Idaho Chief Deputy Secretary of State Chad Houck announced Thursday the state plans to bill MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for the cost of auditing three counties to disprove allegations of election fraud, the Idaho Statesman reports.
Why it matters: Houck's remarks come days after the audit concluded, reporting a 0.1% margin of error across the three counties.
A COVID emergency relief program improperly paid $4.5 billion to self-employed people — a reflection of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) inability to detect fraud, SBA Inspector General Hannibal Ware wrote in a report released Thursday.
A former Taliban commander has been charged with terrorism-related offenses for killing U.S. troops in 2008, the Justice Department said Thursday.
Details: The indictment, unsealed Thursday by a grand jury in New York, brings charges against Haji Najibullah, who served as a Taliban commander in 2007 and 2008, for attacks on U.S. troops carried out by Taliban fighters under his authority.
The Jan. 6 select committee has issued additional subpoenas to the organizers of the "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the Capitol riots, Chair Bennie G. Thompson announced Thursday.
Why it matters: The "Stop the Steal" event was promoted leading up to the deadly Jan. 6 riot, with endorsement from then-President Trump. Attendees of the rally marched to the U.S. Capitol, where rioters violently breached the building disrupting the counting of the electoral college vote.
The former special envoy for Haiti said Thursday that he learned of the deportations of thousands of Haitians seeking shelter in the Texas border town of Del Rio "on the news just like the rest of us."
Whole Woman's Health, a Texas abortion provider, announced Thursday that it has resumed providing abortions past the six-week gestation period, more than a month after Texas' controversial abortion ban took effect.
Why it matters: The announcement comes less than a day after a federal judge granted the Biden administration's request to temporarily block enforcement of the ban, allowing medical professionals to offer abortions even after about six weeks of pregnancy without fear of legal repercussions.
John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said Wednesday that his office would investigate allegations that former President Ashraf Ghani left the country with $169 million in cash when he fled in mid-August.
Driving the news: Sopko said in testimony before a House subcommittee for development aid that his office was "looking into" the allegations but had not "proven that yet."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Thursday that Senate Democrats and Republicans have reached an agreement to extend the debt ceiling through early December.
Driving the news: The agreement is to raise the limit by $480 billion, which is what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says is needed to get to Dec. 3, a Senate leadership aide told Axios.
An interim Senate report reveals new details about former President Trump's efforts to exploit the Justice Department to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including how top DOJ officials threatened to resign en masse over Trump's push to install a loyalist as acting attorney general.
Why it matters: The 394-page report from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee marks the most extensive public investigation to date into Trump's pressure campaign in the wake of the 2020 election, drawing on interviews with three top former DOJ officials and hundreds of pages of emails, calendars and other documents.
Health care systems, schools, public-sector agencies and private businesses with COVID-19 vaccine mandates have seen vaccination rates jump 20 points — in many instances to over 90%, according to a White House analysis released ahead of President Biden's trip to Chicago on Thursday.
Why it matters: That's a lot higher than the average fully vaccinated rate for working-age adults — 63%.
Why it matters: The ruling means that medical professionals can offer abortions in Texas even after about six weeks of pregnancy without fear of facing a lawsuit by members of the public, at least for the moment, Bloomberg notes.
The Biden administration announced plans Wednesday to restore climate change protections to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that were dismantled when former President Trump was in office.
Why it matters: The White House Council on Environmental Quality plans to bring back a requirement for federal agencies to "evaluate all the relevant environmental impacts of the decisions they are making" for projects such as highways, mines, gas pipelines and water infrastructure, per a CEQ statement.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres denounced Ethiopian officials Wednesday for claiming the UN had inflated the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis in the country and warned people were facing "famine-like conditions."
Why it matters: The Ethiopian foreign affairs ministry expelled seven UN officials from the country last week, accusing them of "meddling" in its affairs by warning thousands of people in war-torn Tigray were likely experiencing government-caused famine.
Congress made its first moves Wednesday toward raising or suspending the debt ceiling, as the country faced the prospect of defaulting on its obligations in less than two weeks.
Why it matters: Although it's not the first time Congress has waited until the last minute to deal with the federal debt ceiling, the U.S. has never defaulted. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently said defaulting would likely trigger a recession.
Why it matters: After McConnell refused for months to budge over his insistence that Democrats suspend the debt limit through the budget reconciliation process, he tried to forestall changes to the filibuster by offering Democrats an alternate route to temporarily raise the debt limit through December.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) withheld support for a joint statement condemning last weekend's protests against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) because it also wouldn't include a rebuke of her political views, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The move is emblematic of the hostility between the progressive and moderate members, who have been sparring over the cost and scope of President Biden's agenda. Sanders wanted the statement to urge Sinema to drop her opposition to prescription drug reform, as well as Biden's $3.5 trillion social safety net expansion.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is telling colleagues that progressives need to pick just one of President Biden’s three signature policies for helping working families and discard the other two, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.
Why it matters: By forcing progressives to choose among an expanded child tax credit, paid family medical leave or subsidies for child care, Manchin is complicating any potential deal— but also signaling his willingness to negotiate.
A federal judge has sentenced a Texas man to 15 months in prison for perpetrating a hoax about COVID-19 last year.
Why it matters: The sentence comes as the government navigates new challenges related to pandemic fraud, including online misinformation and falsified vaccine documentation.
Pro-Trump social media influencer Brandon Straka pleaded guilty Wednesday to disorderly conduct in connection to his appearance at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot as part of a plea deal, per the Washington Post.
Driving the news: In exchange for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor, prosecutors dropped a felony count of impeding police during civil disorder. Straka agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in their investigation by turning over evidence and consenting to a law enforcement interview, according to the Post.
