Lawmakers push to overhaul complex reserve duty status system

The Defense Department has long tried to simplify and reform the reserve duty status system, which has expanded to more than 30 separate statutes scattered across about 20 different titles of federal law.  This complex system has created pay and benefits inequities and frequent administrative delays when National Guard members and reservists shift between duty statuses. A new bipartisan bill now seeks to consolidate dozens of duty statuses under which National Guard members and reservists are called to service to just four. If passed, the Duty Status Reform Act would…

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The Biggest Myth About Trump’s Base (And Why Many Believe It)

This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. To judge by recent accounts, Donald Trump’s intervention in Venezuela has imperiled his standing among his own supporters. Traditional-media outlets have warned of a MAGA schism, as have some high-profile right-wing influencers. “President Trump seized control of the Republican Party on an anti-interventionist ‘America First’ platform,” The New York Times reported on January 4, but his removal of Venezuela’s leader “threatened to open a new rift within the political movement he has built.”…

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Ambassador Huckabee Predicts a ‘Complete Realignment of the Middle East’

As anti-regime protests in Iran continue for a third week, U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee predicts a “complete realignment of the Middle East.”   “The potential is here for something of Biblical proportion,” Huckabee told The Daily Signal, adding he has used the very same language when speaking with President Donald Trump.   If the Iranian people succeed in toppling the regime, “that changes everything across the globe,” Huckabee said, adding it will lead to “one of the most unusual times in human history, because there will be a realignment.”   Before the Iranian…

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TODAY 5:15 PM: Sens. Murphy, Van Hollen, Padilla, Reps. Frost, Jayapal headline “ICE Out For Good” Presser & Vigil at CBP

WASHINGTON – With Indivisible, MoveOn Civic Action, Public Citizen, Movimiento Migrante DC, ACLU, Interfaith Alliance, FreeDC and more, Senators Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, Alex Padilla, Representatives Maxwell Frost and Pramila Jayapal will headline a rally and vigil outside of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters on Tuesday, January 13 at 5pm to build momentum for reining in the abuses of President Trump’s reckless and violent immigration enforcement agency and for kicking ICE out of Minnesota and our communities nationwide. The rally comes in response to the escalation of…

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White House ballroom planners propose second story over historic colonnade, new visitors center

Planners developing a massive ballroom on the East side of the White House want to expand the project to include other additions and amenities, among them a second story on the West Wing colonnade and a new visitors center. The Washington Times stories: White House

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House passes bill to extend health care subsidies in defiance of GOP leaders

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a remarkable rebuke of Republican leadership, the House passed legislation Thursday that would extend expired health care subsidies for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act as 17 renegade GOP lawmakers joined every Democrat in support. The tally, 230-196, signified growing political concern over Americans’ health care costs. Forcing the issue to a vote came about after a handful of Republicans signed on to a so-called “discharge petition” to unlock debate, bypassing objections from House Speaker Mike Johnson. The bill now goes to the…

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