North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, calling on lawmakers to maintain strong federal funding for transportation infrastructure, provide greater flexibility to states, and enact permitting reforms to accelerate project delivery and reduce costs. Speaking on behalf of the National Governors Association during a hearing titled Read More…
Texas State Senator Angela Paxton filed for divorce Thursday from her husband, Attorney General Ken Paxton, ending nearly four decades of marriage between two prominent Republican political figures. The filing, made in Collin County, cites adultery and irreconcilable differences as grounds for the split. Angela Paxton publicly confirmed the divorce on the social media platform Read More…
(The Center Square) – As lawmakers begin crafting the 12 annual appropriations bills to fund the federal government in fiscal year 2026, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has implied that his party will refuse to cooperate in the process if Republicans revoke billions in funding from previous years. The Senate is set to vote Read More…
Montana’s U.S. Senators Tim Sheehy and Steve Daines praised the Senate’s passage of a sweeping legislative package dubbed the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” calling it a major victory for working families and a key step in advancing the America First agenda. The comprehensive reconciliation bill, backed by President Donald Trump and Republican leadership, includes provisions Read More…
BISMARCK—North Dakota was given a grade of “C,” in a report released Monday by the Center for American Progress that provides an overview of election security and preparedness in each state. The report has garnered the attention of politicians in the state, including U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp…. READ THE FULL STORY.
Washington (CNN)North Dakota’s Rep. Kevin Cramer said Tuesday he hasn’t made up his mind about whether he’ll challenge Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in this year’s midterm elections — but will decide by “the end of the weekend.” “There’s certainly a growing snowball of encouragement coming out of the state,” Cramer told reporters on Tuesday evening Read More…
It’s hard to get treatment when you’re 65 or older and rely on a program that pays health providers less than the price of care. And surprising medical bills is a whole other issue. That’s what a small group of locals told Montana’s U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte at the Bozeman Senior Center on Monday during Read More…
Democrats are looking to embrace the #MeToo moment and rally women to push back on President Donald Trump in the midterms—and they don’t want Bill Clinton anywhere near it. In a year when the party is deploying all their other big guns and trying to appeal to precisely the kind of voters Clinton has consistently Read More…
Mitt Romney will launch his Utah Senate campaign Thursday morning with a low key announcement on social media, and will make his first public appearance a day later near Salt Lake City with a keynote address to a gathering of grassroots Republicans. Romney teased his run for Senate in a Feb. 1 tweet, saying that Read More…
Can a juror, faced with clear evidence that a defendant is guilty, still vote to acquit if he or she feels the law is unjust? Yes, say backers of “jury nullification.” This courtroom tactic was the focus of a Kalispell event organized by the Flathead County Libertarian Party. Presentations on nullification by Kirsten Tynan and Read More…
BILLINGS – Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton stopped by Billings West High School Thursday, to talk to students about the importance of getting involved. Stapleton spent over an hour with senior students at the high school answering questions. From social media to Indian Reservations and health care, Stapleton’s message to students was the importance Read More…
U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte visited a job training facility in Helena on Friday to talk about workforce development and tax reform. Gianforte toured the Montana Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center supported by local chapters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the National Electrical Contractors Association. The center offers an apprenticeship program that Read More…
BILLINGS – Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton stopped by Billings West High School Thursday, to talk to students about the importance of getting involved. Stapleton spent over an hour with senior students at the high school answering questions. From social media to Indian Reservations and health care, Stapleton’s message to students was the importance Read More…
HELENA – Gov. Steve Bullock says he won’t rush into a new contract with the operator of the private prison in Shelby – even though it could yield the state as much as $30 million to offset planned budget cuts of “essential services” for the poor and disabled. In an interview this week, Bullock told Read More…
President Donald Trump’s approval rating is now higher than former President Barack Obama’s on the same date of his first term, Rasmussen Reports daily tracking data shows. In its presidential daily tracking poll released Thursday, the Rasmussen Reports showed Trump’s approval at 48 percent, statistically tied with his disapproval rating of 50 percent. READ THE Read More…
Montana Wilderness advocates are launching a campaign in opposition to a bill introduced by the state’s Republican Senator Steve Daines. If passed, that bill would eliminate protections for some federal lands in Montana. A new coalition called “Our Land, Our Legacy” says it plans to fight against Daines’ bill with social media messages and an Read More…
Bucking a recent trend of failed measures to shift Wyoming from its reliance on fossil fuels, one lawmaker is proposing a bill that looks to generate money from a traditional source of revenue — coal. House Bill 80 hinges on a potential reduction in federal fees on Wyoming coal, the sunset of the Abandoned Mine Read More…
WASHINGTON — Republican megadonor Foster Friess said Tuesday that he’s still weighing a primary challenge in this year’s Wyoming Senate race, but he doesn’t sound much like a politician gearing up to take on a sitting senator. For starters, Friess has nothing but praise for his would-be rival, Republican Sen. John Barrasso. “I love the Read More…
Pundits and pols alike are increasingly referring to the race to succeed Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott as “the main attraction” of 2018. Florida boasts 20.6 million residents, and ranked second only to Texas as the state with the largest gain in population last year. Boasting 29 electoral votes, the Sunshine State packs one of Read More…
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—“We don’t need to give him another ounce of our brain-space,” Dan Canon told the crowd of 40 people, hitting the TV mute as President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech began. “We don’t care what he says.” The speech had been the advertised reason for the gathering at the Crazy Horse bar Read More…
Montana’s entire congressional delegation has endorsed the continuation of funding for Community Health Centers across the country, and specifically across Montana. At a press conference in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Senator Steve Daines said the wholeheartedly supports the funding, flanked by fellow Senator Jon Tester and Representative Greg Gianforte. Read More…
Granite County Commissioner Scott Adler has been summoned to a court appearance this month on one charge of Official Misconduct and one charge of Theft by Embezzlement after the Department of Criminal Investigation looked into accusations that Adler had used county equipment and employees to install recycled asphalt on his personal driveway. In court filings, Read More…
A super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a new digital ad Tuesday attacking Montana Sen. Jon Tester. The ad, the group’s first of the cycle targeting the vulnerable Democrat in this year’s midterm elections, seeks to tie Tester to national party figures and calls him “just another Washington liberal.” It’s paid Read More…
HELENA – A leading Republican lawmaker Friday said the Bullock administration must share the blame for looming budget cuts to human services in Montana – and that the governor could help defray the cuts if he chooses. Sen. Llew Jones of Conrad, an architect of the November budget deal that closed a $227 million shortfall Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – Senator Steve Daines was in Billings Friday to promote the positive impacts of the new tax cuts that took effect January 1st. Daines toured True North Steel, visiting with Montanans, and discussing added jobs and bigger paychecks. The senator was all smiles as he toured True North Steel and discussed the positive Read More…
Every Democratic senator from a Republican-leaning state voted Monday to reopen the government, from the liberal Sherrod Brown of Ohio to the conservative Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Every one, that is, except Jon Tester. Republicans are determined to make him pay. The plainspoken Montanan was on a glide path to a third term despite Read More…
MISSOULA -Federal government services were fully restored and operational on Tuesday, one day after Congress passed and the president signed a short-term spending bill. But lawmakers have just 16 days until it expires. Congressman Greg Gianforte (R-MT) says that he’s ready to get a spending bill passed. READ THE FULL STORY.
