney’s long history of public service made him the right person for the job. Democrats have held on to the governor’s post for nearly 14 years. Republicans said they were not surprised by the announcement. The nod Read More…
Every election season folks usually ask us, who should we vote for when it comes to judges or city council races? Normally, city council elections in Billings are relatively sleepy and it is hard to distinguish between the various candidates. Not this year. There is a very philosophical contrast between most of the candidates on Read More…
The Montana Democratic Party will soon start searching for a new executive director. Monica Lindeen will step down from her post as executive director of the Montana Democratic Party by year’s end. You know, I think it’s time that somebody else step into a position like this,” Lindeen says. It’s been just over ten months Read More…
Booker has at least four Chicago-area fundraisers Thursday, according to invitations obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, returning to the city for the first time since July. The tab for each event ranges from $250 to $2,800. At 1 p.m. Booker will be in Highland Park for a reception, with the hosts including activists Dana Gordon and Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. — An interim study committee of the North Dakota Legislature met for the first time Oct. 3 on how to make changes in grain regulation in the wake of scandals like the Hunter Hanson Ponzi scheme. The joint House and Senate Agriculture and Transportation Committee heard a number of policy possibilities, some Read More…
CASPER – At the close of the 2020 census, Wyoming’s lawmakers – like those in half the states around the nation – will sink their teeth into the arduous task of drawing up the legislative districts that will decide the landscape of the state’s elections over the next decade. The Joint Committee on Corporations, Elections Read More…
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard fired back this afternoon at Hillary Clinton over comments she made suggesting the Hawaii congresswoman and 2020 candidate is being groomed by the Russians. Clinton said in a recent interview, of the Russians, “I think they’ve got their eye somebody who’s currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate. She’s a Read More…
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is hitting major bumps at a critical moment in the 2020 campaign. A little more than three months before the Iowa caucuses, the former vice president is widely seen as having lost his front-runner position to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). He’s an underdog in Iowa, is coming off another forgettable debate performance and Read More…
The Department of Energy cited the same arguments as the Pentagon for why it is unable to cooperate “at this time” with House committees’ subpoena for documents related to President Trump’s efforts to push Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. The big picture: As Axios first reported, President Trump told House Republicans that he made his now infamous phone call to Ukrainian Read More…
Julián Castro’s presidential campaign rolled out dozens of endorsements Monday from current and former state and local elected officials, activists, community leaders, party leaders and Latino leaders. In a bid to make a splash before Tuesday’s primary debate in Westerville, Ohio, Castro released a list of 50-plus endorsements first obtained by POLITICO. Castro is among the dozen Read More…
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Officials say 40 percent of South Dakota’s corn supply is used for ethanol production. Today Senator John Thune visited one of the world’s largest producers of ethanol following a big announcement from the Trump Administration. Last week the administration announced plans to implement new rules that will increase demand for ethanol, which Read More…
In the early 1990s, Wilmot Collins and his wife, Maddie, escaped the Liberian Civil War. Broke and starving, they ended up in Helena, Mont. “Why do you think we fled?” Collins asked. “We fled because we wanted a second chance.” Soon after moving to their first home, a neighbor knocked on their door and alerted Read More…
CASPER — A leading air ambulance company formally voiced its opposition to an ambitious plan by Wyoming policymakers to make aerial emergency transports a public utility funded under Medicaid in an effort to curb the cost of the flights. But the comment may be a moot point, as the federal government has signaled to state Read More…
Republican Greg Gianforte turned in another impressive quarter of fundraising for his 2020 gubernatorial run this weekend, bringing his four-month total to $1.09 million – more than twice as much as any other rival in either party. Gianforte, currently Montana’s sole U.S. House member, reported raising $507,000 for the past three months, adding to the Read More…
Spenser Merwin, a former staff member for U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, has been named the new executive director of the Montana Republican Party. Merwin has been Daines’ director of coalitions and outreach since 2015. He was the deputy political director for Daines’ Senate campaign during the 2014 election cycle and his regional political director during Read More…
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock raised nearly $2.3 million for his presidential bid in the third fundraising quarter, his campaign said on Friday. Bullock’s fundraising haul falls short of most of the other candidates who have announced their third-quarter totals so far. But it’s higher than that of at least one of his rivals, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who announced Read More…
Billings resident Nelly Nicol announced today that she is running as a Republican for Montana State Auditor. Nelly is a fourth-generation Montanan, wife, mother, and professional who has spent much of her career working in the insurance industry. “I was raised in a patriotic Marine Corps household and serving others is something that comes naturally Read More…
House Republicans will force a vote to formally condemn Rep. Adam Schiff when they return from recess, their most aggressive offensive yet as the GOP fumbles for a strategy to beat back impeachment efforts. The largely symbolic move, which won’t get approved by the Democrat-controlled House, is backed by the House’s highest-ranking Republicans and some Read More…
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren endorsed a Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) policy proposal that includes taxpayer-funded welfare benefits for illegal immigrants. Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal, dubbed “A Just Society,” calls for nationwide rent control and bans the federal government from denying welfare benefits based on an individual’s immigration status and previous criminal convictions. Warren became the first Read More…
Two Bozeman Democrats are running for U.S. Senate with the hope of unseating Republican Steve Daines in 2020. Cora Neumann, 44, launched her campaign Tuesday, saying she will focus on affordable, high-quality health care, increasing wages and protecting public lands. Michael Knoles, 32, has filed with the Federal Election Commission but said he Read More…
