Mike Kelly

Lincoln City Councilman Tom Duden wanted to change his vote to reappoint three members to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Board of Health — all of whom served during the pandemic.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen asked the federal government Monday to allow the state to bar recipients of federal food assistance from using the money to buy pop or energy drinks.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is ending a program that has helped over 17,000 veterans attain homeownership. It is just the latest in a series of attacks and slights against veterans from President Donald Trump.The VA announced on Thursday that it was putting an end to the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase Program. The program purchases defaulted mortgage loans for veterans facing financial hardship and then offers them as direct loans with a fixed 2.5% interest rate.“Beginning May 1, 2025, VA's Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase Program [VASP] ... will stop accepting new enrollees,” the VA said in a statement to NPR. “This change is necessary because VA is not set up or intended to be a mortgage loan restructuring service.”Experts say this will create a crisis for veterans and their families.“Halting the VASP program will increase the number of veterans facing foreclosure unless the VA and Congress implement a permanent partial claim option as soon as possible,” said Bob Broeksmit, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, in a statement.Protesters walk outside the John D. Dingell Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Detroit, on Feb. 28.Trump has come under fire in the past after it was revealed—and verified by his then-White House chief of staff John Kelly—that he referred to deceased military veterans as “suckers” and “losers.” And he has repeatedly disrespected veterans: On Friday, Trump blew off honoring four U.S. soldiers who died in Lithuania during a training exercise to instead attend a Saudi-backed golf tournament at his country club.The Biden administration launched the VASP program in April of last year after it was revealed that thousands of veterans were in danger of losing their homes after a program implemented at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic ended.Then-VA Secretary Denis McDonough said at the time that the VA was “committed to doing everything in our power to help veterans avoid foreclosure.” Under Trump, that is no longer the case.Congressional Republicans back Trump’s decision to cut off this lifeline for veterans.In a joint statement Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois, chair of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, along with Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin), chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, said, “We—along with many of our colleagues—had serious concerns about the impact VASP would have on not only the future of VA’s home loan program, but the mortgage lending business as a whole. Today, the Trump administration rightfully put an end to VA’s VASP program.”The program’s closure is the latest in a series of attacks on veterans from the Trump administration. Under the auspices of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, the VA has cut staff—likely adding to wait times for veterans seeking care while also complicating efforts in dealing with day-to-day care issues.Veterans have also been affected by the administration’s actions to cut thousands of government workers. These concerns were dismissed by then-Trump aide Alina Habba who told Fox News in March, “We have taxpayer dollars, we have a fiscal responsibility to use taxpayer dollars to pay people who actually work, that doesn't mean we forget about our veterans by any means, we are going to care for them in the right way, but perhaps they're not fit to have a job at this moment or are not willing to come to work.”Habba has since been promoted to interim U.S. attorney for the district of New Jersey.Campaign Action

Humanities Nebraska lost its federal grant Wednesday, instantly cutting the nonprofit agency's annual budget by 40%.

Republicans said any uncertainty was just a bump in the road, but Democrats were dubious that the tariffs would have the effects Trump seemed to promise.

President Trump on Thursday said he “sometimes” listens to the recommendations of far-right activist Laura Loomer, even as he denied she was responsible for the ouster of multiple national security aides. Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One, where he was asked about Loomer one day after meeting with her in the Oval Office. At that [...]

President Trump on Thursday said he “sometimes” listens to the recommendations of far-right activist Laura Loomer, even as he denied she was responsible for the ouster of multiple national security aides. Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One, where he was asked about Loomer one day after meeting with her in the Oval Office. At that [...]

Welcome to At the Races! Each week we bring you news and analysis from the CQ Roll Call campaign team. Know someone who’d like to get this newsletter? They can subscribe here. Sen. Cory Booker already has a run for the White House on his résumé, but on Tuesday night, the New Jersey Democrat entered the [...]The post At the Races: Open all night appeared first on Roll Call.