It’s the latest chapter in the ongoing legal battle over the Obama administration’s Waters of the U.S. rule. Spokesman for Attorney General Tim Fox, Eric Sell said a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing continuation of legal challenges to the WOTUS policy is a win for many western states.. “The state of Montana filed a legal Read More…
Montana Senator Steve Daines will be hosting his second Montana Energy Summit in Billings, set for May 30 and 31, where attendees will discuss Montanan’s energy infrastructure and the good paying jobs that the industry creates.. At a Senate committee hearing this week, Daines promoted Montana coal as part of an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy for Read More…
HELENA – Former state judge Russell Fagg, one of several Republicans vying to challenge U.S. Sen. Jon Tester this year, reported Tuesday that he raised $615,000 in campaign funds through December – his first campaign-finance report. Fagg, a former state district judge from Billings, also said that 80 percent of the money came from individual Read More…
Eleven of the the 12 most vulnerable senators up for re-election in 2018 ended last year less popular among their constituents than at the start of the 115th Congress. That’s according to the new Morning Consult Senator Approval Rankings for the fourth quarter of 2017, based on more than 250,000 surveys with registered voters from Read More…
House Speaker Paul Ryan warned on Wednesday against “playing political games” as Democrats threatened to block a last-ditch spending deal this week if they cannot also pass a plan to protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation. Parts of the government will shut down if Congress cannot pass a spending bill by the end of Friday. Read More…
HELENA – Montana’s two Republican members of Congress said Wednesday they’ll support a GOP budget plan to keep the federal government open past Friday – including the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. Yet Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte said any budget plan should not be linked to immigration reforms, which are Read More…
Republican lawmakers fumed at Steve Bannon on Wednesday, and some threatened to hold the former Trump White House strategist in contempt of Congress a day after he stonewalled the House’s Russia investigation. In the latest political battle for the deposed Brietbart News chief, House Republicans showed little patience with a political agitator who has often Read More…
Mitt Romney is preparing to enter the race for Utah’s Senate seat with a bang as he gains support from donors across the country, setting his sights on a potential congressional leadership position if he were to pull off a victory, FOX Business has learned. In an exclusive interview with Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, FOX Read More…
As Congressional Democrats and Republicans continue to fight over the fate of undocumented immigrants in the DACA program, the federal government is barreling towards a shutdown Friday. Yellowstone Public Radio’s Nate Hegyi sat down with Montana’s Republican Senator, Steve Daines, to talk about the potential for a shutdown, his legislative goals in 2018 and President Read More…
On Wednesday, a bill honoring the life of Alex Diekmann passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 400 to 3. Congressman Greg Gianforte teamed up with U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester to sponsor the bill. According to Gianforte, Diekmann was a champion for Montana. “Alex Diekmann was a renowned conservationist Read More…
After the state of Montana struggled with a surprising $227 million budget deficit in 2017, many are wondering why the state’s revenue is so weak at a time when the economy is growing. An economist says it’s largely due to Montana’s reliance on income tax. Patrick Barkey, director of UM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Read More…
Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst has announced that she is running for her second term and officially filed for reelection on Friday. “These last four years have been incredibly gratifying and challenging, and I feel like I need at least another four years to continue some of the work that we’ve done,” Pabst said. “When Read More…
Chelsea Manning, the transgender soldier who was convicted of giving classified information to WikiLeaks, has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission for a U.S. Senate bid in Maryland. According to an FEC statement of candidacy form dated Thursday, Manning filed to run as Democrat in the 2018 midterm elections, challenging incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin, Read More…
Stephen Bannon and Corey Lewandowski are scheduled to testify in the coming week as the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of possible Russian interference in the 2016 election reaches a crescendo. President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist and former campaign manager, respectively, are part of a hectic schedule that Democrats fear is being engineered by Republicans Read More…
The Trump administration plans to unveil a major revision to decades-old banking rules that mandate lending to low-income borrowers. Changes to the regulations of the Community Reinvestment Act—a law first enacted in 1977—could potentially transform the way banks make billions of dollars in loans, investments and donations to customers in low- and moderate-income areas. In Read More…
HELENA – It’s a tradition that for some with insatiable political appetites may rank up there with ringing in the new year in Times Square, the running of the bulls in Pamplona or the opening day of baseball season: Candidate filing for the 2018 elections begins Thursday. The public may join Secretary of State Corey Read More…
Officially opens election season once again. All across the state, candidates are filing to run not just for congressional seats, but for state legislature as well. As your hometown elections headquarters we took the time to get to know the parties and their agendas for the election season. Here in Cascade County Bill Strizich, Cascade Read More…