On the steps of the Montana State Capitol, Governor Greg Gianforte was officially sworn in Monday for his second term as the 25th Governor of Montana. Accompanied by his wife, First Lady Susan Gianforte, the ceremony marked a historic milestone, as Gianforte became the first Republican governor to secure a second term since 1996. Chief Read More…
U.S. Senator Steve Daines has announced his committee assignments for the 119th Congress, taking on influential roles in the Senate Committees on Finance, Foreign Relations, Energy and Natural Resources, and Indian Affairs. These assignments place Daines at the center of critical policy discussions affecting Montana and the nation. “It’s an honor to serve Montanans in Read More…
Kenneth Britton “Britt” Cotter, 48, who was recently elected District Court Judge for Lake and Sanders counties, has been charged with one count of solicitation to commit criminal distribution of dangerous drugs and two counts of attempted criminal possession of dangerous drugs. The Montana Attorney General’s Office announced the charges following a months-long investigation led Read More…
Congressman Ryan Zinke announced that the Senate has passed the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act. The EXPLORE Act is a comprehensive, bicameral legislation package that includes Zinke’s bipartisan Gateway Communities and Recreation Enhancement Act introduced with Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola in May 2023. The bill passed the House in April and will Read More…
The Supreme Court announced Monday it would take up a pair of cases related to race-based admissions policies at two major universities, adding affirmative action to the hot-button issues justices are considering, along with abortion and gun rights. Justices said they would hear challenges to policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina that Read More…
Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman of New York was arrested outside of the U.S. Capitol building after disobeying orders from Capitol Police on three different occasions, the law enforcement agency said. Capitol Police arrested Bowman on Thursday after the New York Democrat protested outside Congress in support of his party’s failed election reform package. Bowman and Read More…
WASHINGTON – The second week of August began as a time for vacation for President Joe Biden and some of his team. Then Afghanistan imploded. The reports out of Kabul were harrowing: Images of desperate Afghan nationals clinging to U.S. military airplanes leaving the country and, days later, a suicide bombing at a gate to Read More…
HELENA — A federal judge Tuesday struck down a portion of Montana’s “clean campaign act,” saying it’s an unconstitutional burden on free speech to require political committees to notify candidates about last-minute attack campaign material. U.S. District Judge Don Molloy of Missoula said the so-called “fair notice” requirement, which applies only to material distributed within Read More…
ANALYSIS — It’s been 40 years since Montana had to worry about congressional redistricting. The Treasure State was allocated a second seat in the most recent round of reapportionment — the last time that happened was after the 1980 census — and had to go through the process of bifurcating the state. Even though a Read More…
Wyoming’s state superintendent of public instruction is resigning to become the head of Virginia’s public school system. The resignation of Wyoming State Superintendent Jillian Balow will be effective Sunday. Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin, who takes office Saturday, has named Balow to replace Rosa Atkins, who has been acting state superintendent since James Lane’s resignation in Read More…
U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines introduced a Senate resolution designating today, Jan 16 as Religious Freedom Day. This resolution commemorates the 236th Anniversary of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, a landmark achievement that laid the foundations for the First Amendment. “America stands as a beacon of hope and a symbol of religious Read More…
HELENA — Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte on Monday joined GOP legislators and Montana’s Republican attorney general, in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in their dispute with the Montana Supreme Court over whether that court is improperly “prejudging proposed legislation.” Gianforte, through his chief lawyer, Anita Milanovich, filed a “friend of the court” brief Read More…
The Montana judiciary is in deep trouble. The Wall Street Journal picked up on a local story that has been exploding since last April but has just now started to get national attention. In April, the Montana judiciary was caught red-handed lobbying against bills that would lead to more accountability for judges. This comes right on the heels Read More…
HELENA — Montana Supreme Court Justice Jim Rice said Thursday he will run for re-election this year to a third eight-year term on the state’s highest court, potentially extending his tenure as the court’s longest-serving justice. Rice, 64, was appointed to the court in 2001, by then-Gov. Judy Martz. He ran for retainment in the Read More…