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) will apply to receive public financing for his struggling presidential campaign. In a memo Monday, Bullock’s campaign manager Jennifer Ridder cast the decision to seek out public funds for his presidential bid as a show of the governor’s commitment to campaign finance reform, an issue that he has put at the center Read More…
Governor Brad Little and other Idaho officials are in Europe this week to foster economic relations with business leaders who have investment interests in Idaho. A visit to the Netherlands is part of an effort to bring new industry to the state. When McCain Foods — the largest producer of frozen potato products in the Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. – Sen. Dick Dever, R-Bismarck, is asking Legislative Management, which handles the interim committee work for legislators, to consider a new study this interim over concerns about mobile home parks around the state being bought by capital investment firms. Utah-based Havenpark Capital purchased two Bismarck parks- Colonial Estates and Holiday Park, in July. Dever Read More…
Montana’s congressional delegation is reacting in the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement this Tuesday that the House will move forward with an official impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. On Tuesday morning, Republican Senator Steve Daines Tweeted “Impeachment. Obsession.” over a GIF of a character from the popular TV show “The Office” rolling Read More…
After months of publicly considering mounting a return to Congress, Rep. Darrell Issa appears to be on the verge of formally announcing his candidacy for East County’s 50th Congressional District seat. Issa has scheduled a press conference for Thursday morning at Centennial Plaza in El Cajon. In the news release he says several well known Read More…
Have you ever wondered who’s working hard inside the state capitol? I’m talking about the heavy hitters, those making decisions year-round. One of those people is Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle. VandeWalle is the longest-serving Supreme Court chief justice in the state’s history and the longest-serving of all the active justices in the United States. “I Read More…
Montana governor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Steve Bullock didn’t qualify for the debate stage in September, and he is polling near the bottom of the 20 remaining White House hopefuls. But at the American Federation of Teachers headquarters in Washington, D.C., Bullock said Thursday he can win back Trump voters from the American heartland while retaining support in traditional liberal strongholds. Read More…
At a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Greg Gianforte blasted committee Democrats for their focus on impeaching President Trump. He believes their priorities are misplaced. “The committee held its first hearing this week, and by all of observers, it was a circus,” said Gianforte. “There were clowns, tightrope walkers, firebreathers, and shell games. Read More…
A top official with the Federal Communications Commission says Montana needs to put $2 million back into the state’s 911 account. The funds in question were generated from 911 fees and placed into a state account that held $12 million in 2017. During that year’s regular legislative session, state lawmakers transferred $2 million out of the Read More…
During her campaign of running for Montana Attorney General, Kimberly Dudik paid a visit to Sidney where she met with the public for a meet and greet at Sunny’s Family Restaurant. Dudik has spent time in the legislature, as assistant Attorney General and as a nurse. “My career has always been about helping people,” Dudik said. One of the Read More…
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon contacted the Mexican government about the possibility of using the country’s ports to export the state’s coal to markets overseas, an official with the Mexican consulate’s office in Denver said Tuesday. At a forum hosted by the Wyoming Business Alliance in Casper, Consul General Berenice Rendón-Talavera told the audience that the Read More…
Take a seat, Nancy Pelosi — you’ve been replaced. For years, the California Democrat has been the cornerstone of Republican negative attack ads and campaign rhetoric against her party. But as Republicans work to keep control of key statehouses this fall ahead of the all-important redistricting process that comes with the 2020 census, state and local GOP politicians are building a robust Read More…
Jeff Bridges is urging people to donate to his “good buddy,” Steve Bullock, so the Montana governor can make it onto the next Democratic presidential debate stage. “I don’t care if you vote for somebody else,” the “Big Lebowski” actor said in a video posted on Twitter on Monday. “But it’s so important to have Steve Bullock’s Read More…
Andrew Yang’s surprising debate gambit — giving away $120,000 to 10 families over a year to highlight his universal basic income proposal — helped the outsider candidate raise $1 million in the 72 hours since the debate and collect more than 450,000 email addresses from people who entered the online raffle, the presidential campaign told Read More…
If it wasn’t clear before, it should be clear now: If you’re a candidate looking for financial support from the Wyoming Democratic Party, you better be sure you’re: A) a Democrat; and B) actually living in Wyoming. Last month, the party’s central committee unanimously passed a resolution declaring it would only offer resources of time, Read More…
Six weeks after entering Montana’s 2020 U.S. Senate race, outdoor writer Jack Ballard on Friday pulled out, citing health reasons. Ballard, 56, said in a statement that he’s been diagnosed with a heart condition that is not life-threatening but that must be “carefully monitored and makes it medically imprudent to continue the campaign.” He said Read More…
UPDATED- U.S Senator Steve Daines meet with Montana AARP members today in Bozeman about a new bill he is helping to put forth regarding the reduction of prescription drug pricing The average senior takes four prescription drugs and the average medicare user makes $26,000 a year. The price of prescription drugs went up 8% in Read More…
The former South Dakota lawmaker gunning for Theresa Stehly’s spot on the Sioux Falls City Council has some heavy-weight endorsements in his corner. Alex Jensen, the 32-year-old banker and former real estate broker who earlier this year filed his candidacy for the at-large seat that will be up for grabs next year, last week announced Read More…
BISMARCK — A federal judge blocked the state of North Dakota from enforcing a new law requiring physicians to inform patients that it may be possible to reverse a drug-induced abortion Tuesday, Sept. 10, ruling that it violates doctors’ First Amendment protections against “compelled speech.” U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland sided with the American Medical Read More…