The Senate has been rushing through judicial confirmations, including many anti-LGBTQ judges

The process by which the Senate confirms federal judges has greatly shifted under President Trump, and the results are greatly endangering the LGBTQ community. A new report from Lambda Legal shows that more than a third of nominees have a documented history of anti-LGBTQ bias, but many are getting rushed across the confirmation finish line to lifetime appointments anyway.

In the past, the Senate has been a bit slow to confirm judges to the federal bench. For example, under the past ...

Maine’s new governor moves to give health care to 70,000 people on her first day in office

Maine approved Medicaid expansion by a ballot initiative more than a year ago, but former Governor Paul LePage had blocked it from taking effect.

Thankfully, Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) knows how to keep a promise.

On Thursday, in her first executive order on her first day in office, Mills ordered Maine to move forward with Medicaid expansion, which is likely to provide health insurance for an additional 70,000 Maine residents.

Our new Administration w...

This Mitch McConnell quote from 2013 looks really awkward today

On Thursday night, eight Republicans joined all the Democrats in the House of Representatives to pass a bill that would reopen parts of the federal government — omitting any funding for President Trump’s border wall — in a bid to end the two-week shutdown directly impacting about 800,000 federal workers.

On Friday, the upper chamber remained silent as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to allow a vote on legislation that would end the shutdown. McConnell has...

Rashida Tlaib: Democrat defends call for Trump’s impeachment – live

Michigan congresswoman stood by impeachment comment as her office says: ‘Tlaib was elected to shake up Washington’

  • Protect the Guardian’s independent reporting with a contribution and help us reach our $1m goal by 7 January

On their first full day in power, House Democrats voted to jump into into a court battle defending the Affordable Care Act as part of their rules package.

From Politico:

From the Associated Press, new poll shows Americans increasingly concerned with immigration:

As much of the U.S. government remains shut down over President Donald Trump’s insistence on funding for his border wall, nearly half of Americans identify immigration as a top issue for the government to work on this year.

Continue reading...