MURPHYSBORO, Ill., March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Last week Congressman Mike Bost chaired the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs on hearings raised by the subcommittees on Technology Modernization, Disability Assistance, and Memorial Affairs, Oversight and Investigations, with an abrupt ‘testimony disclosure form' and intervention brief, inclusive of a generative ‘AI infomercial' presented by Veterans Recovery Network, merely asking for Congress to re-affirm that Uncle Sam's credit marker 'is still good' as to the PACT Act's unconditional guarantee under the United States Code.CLJA 400K CLUB CLAIM ACKNOWLEDGMENTIn January, the Navy JAG Claims Unit acknowledged a unique group of CLJA claimants under a single claim filed by Veterans Recovery Network pursuant to Section 804 of the PACT Act of 2022 (Elective Option), relative to over 400,000 military veterans, who what the Internal Revenue Service currently knows as the VRN Member Club CLJA Settlement Trust, classifying each veteran member as a beneficiary.UNCLE SAM'S PACT ACT GUARANTEEIn 2023, Department of Navy, then supported by the U.S. Department of Justice to mitigate claim processing, affirmed that the CLJA claim settlement option (EO) assures anyone with a valid claim filed before the August ‘24 deadline with disease or cancer to which the ATSDR has linked possible evidence of causation, including multiple myeloma, Parkinson's disease, kidney disease, renal disease, systemic sclerosis/systemic scleroderma, would receive a settlement payment of $400,000, $250,000, or $100,000, depending on whether the claimant was exposed to Camp Lejeune water ...Full story available on Benzinga.com

CLJA Veterans: Is Uncle Sam’s Marker Still Good on PACT Act EO Claims

In her first visit to Iowa, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Monday said the administration may provide emergency aid to farmers to offset losses from retaliatory tariffs.

A parking pilot is underway downtown; the city is leasing land to a contractor during construction of new state prison; council calls a recess to silence out-of-order speaker.

WASHINGTON — The first time Rep. Derek Schmidt ran for governor, he was in high school.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to preserve records of a text message chat in which senior officials discussed sensitive details of plans for a military strike.

Paraguay, Argentina and Panama are three key nations in the southern hemisphere the new administration would be wise to pay attention to, experts say.

Welcome to At the Races! Each week we bring you news and analysis from the CQ Roll Call campaign team. Know someone who’d like to get this newsletter? They can subscribe here. Pennsylvania Democrats won a pair of legislative races this week, flipping a state Senate district and retaining a state House seat to keep their [...]The post At the Races: Spring fever appeared first on Roll Call.

An unstoppable force — President Trump's famed "never back down" mentality — has met an immovable object: the cold, hard Signalgate receipts published by The Atlantic.Why it matters: The MAGA movement's ability to bend reality through brute force is facing its stiffest test yet, courtesy of the most explosive and widely read story of Trump's second term.The result is a cocktail not seen since Trump's first term: A scandal that won't quit, and a base left scrambling to defend what many see as indefensible.Zoom in: The Trump administration's official response emerged Wednesday within minutes of The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg publishing messages he had initially withheld that showed top officials discussing an attack on the Houthis in Yemen.It centered in large part on semantics: Trump officials pointed to The Atlantic's use of "attack plans" in its new headline to accuse the magazine of walking back its initial claims about leaked "war plans."There is a distinction in military parlance: "War plans" are typically more comprehensive, strategic frameworks that account for multiple scenarios, while "attack plans" usually pertain to a specific tactical operation.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mocked the "war plans" characterization: "No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods."Zoom out: That argument fell flat with much of the national security community, which expressed horror at Hegseth's public sharing of detailed information about the sequencing of U.S. airstrikes in Yemen.The Trump administration's claims that the information wasn't classified — despite the use of exact times and weapons packages planned for the attacks — have been heavily disputed by current and former U.S. officials.Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) called for an independent investigation, while other Republicans suggested the Trump administration should own up to its mistake and stop deflecting. Conservative radio host Jesse Kelly. Screenshot via XBetween the lines: The MAGA media ecosystem — the frontline of Trump's communication machine — has splintered into a series of competing theories to try to explain away the scandal.1. It's 5-D chess: Some pro-Trump influencers suggested the leak was intentional, and that Goldberg was tricked into publishing a curated message that showed thoughtful deliberations about U.S. policy toward the Houthis."I'm going to have to go ahead and say I think they're manipulating this journalist because he basically published their PR message for them," said MAGA podcaster Tim Pool.2. It's a "Deep State" setup: The timing of The Atlantic leak, one day before Trump national security officials were due to testify before Congress, has sabotage written all over it, according to influencer DC Draino.The Federalist CEO Sean Davis went a step further, suggesting the scandal was a "pretext to ban Signal and force all communications back onto channels that can be accessed by corrupt intel bureaucrats."3. It's a mistake, but it's refreshing: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), activist Charlie Kirk and other top Trump supporters have praised the officials involved in the Signal group for acting in private how they do in public."It shows integrity, it shows symmetry, it shows consistency," Kirk said on Fox News, drawing a contrast with Trump officials in his first term who sought to undermine the president's agenda.4. Goldberg can't be trusted: Pro-Trump voices inside and outside of the White House have relentlessly attacked the credibility of The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, saying he overhyped the contents of the group chat."I'm shocked that the perpetrator of the 'suckers and losers' hoax would exaggerate and lie about what was in these messages!!!" wrote Donald Trump Jr., referring to Goldberg's 2020 reporting on Trump's alleged disparaging of fallen veterans.5. Take the L: Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who represents a significant segment of Trump voters who aren't hardcore loyalists, called for National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to be fired for mistakenly adding Goldberg to the Signal chat.Portnoy was brutally honest: "I don't care if you're right or left ... It's obvious these texts are real. It's obvious they're classified. It's obvious we gave away strike information two hours before it happened. ... Somebody has to go down for this."The bottom line: For the first time arguably since the election, Trump's allies have lost control of the public narrative — including on X, the platform owned by the president's billionaire adviser Elon Musk.Trump himself effectively acknowledged as much on Tuesday, complaining to reporters: "They've made a big deal out of this because we've had two perfect months.""If this story proves anything, it proves that Democrats and their propagandists in the mainstream media know how to fabricate, orchestrate and disseminate a misinformation campaign quite well," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, calls for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz to be fired or resign after attack plans were shared in a Signal chat which inadvertently included a journalist from The Atlantic. Former CIA Director John Brennan weighs in on the apparent breach of protocol by the White House national security team. NBC News Correspondents Andrea Mitchell, Kelly O’Donnell and Courtney Kube report on the

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe returned to Capitol Hill to testify before the House Intelligence Committee.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., is calling on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign over the Houthi strikes group chat controversy.

'Nobody was texting war plans'

That weird blizzard that blew through Lincoln the day before the official start of first spring, dropping dirty, wet, heavy snow everywhere, did a number on the traffic signals.

GOP lawmakers are proposing massive cuts, but a public backlash may turn some Republicans against their own party

On Tuesday night in Columbus, Congressman Mike Flood defended President Donald Trump and the Elon Musk-led effort to slash federal spending in the face of intense backlash.

Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet is the latest House member to receive Senate buzz in Michigan. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

At least a dozen Nebraska hospitals would "very likely" be at risk of closure if Congress moves forward with potential cuts to Medicaid that House Republicans have floated.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the Navy should buy the extra Arleigh Burke destroyer because the destroyer fleet needs to grow to deter China's burgeoning armada.

Elon Musk is pushing debunked theories about Social Security while describing federal benefit programs as rife with fraud, suggesting they'll be a target in his crusade to reduce government spending.

Nebraska lawmakers pushed the decision on adopting a year-round time system to another day, advancing two bills that take opposing approaches to ending semiannual clock changes.

It becomes a Schumer shutdown at this point

In a unanimous vote, lawmakers have paved the way to designate North Dakota Highway 200 as the state’s Fallen Peace Officers Highway.

North Dakota lawmakers are considering raises for some of the state's highest-ranking officials, with one department asking for an increase above the governor's recommendation of 3%.

In collaboration with the Davis Chamber of Commerce, the City of Davis hosted its 2025 State of the City luncheon on Thursday at Sudwerk Brewery.

Families, providers and advocates say the state is making progress, but the transition has raised ongoing concerns that some people might lose services or not be able to access them.

Since President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the surprise arrest of a man accused of taking part in the killing of 13 U.S. service members in Afghanistan, his top national security aides have repeatedly disparaged the Biden administration as either unwilling or unable to bring those responsible to justice.

Welcome to At the Races! Each week we bring you news and analysis from the CQ Roll Call campaign team. Know someone who’d like to get this newsletter? They can subscribe here. Democrats’ divided responses to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress culminated with 10 of them in the House voting with Republicans on Thursday to censure Texas Democratic [...]The post At the Races: Censure and sensitivity appeared first on Roll Call.

North Dakota industries continue to experience uncertainty after President Donald Trump doubled-down on imposed tariffs in his speech to Congress Tuesday evening -- solidifying what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and others are calling a trade war.

The real killer: a Department of Government Efficiency post on X reported a total of $4.7 trillion worth of payments from the Treasury Department are "almost impossible" to trace because of missing account identification codes.

Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner, the sponsor of LB646, told Agriculture Committee colleagues that registered feedlots in Nebraska's brand inspection area bear costs feedlots outside the area don't.

President Trump supercharged his overhaul of government agencies this week that included a fresh round of a widespread firings. Trump signed an order this week indicating agency heads initiate large scale “reductions in force,” also known as RIFs, as part of implementing initiatives spearheaded by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The order targets [...]

A top non-partisan political handicapper predicts that New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate race in 2026 is already shaping up to be a very competitive contest.

The Milan Bottoms stretches over 3,500 acres of floodplain and bottomland hardwood forests that provide habitat to protected species, including red-shouldered hawks and bald eagles.

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers this week joined 17 other states in filing a friend-of-the-court brief supporting President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.

STATE-LEVEL REAL ESTATE BENEFICIAL RESTRICTIONS ON OWNERSHIP2024 was a busy year for legislatures throughout the United States on the topic of limitations and restrictions on ownership of real property assets. Last year, state legislators introduced over 75 bills in 29 states throughout the country that affect the beneficial ownership of real property. Legislative proposals affecting beneficial ownership generally fell into three categories: restricting ownership of agricultural land by foreign persons or entities; restricting ownership of any real property near critical infrastructure by foreign persons or entities; and restricting ownership of agricultural land by corporate entities.The most common ownership bills specifically targeted individuals, entities, and governments from certain countries designated as “foreign countries of concern.” These “foreign countries of concern” most often included the People’s Republic of China, Iran, Russia, North Korea, and Venezuela.While... Read the complete article here...Copyright 2025 K & L Gates

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 2025 Grammy Awards are recognizing some of the most talented performers and biggest hits in music. Beyoncé enters as the leading nominee for her acclaimed album, “Cowboy Carter.” The show began at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific and can be streamed via CBS and Paramount+. Shakira, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, [...]

Welcome to At the Races! Each week we bring you news and analysis from the CQ Roll Call campaign team. Know someone who’d like to get this newsletter? They can subscribe here. House Republicans retreated to Miami this week to work on finalizing their legislative agenda, while senators remained in Washington for hearings and votes on [...]The post At the Races: Democrats take a stand appeared first on Roll Call.

Tulsi Gabbard may be in danger of not getting confirmed as director of national intelligence as sources confirm she doesn't have enough Republican committee support as it stands.