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Monday she has been temporarily barred from posting on her Facebook account by the social network, less than a day after losing her personal Twitter account. “Facebook has joined Twitter in censoring me,” Greene (R-Ga.) wrote on Gettr, a social media platform favored by some right-wing conservatives. “This is beyond Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Governor Gianforte will deliver infrastructure funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to the City of Dillon on Jan. 3. This will go to improving drinking water. In Septmeber, Gianforte authorized $1.9 million in competitive and minimum allocation grants to replace a waterline transmission and distribution system. The system previously had leaks Read More…
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Harry Reid, former Senate majority leader and Nevada’s longest-serving member of Congress, dies at 82. READ FULL STORY
The Whitefish City Council last week unanimously voted to approve an ordinance that will put zoning requirements in place for certain rentals being rented out for periods of between 30 and 90 days. The ordinance requires rentals of 30 to 90 days that would qualify as “medium-term rentals” to be in zones classified as resort Read More…
BOZEMAN — Montana is set to kick off 2022 with the legalization of recreational marijuana sales starting on January 1. Here are some important things to know before the law takes effect in the new year. Montana Initiative 190 passed 56% to 43% back in Nov. 2020, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to Read More…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Chief Justice John Roberts earns the highest job approval rating of 11 U.S. leaders rated in a Dec. 1-16 Gallup poll with 60% approving of how he is handling his role. Only two other leaders on the list are reviewed positively by majorities of Americans — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell (53%) and Director of the Read More…
Montana’s lone voice in the U.S. House did not join the majority this week in voting to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in criminal contempt of Congress. Democrats and two Republicans approved the resolution after Meadows stopped cooperating with the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. In a tweet, Rep. Matt Read More…
As President Joe Biden heads into the end of the year, he’s facing a sour reality: The number of Americans who approve of his performance has hit a new low. Just 41 percent of Americans approve of the job he has been doing as president, according to a new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. Support among independents alone Read More…
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) spoke at an awards ceremony over the weekend hosted by a Communist Party affiliate whose leaders used the event to recruit potential members to the organization. Blumenthal, one of the wealthiest members of the Senate, presented certificates of special recognition from the Senate to three winners of the “Amistad Award,” Read More…
BISMARCK — North Dakota Senate Minority Leader Joan Heckaman told Forum News Service she will retire from the Legislature when her term ends in 2022 because the redistricting process took a run for reelection “off the table.” A redistricting map approved by lawmakers last month lands the New Rockford Democrat in a district where no election will Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Governor Greg Gianforte has contributed a quarter of his annual governor’s salary to the Denton Fire Relief Fund which supports the community as it rebuilds. “In the wake of the West Wind Fire in Denton, Montanans have done what Montanans do best: neighbors have helped neighbors,” Gianforte said in a press release. “We’ve Read More…
Burleigh and Morton counties last year were hot spots for cash, vehicles and firearms found to be involved in criminal activity. But criminal justice officials say it doesn’t appear law enforcement agencies are abusing civil asset forfeiture, a legal process that targets property involved in crimes. North Dakota’s attorney general said reports on the property Read More…
More than a dozen lawmakers in the House and Senate are being accused of violating an anti-corruption law. Business Insider said it uncovered a litany of violations of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or STOCK Act, and dozens of other instances in which lawmakers and their top staffers broke federal conflicts-of-interest law. The 14 lawmakers who Read More…
The Whitefish City Council last week adopted a zoning ordinance to allow recreational adult-use marijuana sales in its downtown and secondary business districts, unanimously approving a framework for pot dispensaries to begin opening storefronts and selling their products after the new year. Council arrived at the final set of rules after careful deliberation, sending an Read More…
Vice President Kamala Harris brushed off negative media coverage about her, saying she will not be distracted by “ridiculous” headlines. Harris has been criticized for spending more than $500 on cookware while on a trip to Paris last month and described as a “bully” in reports that claim her behavior is behind the exodus of high-level staffers from her Read More…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday pledged to empower private citizens to enforce a ban on the manufacture and sale of assault weapons in the state, citing the same authority claimed by conservative lawmakers in Texas to outlaw most abortions once a heartbeat is detected. California has banned the manufacture and sale of Read More…
