First Run News

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who made a career of promoting local control of education, has signaled a surprisingly hard-line approach to carrying out an expansive new federal education law, issuing critical feedback that has rattled state school chiefs and conservative education experts alike. President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 as the less intrusive successor to the No Child Left Be

As Republican senators work to fix their troubled health care bill, there is one giant health insurance subsidy no one is talking about. It is bigger than any offered under the Affordable Care Act — subsidies some Republicans loathe as handouts — and costs the federal government $250 billion in lost tax revenue every year. The beneficiaries: everyone who gets health insurance through a job, including members of Congress. Much of the bitter debate over how to repeal and replace the law known as Obamacare has focused on cutting Medicaid and subsidies that help low-income people buy insurance. Bu

WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell excels at devising crafty ways for Senate Republicans to avoid paying a high price on politically explosive issues. Take, for instance, his ingenious 2011 plan to clear the way for increases in the federal debt limit without Republican fingerprints.

WASHINGTON — A week that Senate Republicans had hoped would mobilize conservatives and shore up support for their measure to repeal the Affordable Care Act instead ended with eroding enthusiasm, as usually reliable Republican senators from red states blanched at its impact on rural communities. With Congress set to return on Monday after a week’s recess, Republican lawmakers are increasingly aware that their seven-year promise to dismantle President Barack Obama’s largest policy achievement is deeply imperiled.

HAMBURG — More than 10,000 protesters took to the streets of Hamburg again on Friday to vent their anger at the Group of 20 summit meeting and the global political and economic system. And once again, they were met with a huge police presence — hundreds of additional officers were called in after clashes left at least 196 officers and dozens of protesters injured. It started early in the day: There were sit-down protests under a rainbow display of umbrellas. Students marched, calling for social justice. And some people took to a fleet of rubber boats, demanding solidarity with refugees.

HAMBURG, Germany — For years the United States was the dominant force and set the agenda at the annual gathering of the leaders of the world’s largest economies. But on Friday, when President Trump met with 19 other leaders at the climate change, and faced with the prospect of the group’s issuing a statement on Saturday that lays bare how the United States stands alone. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the host of the meeting, opened it by acknowledging the differences be

WASHINGTON — The United States, Russia and Jordan have agreed to foster a cease-fire in a limited area of southwestern Syria that will begin at noon on Sunday, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said on Friday after the first face-to-face meeting between President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The agreement came after months of negotiations among the three countries.

HAMBURG, Germany — President Trump questioned President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Friday about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election, using their epic first face-to-face meeting to directly raise what has become a vexing political issue for the White House. Mr. Putin denied any meddling, and aides for each offered differing versions of the exchange.

Thursday in Palco, KS, while speaking to reporters after a town hall, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) said the current Senate Republican health care bill needed to be “less politics and more policy.” Moran said, “There ought to be committee hearings that involve Democrats and Republicans on those committees. Every senator—when I say every senator that implied every Republican and every Democrat senator—has the opportunity to offer amendments, take votes and then bring a bill to the floor.” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

Thursday in Palco, KS, while speaking to reporters after a town hall, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) said the current Senate Republican health care bill needed to be “less politics and more policy.” Moran said, “There ought to be committee hearings that involve Democrats and Republicans on those committees. Every senator—when I say every senator that implied every Republican and every Democrat senator—has the opportunity to offer amendments, take votes and then bring a bill to the floor.” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN