U.S. Policy
Officials with Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) said the increases for public health programs in President Joe Biden’s FY 2022 budget are an important step in the country’s future.
The budget request includes a 23 percent increase to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)... Read More »
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines recently spearheaded an effort in which Congress received a report assessing intelligence community threats.
The endeavor examined various threats against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, great power competition, and rapidly evolving... Read More »
A panel of public health experts and U.S. senators agreed on several steps Congress should take to prevent or remediate the next pandemic, basing their proposals on lessons learned during the 14 months working to resolve the COVID-19 health crisis.
Among their recommendations, aired during a... Read More »
The Biden-Harris administration has issued to Congress its priorities for fiscal year 2022 Department of Defense discretionary spending.
The $715 billion funding request invests in the core foundations of the nation's strength while advancing key Department of Defense priorities that include... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) joined a bipartisan, bicameral group of Congress members in announcing the introduction of legislation that would improve hate crime reporting and expand assistance and resources for hate crime victims.
The Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the federal government’s nerve center for its COVID-19 pandemic response, would receive an additional $1.6 billion in funding over last year’s approved levels under President Joe Biden’s mammoth $1.5 trillion federal spending plan for... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said a review of its March 2021 operational statistics showed a continued trend of increased encounters and arrests.
"We are committed to balancing the need to maintain border security, care for those in our custody and keep the American people and... Read More »
The U.S. Space Force recently finalized the Space Systems Command (SSC) organizational structure.
Command is slated to officially stand in summer 2021 once required conditions are met to re-designate the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, as SSC... Read More »
A bipartisan, bicameral response to rising hate crimes in the United States led to the introduction of the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality Act (Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act) today.
The legislation would work to actively improve the... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has earmarked $3 billion to 64 jurisdictions to bolster broad-based COVID-19 vaccine distribution, access, and administration efforts.
The funding allotment would support local efforts to increase vaccine uptake by expanding COVID-19 vaccine... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to President Joe Biden to encourage a reset if the approach towards Iran versus relinquishing sanctions leveraged over the regime.
Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Todd Young (R-IN) sent the letter to... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) joined a group of bipartisan Congress members to urge President Joe Biden to request at least $3 billion to fund the adoption of 5G alternatives to Chinese-made equipment.
In a letter to the Biden Administration on Monday, the Congress... Read More »
Department of Justice officials said a man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison without parole for attempting to purchase a chemical weapon on the dark web.
Jason William Siesser, 46, of Columbia, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to acquire a chemical weapon and one... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced a bill Monday aimed at combating straw purchasing and illegal trafficking in firearms to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.
The Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act would make it a... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and John Katko (R-NY) introduced legislation Friday to address migrant surges at the border that would hold agencies accountable and prevent children from being held longer than they should.
The legislation, the Border Surge Response and Resilience Act, would... Read More »
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) personnel have formed a task to address the illegal movement of firearms, ammunition, and explosives across the border.
The initiative serves as another step forward to disrupting and dismantling the violations,... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching a new public education campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and increase confidence in the vaccines.
The department will create a nationwide network of trusted voices – local voices people know and... Read More »
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has initiated a COVID-19 mask design competition, with officials touting a total award of $500,000 available to winning entries.
“We know that properly and consistently worn face masks help reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory... Read More »
Reps. John Katko (R-NY) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX) introduced last week a measure designed to address potential southwest border surges.
The Border Surge Response and Resilience Act would require the Department of Homeland Security DHS and federal partners to establish a plan addressing border... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA) and U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) recently reintroduced the Federal Correctional Facilities COVID-19 Response Act to revise the prison system’s COVID-19 response.
“The COVID-19 outbreaks at federal prisons across the... Read More »
Homeland Security Investigations, a division of the Department of Justice, is warning U.S. citizens about a scam targeting vulnerable consumers with promises of gifts and cash in exchange for participating in fraudulent post-vaccination surveys.
The fraudulent surveys are used to illegally... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AK), John Katko (R-NY), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), and Rodney Davis (R-IL) introduced legislation Monday designed to mitigate the nationwide physician shortages by boosting the number of Medicare-supported residency positions.
The Resident Physician Shortage Act of 2021 would... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Administration for Community Living (ACL) to expand older adult COVID-19 vaccine access.
The initiative would provide nearly $100 million to assist with... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jim Risch (R-ID), Todd Young (R-IN), and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced last week the Israel Relations Normalization Act of 2021, hoping to strengthen and expand peace and normalization agreements between Israel and surrounding nations.
The bill... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) recently reintroduced a bill designed to enhance the relationship between the United States and Taiwan.
The Taiwan Relations Reinforcement Act would strengthen the relationship between the nations by creating an interagency Taiwan policy task... Read More »
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-MT) and Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) recently introduced a measure they said adjusts monthly benefits for family members and survivors of veterans who lost their lives in service to the nation.
The Caring for Survivors Act of 2021 seeks to... Read More »
A bipartisan group of senators, led by U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), wrote to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) last week with concerns about and calls to action against coronavirus vaccine misinformation being sown among veterans.
While misinformation has been a... Read More »
A Phoenix man is in custody after being charged with fraudulently applying for Paycheck Protection Program loans, investigators with the federal government said.
James Theodore Polzin, 47, of Mesa, Ariz., was charged with three charges of fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency... Read More »
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) have offered thoughts regarding the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) update of its January 2016 report assessing firearms trafficking from the United States to Mexico.
Meeks and Durbin provided input regarding how the report... Read More »
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) has introduced four bills designed to empower immigration courts and make offender aliens deportable.
“The Biden administration’s reckless policies are openly inviting gangs and cartels to flock to the border, so it’s more urgent than ever that we ensure dangerous... Read More »
The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is playing a major role in the fight against COVID-19 in the United States, deploying more than 300 units to assist vaccination efforts in 43 states, plus Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
“MRC units started training for COVID-19... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday that they will be making available $20 million in grant funding through the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grant Program to help communities develop programs to combat terrorism and targeted violence.... Read More »
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and INTERPOL personnel said the agencies have partnered to issue public warnings concerning online COVID-19 vaccines and treatment purchases.
“Counterfeit vaccines threaten the health of consumers who are duped by nefarious actors seeking to exploit the... Read More »
A bill first introduced in the 116th Congress -- the Securing America from Epidemics (SAFE) Act (H.R. 2118) -- is making the rounds in the House of Representatives again, thanks to its reintroduction by U.S. Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA).
Bera, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia,... Read More »
A recently released Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health report is calling on the United States to address COVID-19 health misinformation and disinformation.
The call for a national strategy stems from the findings in "National Priorities to Combat... Read More »