For decades, dozens of people spent at least one night — or morning — a month taking public comment, discussing and making decisions on city of Bozeman policies, expenditures and other matters. The vast majority of those volunteers have given up the reins over the past few weeks as most of the former advisory boards Read More…
BILLINGS – Groups on both sides of the abortion issue in Montana are closely watching a key case challenging Roe v Wade, which is currently under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court heard arguments for a Mississippi law that would ban abortions after 15 weeks. A lower court had earlier blocked that Read More…
HELENA — A federal judge in Louisiana has granted a preliminary injunction against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) COVID vaccine mandate following a lawsuit filed by Montana and 13 other states. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen previously told MTN that the November 5th CMS rule is not only unconstitutional, but also will Read More…
Republicans on Wednesday slammed President Joe Biden’s latest nominee to the Federal Communications Commission for her history of attacking right-wing speech. Members of the Senate Commerce Committee tore into Gigi Sohn for what Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) called “a history of antipathy toward conservative views.” Sohn has called for the shuttering of right-wing networks repeatedly throughout Read More…
An exodus of top staffers from Vice President Kamala Harris’s office is not cause for concern, according to the White House. “Working in the first year of a White House is exciting and rewarding, but it’s also grueling and exhausting. It’s all of those things at once,” press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday. “It’s also Read More…
Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz will run for Senate as a Republican in Pennsylvania next year, adding intrigue to one of the races that will determine control of the chamber. The 61-year-old host of “The Dr. Oz Show” will enter a crowded swing-state race where no clear frontrunner has emerged on the GOP side. Oz, who Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (PRESS RELEASE) – Earlier this year, after Wyoming received the first installment of funds from the American Rescue Plan, Governor Mark Gordon asked a Strike Team to work on big ideas that would help Wyoming drive towards a future where its citizens will thrive. Now there are more than $3 billion in proposals that the Read More…
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee outraised its Republican counterpart in October even as President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress were struggling to pass major legislation to invest more taxpayer dollars in infrastructure and social programs. The DCCC raised $11.6 million last month, according to figures just publicized, compared to $9.7 million raised by the National Republican Read More…
A roughly $2 trillion social spending and climate plan passed out of the U.S House Friday, without the support of Montana’s lone congressman. Montana Republican Representative Matt Rosendale opposed the so-called ‘Build Back Better’ bill. The measure narrowly passed out of the U.S. House Friday morning on a near party-line vote of 220 to 213. Read More…
Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines implored “just one” Democrat to oppose the president’s “Build Back Better” agenda, which he said was a “hyperinflation bomb” that would most impact the poorest in society. “We just need one Democrat –just one– to oppose it and this bill dies in the Senate,” he said as Democrats try to Read More…
After months of speculation, Democrat Beto O’Rourke announced this morning he will run for governor of Texas. “I’m running to try to help bring this state together,” O’Rourke said. “To do the really big things that are before us right now and to get past the divisiveness, the extremism, and the real small politics and policies Read More…
President Joe Biden’s climate and social spending bill would cost nearly $5 trillion if several temporary provisions are made permanent, a nonpartisan budget think tank estimates. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that advocates for lower deficits, said Monday the current House iteration of the Build Back Better Act relies “on a number of Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – House Bill 1002, Federal COVID vaccine mandates-prohibition and remedies-2 was signed by Governor Mark Gordon. HB1002 provides $4 million in funding for legal challenges to any COVID-19 vaccination mandates passed by the Federal government according to a release. “This bill confirms the Legislature’s support for the Executive branch’s previously-expressed determination to fight Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — In a few weeks, Montana’s Governor will select two new District Court judges, one in Gallatin County and the other in Yellowstone. It will mark the second time the governor will use a new state law about mid-year election nominations. We’re working for you to explain the law that changed Montana’s constitution. READ Read More…