Washington, March 24 (IANS) The US Senate has confirmed Senator Markwayne Mullin’s nomination for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, replacing embattled Kristi Noem, amid the department’s continued shutdown.The upper chamber voted 54-45 to approve 48-year-old Mullin, who has served in the Senate since 2023, following a decade in the House representing the state of Oklahoma. One Republican senator voted against the nomination, and two Democrats supported it.Mullin’s nomination, anno…
Latest US Senate News & Updates
Washington, March 22 (IANS) US President Donald Trump threatened to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to provide security at airports amid an ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has dragged on for more than a month and left regular security personnel going unpaid.Trump wrote on Truth Social that if Democrats did not “immediately sign an agreement,” “I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Securit…
Washington, March 20 (IANS) Facing rising health care costs and access gaps, US senators advanced bipartisan proposals on drug pricing, maternal care and insurance reform.At a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing, lawmakers from both parties pitched a wide range of bills aimed at lowering costs, expanding access, and addressing workforce shortages.Opening the session, Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy stressed the need for practical solutions. “As chair, my focus is cu…
Washington, March 18 (IANS) A fierce political battle opened in the US Senate as Republicans pushed the SAVE Act as a safeguard for elections, while Democrats denounced it as a voter suppression measure that could block millions of eligible Americans from voting.Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the proposal focused on two basic requirements: “you have to prove citizenship to be able to register to vote in this country” and “you actually have to show an ID to vote in this country.”H…
Washington, March 14 (IANS) A US senator has introduced legislation to block any transfer of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands — including the strategic Diego Garcia military base — unless the US Senate formally approves changes to the long-standing defence treaty between Washington and London.Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, introduced the Diego Garcia Treaty Oversight Act, which would require the advice and consent of the…
Washington, March 12 (IANS) Two US senators introduced legislation seeking sanctions against individuals involved in alleged forced organ harvesting in China. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, unveiled the Falun Gong and Victims of Forced Organ Harvesting Protection Act, a bill that would impose sanctions on individuals responsible for forced organ harvesting and require the US administratio…
Washington, March 11 (IANS) Concerns about Chinese nationals exploiting America’s birthright citizenship laws through a growing “birth tourism” industry surfaced during a US Senate hearing, with one witness warning lawmakers that thousands of children born in the United States are later raised in China.The issue was raised during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution examining whether children born in the United States to undocumented migrants or temporary visi…
Washington, March 3 (IANS) A US Senate oversight hearing on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) turned sharply confrontational on Tuesday, as Democrats accused the agency of excessive force and civil liberties violations, while DHS Secretary Kristi Noem rejected the claims and defended enforcement actions as lawful. Senator Richard Durbin, the committee’s top Democrat, said that under Noem’s leadership the department has been “devoid of any moral compass or respect for the rule of law”.He …
Washington, Feb 28 (IANS) A bipartisan US Senate panel took aim at the Food and Drug Administration over delays and shifting standards that witnesses said are blocking rare disease treatments, warning that “time is the most precious commodity” for families and that “rare disease patients cannot wait.”At a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Chairman Rick Scott said the central question was whether the FDA is doing “everything Congress intended it to do to quickly get safe…
Washington, Feb 27 (IANS) Democratic Senators have questioned US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over a $1.6 billion rare-earth minerals deal, warning that the arrangement could benefit his immediate family and his former firm, Cantor Fitzgerald.In a February 25 letter, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, and Chris Van Hollen said the agreement brokered by the Department of Commerce with USA Rare Earth, Inc. (USAR) “could enrich your immediate family.”“This follows in a long string of …