House Judiciary Committee opens next impeachment phase with rancor, legal debate

WASHINGTON – Three constitutional lawyers characterized President Donald Trump’s actions toward Ukraine as a serious abuse of power that constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors during impeachment hearings Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee. “When President Trump invited – indeed, demanded…

Officials detail ‘unusual’ call between Trump and Ukraine leader

WASHINGTON – Two White House officials and a former official with key roles in shaping the Trump administration’s policy towards Ukraine testified Tuesday to Congress that they considered improper a July call by President Donald Trump to Ukraine’s president linking…

Van Hollen, Beyer propose surtax on millionaires

WASHINGTON – The richest 1% of Americans control more wealth than the entire middle class combined, according to the Brookings Institution – a striking sign of income inequality that has accelerated since the Great Recession. A bill introduced last week…

Funding for historically black colleges remains held up in Senate

WASHINGTON– Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Maryland may lose more than $4 million in federal funding if Congress does not reauthorize mandatory spending for those institutions beyond the current academic year. Maryland’s HBCUs “face a funding cliff due to…

‘Our North Star’: Congress mourns loss of Cummings

WASHINGTON – Rep. Elijah Cummings was fondly remembered in Washington Thursday across the political spectrum as a leader with a strong moral compass and deep commitment to civil rights as a politician in Baltimore for over 36 years. Members of…

Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania fight clean water rollback

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency revoked two regulations last month dealing with clean water and air that present conflicting positions from the Trump Administration over the role states should play in protecting their own natural resources. The first came…

Railroad’s rusting Potomac River span facing overhaul – and maybe more

WASHINGTON – Of the eight bridges connecting the nation’s capital to northern Virginia across the Potomac River, only one is a railroad bridge. And that one stands out for its, shall we say, reddish tint. But plans are moving forward…

White House Ukraine call summary “damning,” Hoyer, other Democrats, say

WASHINGTON – Democratic lawmakers escalated the partisan furor over the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump Wednesday after the White House released a summary of a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Democrats called “damning.” The president asked…

Pelosi sets formal impeachment inquiry into Trump; Maryland Democrats concur

WASHINGTON – For the fourth time in history, Congress is opening an impeachment inquiry into the president of the United States, an extraordinarily fast-moving development after months of debate among Democrats over whether to proceed with such a constitutionally serious…

FDA readying ban on flavored e-cigarettes amidst health scare

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has announced plans to ban flavored electronic cigarettes, the culmination of a nationwide crackdown on vaping following a spike in respiratory illnesses connected to e-cigarette use.  Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said banning…