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Biden signs historic $1-trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill

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4 years ago

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President Biden on Monday signed a historic $1-trillion bipartisan bill that he said will overhaul the nation’s infrastructure and boost the nation’s economy, which has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Touting the legislation as a job creator, the president said it was also an example of him fulfilling a campaign promise to reach across the aisle to get things done.

“Democrats and Republicans can come together and deliver results,” the president said during a signing ceremony on the White House lawn that was attended by more than 800 labor leaders, business executives, governors, mayors and mostly Democratic lawmakers.

The bill is expected to fund a plethora of infrastructure projects — including the expansion of broadband internet access and repairs to aging roads and bridges — over the next five years. California is set to receive about $3.5 billion to eliminate lead water pipes and take other steps to improve drinking water. It should also receive more than $80 million to help mitigate wildfires and other natural disasters.

The bill is smaller and less ambitious than Biden’s original $2.3-trillion proposal, which was trimmed to ensure Republican support in the Senate.

Though the White House invited all 32 Republican lawmakers who voted for the bill, only a fraction attended the ceremony on the White House lawn. Among them was Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio who said he hoped to work with Democrats on other bills that “advance the interests of the American people.”

Former President Trump, who repeatedly failed to overhaul the nation’s infrastructure, blasted Republicans who backed this bill, directing particular ire at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Trump attacked McConnell in a statement over the weekend, calling the senator “Old Crow” and claiming the bill has given “Biden and the Democrats a victory just as they were falling off the cliff.” The former president added that Republican lawmakers who crossed the aisle are “greatly jeopardizing their chance of winning reelection.”

McConnell, who has defended his vote for the bill, shrugged off Trump’s criticism but did not attend the ceremony. The senator told a Kentucky radio station last week he had “other things I’ve got to do.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking before Biden, called on Congress to pass a $1.85-trillion bill that would expand the nation’s social safety net and address climate change.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said a floor vote on the measure could come as soon as this week.

If it passes the House, the bill will head to the Senate, where thorny policy issues related to immigration, paid family leave and tax deductions will need to be sorted out. Democrats are seeking to pass the legislation by using a process known as reconciliation that allows them to get around a Republican-led filibuster in the Senate.

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Bizarre Epstein files reference to Trump, Putin, and oral sex with ‘Bubba’ draws scrutiny in Congress

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2 weeks ago

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November 14, 2025

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The latest tranche of emails from the estate of late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein includes one that contains what appear to be references to President Donald Trump allegedly performing oral sex, raising questions the committee cannot answer until the Department of Justice turns over records it has withheld, says U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

Garcia insists the Trump White House is helping block them.

In a Friday afternoon interview with The Advocate, the out California lawmaker responded to a 2018 exchange, which was included in the emails released, between Jeffrey Epstein and his brother, Mark Epstein. In that message, Mark wrote that because Jeffrey Epstein had said he was with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, he should “ask him if Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba.”

“Bubba” is a nickname former President Bill Clinton has been known by; however, the email does not clarify who Mark Epstein meant, and the context remains unclear.

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USDA head says ‘everyone’ on SNAP will now have to reapply

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2 weeks ago

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November 14, 2025

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Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Thursday said the Trump administration is planning to have all Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries reapply for the program due to alleged fraud.

The secretary said after receiving data on SNAP recipients from 29 red states that “186,000 deceased men and women and children in this country are receiving a check.”

“Can you imagine when we get our hands on the blue state data what we’re going to find?” she asked during a Thursday appearance on Newsmax’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight.”

“It’s going to give us a platform and a trajectory to fundamentally rebuild this program, have everyone reapply for their benefit, make sure that everyone that’s taking a taxpayer-funded benefit through SNAP or food stamps, that they literally are vulnerable, and they can’t survive without it,” she added.

Every state has a periodic recertification process that requires SNAP or food stamp recipients to update their whereabouts and earnings, according to the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Most municipalities require updated data every six to 12 months.

“Secretary Rollins wants to ensure the fraud, waste, and incessant abuse of SNAP ends,” a USDA spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. “Rates of fraud were only previously assumed, and President Trump is doing something about it. Using standard recertification processes for households is a part of that work. As well as ongoing analysis of State data, further regulatory work, and improved collaboration with States. “

Earlier this month, food stamps were threatened amid the government shutdown as the Trump administration argued against using contingency funds to fuel the welfare program.

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Trump orders Bondi to investigate Epstein’s ties to Clinton and other political foes

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2 weeks ago

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November 14, 2025

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NEW YORK (AP) — Acceding to President Donald Trump’s demands, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday that she has ordered a top federal prosecutor to investigate sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to Trump political foes, including former President Bill Clinton.

Bondi posted on X that she was assigning Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to lead the probe, capping an eventful week in which congressional Republicans released nearly 23,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate and House Democrats seized on emails mentioning Trump.

Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years, didn’t explain what supposed crimes he wanted the Justice Department to investigate. None of the men he mentioned in a social media post demanding the probe has been accused of sexual misconduct by any of Epstein’s victims.

Hours before Bondi’s announcement, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he would ask her, the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate Epstein’s “involvement and relationship” with Clinton and others, including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn founder and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman.

Trump, calling the matter “the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans,” said the investigation should also include financial giant JPMorgan Chase, which provided banking services to Epstein, and “many other people and institutions.”

“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats,” the Republican president wrote, referring to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of alleged Russian interference in Trump’s 2016 election victory over Bill Clinton’s wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Asked later Friday whether he should be ordering up such investigations, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: “I’m the chief law enforcement officer of the country. I’m allowed to do it.”

In a July memo regarding the Epstein investigation, the FBI said, “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”

The president’s demand for an investigation — and Bondi’s quick acquiescence — is the latest example of the erosion of the Justice Department’s traditional independence from the White House since Trump took office.

It is also an extraordinary attempt at deflection. For decades, Trump himself has been scrutinized for his closeness to Epstein — though like the people he now wants investigated, he has not been accused of sexual misconduct by Epstein’s victims.

None of Trump’s proposed targets were accused of sex crimes

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