Congress sends Obama budget bill
WASHINGTON – Congress has easily passed a $1.1 trillion bill easing the harshest effects of last year’s automatic spending cuts after tea party critics chastened by the government shutdown in October mounted only a faint protest.
The sweeping 72-26 Senate vote to fund the government through September sends the bill to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature before a midnight Saturday deadline. The House easily passed the bill on Wednesday.
The bill funds every agency of government, pairing increases for NASA and Army Corps of Engineers construction projects with cuts to the Internal Revenue Service and foreign aid. It pays for implementation of Obama’s health care law.
N.J. investigators issue more subpoenas
TRENTON, N.J. – A special legislative panel investigating an apparent political payback scheme involving Gov. Chris Christie’s aides issued 20 new subpoenas Thursday.
Christie, meanwhile, announced the hiring of a legal team to help his administration deal with multiple investigations into a scandal that won’t be put to rest quickly.
Two New Jersey legislative committees, including one also using a former federal prosecutor; the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey, which Christie headed before running for governor; and the chairman of a U.S. Senate committee are conducting inquiries into what happened in September when lanes to the George Washington Bridge from the town of Fort Lee were shut down for four days, causing massive gridlock.
Threat from wildfire falling, officials say
GLENDORA, Calif. – Authorities say the progress of a wildfire burning in the foothills northeast of Los Angeles has stopped, and the threat to surrounding cities is subsiding.
Los Angeles County fire Chief John Tripp said at a news conference in Glendora that the fire’s growth has been stopped at 1,700 acres.
The fire is 30 percent contained.
Senators seek changes in war powers act
WASHINGTON – Two members of the Senate are pressing for significant changes to how presidents consult with Congress on sending the military into war.
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., unveiled legislation on Thursday that would repeal the 1973 War Powers Resolution, often ignored by presidents of both parties, and replace it with a new law that requires greater consultation and a congressional vote within 30 days on any significant armed conflict.
Associated Press
